Mercedes of Orléans

Mercedes of Orléans
Queen consort of Spain
Tenure	23 January 1878 – 26 June 1878
Born	(1860-06-24)24 June 1860 Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain
Died	26 June 1878(1878-06-26) (aged 18) Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain
Burial	Cathedral of la Almudena
Spouse	Alfonso XII of Spain
Full name María de las Mercedes Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda de Orléans y Borbón
House	House of Orléans
Father	Antoine d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier
Mother	Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878) was Queen of Spain as the first wife of King Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, the daughter of Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier and of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain.

Family and upbringing

María de las Mercedes in 1874

Royal cypher

She was born at the Palacio Real in Madrid, the sixth of her parents' nine children, none of whom died in infancy but only four of whom would live to the age of 20.^[1] Her mother's elder sister, Queen Isabella II, and brother-in-law, King Francis, served as Mercedes' godparents at her christening, when she was given the names: María de las Mercedes Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Felipa Amalia Cristina Francisca de Paula Ramona Rita Cayetana Manuela Juana Josefa Joaquina Ana Rafaela Filomena Teresa Santísima Trinidad Gaspara Melchora Baltasara et omni sancti.

Although Mercedes was patrilineally a French princess, she was also a Spanish infanta and spent the first eight years of her life in Spain. Her childhood was spent at the palace of San Telmo in Andalusia, her father's rumoured aspirations to obtain his sister-in-law's crown periodically rendering him unwelcome at the royal court in Madrid.

Marriage

When Queen Isabella II was deposed in 1868, Mercedes' family left Spain for exile. It was reportedly during that banishment, in 1872, that she met her first cousin, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, also living in exile.

Upon restoration, King Alphonso married Maria de la Mercedes at the church of Atocha, in Madrid on 23 January 1878, following a huge ball in December 1877. Allegedly the king's choice dashed the hopes of his still-exiled mother, Queen Isabella, for Alfonso's marriage to the Blanca de Borbón, daughter of his Carlist rival, Carlos, Duke of Madrid.

Death

Arms of Queen Mercedes of Spain.

However, shortly after their honeymoon, it became evident that the bride suffered from typhoid fever.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The marriage would last only six months, during which she had a miscarriage.^[7] Queen Mercedes succumbed to the illness in Madrid two days after her 18th birthday, on 26 June 1878, having been unconscious for several days.

Legacy

Queen Mercedes co-initiated the building of the Cathedral of la Almudena in Madrid, opposite the royal palace, construction beginning in 1883. In May 2004 Felipe, Prince of Asturias was wed there to Letizia Ortiz. Queen Mercedes' remains were re-interred there on 8 November 2000, in accordance with the wishes of her widower.

A town in the province of Isabela, located in the Philippines, was named Reina Mercedes in her honor during the Spanish colonial period.

When the king's minister Cánovas del Castillo suggested that he take a new wife, Alfonso acquiesced, choosing his Mercedes' sister, Maria Cristina. But she, too, contracted tuberculosis, and died during the engagement period. In late 1879 he married Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria-Teschen; the eldest of their children, the Princess of Asturias, was named in honour of Queen Mercedes.

Titles and styles

• 24 June 1860 - 23 January 1878 Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Mercedes of Spain, Princess of Orléans
• 23 January 1878 - 26 June 1878 Her Majesty The Queen

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to María de las Mercedes de Orleans.