Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

Antoine d'Orléans (Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans; 31 July 1824 – 5 February 1890[1]) was a member of the French royal family in the House of Orléans. He was the youngest son of King Louis Philippe of France and his wife Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies. He was styled as the Duke of Montpensier. He was born on 31 July 1824 at the château de Neuilly and died 4 February 1890 at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain.

Antoine
Duke of Montpensier
Predecessor	Prince Antoine Philippe d'Orléans
Successor	Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans
Born	31 July 1824 Château de Neuilly, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Died	5 February 1890 (aged 65) Palacio de Orléans-Borbón, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain
Burial	8 February 1890 Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Spouse	Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain ​ ​ (m. 1846)​
Issue among others...	Marie Isabelle, Countess of Paris Princess Marie Christine Mercedes, Queen of Spain Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera
Full name French: Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans Spanish: Antonio María Felipe Luis de Orleans
House	Orléans
Father	Louis-Philippe of France
Mother	Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Marriage and issue

On 10 October 1846 at Madrid, Spain, he married Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, the daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and his wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies.

They had ten children:

1. Maria Isabel (1848–1919), who married her first cousin Philippe, comte de Paris (1838–94), the French claimant, and became known as Marie Isabelle, comtesse de Paris. She had several children.
2. Maria Amelia (1851–1870)
3. Maria Cristina (1852–1879)
4. Maria de la Regla (1856–1861)
5. [?] (1857-1857)
6. Fernando (1859–1873)
7. Mercedes (1860–1878), otherwise Princess Marie des Graces d'Orleans-Montpensier, who married her first cousin Alfonso XII and is historically known as Mercedes of Orleans, queen of Spain. No children.
8. Felipe Raimundo Maria (1862–1864)
9. Antonio (1866–1930), became Duke of Galliera in Italy. He married his first cousin Infanta Eulalia of Spain (1864–1958), daughter of Isabella II, and had two sons.
10. Luis Maria Felipe Antonio (1867–1874)

Candidate for the Spanish throne

Antoine de Montpensier lived in Spain from 1848 when he and his family had to leave France after the Revolution of 1848. During the Spanish revolution of 1868, he supported the insurgents under Juan Prim against Queen Isabel II, his own sister-in-law.

In 1870 he fought a duel against Infante Enrique, Duke of Seville, the brother of King Francisco, and killed him. Antoine was convicted and sentenced to one month in prison.

On 16 November 1870 the Cortes voted for the next king and chose Amadeo of Savoy with 191 votes. Antoine only received 27 votes, and left Spain, only to return in 1874. His ambitions were fulfilled by his daughter Mercedes, who became Queen of Spain after her marriage to Alfonso XII, son of Isabella II. However, she died at the age of 18 without issue.

Honours and arms

Honours

• Kingdom of France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 9 November 1845[2]
•  Spain:
  • Knight of the Golden Fleece, 10 October 1846[3]
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar[4]
  • Grand Cross of the Military Order of St. Hermenegild[5]
  • Grand Cross of Military Merit, with Red Decoration[6]
•  Baden:[7]
  • Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1846
  • Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1846
•  Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 11 December 1844[8]
•  Kingdom of Portugal: Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword[9]
• Beylik of Tunis: Husainid Family Order[10]
•  Two Sicilies: Grand Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit[11]

Arms

Prince Antoine did not have a personal coat of arms. He used the traditional arms of the House of Orléans, consisting of:

Azure, three fleur-de-lis Or and a label Argent

[In heraldic blazon, Azure is blue, Or is gold, and Argent is silver]

This coat of arms was first used by Philippe d'Orléans, nephew and son in law of King Louis XIV of France. As cadets of the French royal family, they bore the arms of France differenced by a label argent.

• Heraldry of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
• 
  Coat of arms of Prince Antoine in Spain
• 
  Arms of alliance of Prince Antoine and his wife

Ancestry

Ancestors of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

8. Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans 4. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans 9. Louise Henriette de Bourbon 2. Louis Philippe I of France 10. Louis Jean Marie, Duke of Penthièvre 5. Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon 11. Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este 1. Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier 12. Charles III of Spain 6. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies 13. Maria Amalia of Saxony 3. Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily 14. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor 7. Maria Carolina of Austria 15. Maria Theresa of Austria

References

1. Le Figaro (6 February 1890) : http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2810289.item
2. Base Léonore
3. "Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 146. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
4. "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 148. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
5. "Escalafón general de Caballeros existentes en la Gran Cruz de la Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 395. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
6. "Caballeros Grandes Cruces de la Real Orden del Mérito militar designada para premiar servicios de guerra". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 387. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
7. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1850), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 33, 49
8. H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). 1. p. 37.
9. "Grand Crosses of the Order of the Tower and Sword". geneall.net. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
10. https://www.beaussant-lefevre.com/lot/86924/8138236?
11. Napoli (Stato) (1857). Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno ... Stamp. Reale. p. 403.