Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier

Infanta María Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier (30 January 1832 – 2 February 1897) was Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Montpensier. She was the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, the queen-regent, who was also his niece.

Infanta Luisa Fernanda
Duchess of Montpensier
Portrait by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, 1851
Born	30 January 1832 Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain
Died	2 February 1897 (aged 65) San Telmo Palace, Seville, Spain
Burial	2 February 1897 Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Spouse	Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier ​ ​ (m. 1846; died 1890)​
Issue among others...	Infanta Isabel, Countess of Paris Infanta Maria Amelia Infanta María Cristina Infanta Maria de la Regla Infante Fernando Mercedes, Queen of Spain Infante Felipe Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera Infante Luis
Full name Spanish: María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias
House	Bourbon
Father	Ferdinand VII of Spain
Mother	Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Royal styles of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier
Reference style	Her Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness

Biography

Heiress-presumptive

Luisa Fernanda as a young girl, by Vicente López Portaña, 1842.

When her elder sister Isabella II of Spain succeeded to the throne, Infanta Luisa Fernanda was heiress-presumptive to the crown between 1833 and 1851, when Isabella's oldest surviving daughter was born.

Marriage

Luisa Fernanda was engaged to the Duke of Montpensier, the youngest son of King Louis Philippe, who also was Luisa's mother's first cousin.

Luisa Fernanda, only 14 years old, and Antoine, 22, had their nuptials on 10 October 1846 as a double wedding with Isabella and Francis', and young Antoine was elevated to the rank of an Infante of Spain. The couple moved to Paris and later to Sevilla. The relationship between Isabella and her sister was tense, due to Antoine's conspiracies against the queen.[1]

Antoine's father was deposed in 1848. The same year, the then 16-year-old Luisa Fernanda gave birth to their first child, Maria Isabel. After Isabella was deposed, the family went into exile. Luisa returned to Sevilla years later, already widowed, where she died.[1] She is buried at Escorial.

Children

Infanta Luisa Fernanda with her husband Duke of Montpensier and four of their children.

Luisa Fernanda and Antoine had nine children, but only five reached adulthood.[2]

• Infanta Maria Isabel (1848–1919), who married her first cousin Philippe, comte de Paris (1838–1894), the French claimant, and became known as Madame the comtesse de Paris. She had several children, including Princess Louise of Orléans, the maternal grandmother of King Juan Carlos I.
• Infanta Maria Amelia (1851–1870).
• Infanta Maria Cristina (1852–1879). After her younger sister Mercedes died, she was engaged to Alfonso XII, five years her junior, but she died before the wedding.
• Infanta Maria de la Regla (1856–1861).
• [?] (1857–1857).
• Infante Fernando (1859–1873).
• Infanta Maria de las 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 Orléans, Queen of Spain. No children.
• Infante Felipe Raimundo Maria (1862–1864)
• Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera (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: Infante Alfonso and Infante Luís.
• Infante Luis Maria Felipe Antonio (1867–1874)

Descendants

Luisa Fernanda in 1847.

Of all her children, just Isabelle de Paris and Antonio di Galliera left children. Through Antonio, the now non-royal line of dukes di Galliera continues. Alfonso's grandchildren lost royal status due to non-dynastic marriages. The current Duke di Galliera is Alfonso's great-grandson, Don Alfonso Francesco de Orléans-Borbón y Ferarra-Pignatelli.[2]

Through Marie Isabelle, she became great-grandmother of king Manuel II of Portugal, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, Aimone, Duke of Spoleto and Luis Filipe, Duke of Braganza; great-great-grandmother of Juan Carlos I of Spain and Henri, Count of Paris.

Titles, styles, and arms

• 30 January 1832 – 10 October 1846: Her Royal Highness Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain
• 10 October 1846 – 4 February 1890: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Montpensier
• 4 February 1890 – 2 February 1897: Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Montpensier

Arms

• Heraldry of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier
• 
  Coat of arms of Infanta Luisa Fernanda
• 
  Arms of alliance of Infanta Luisa Fernanda and her husband
• 
  Arms as Duchess Dowager

Ancestry

Ancestors of Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier

8. Charles III of Spain[3] 4. Charles IV of Spain[4] (= 14) 9. Maria Amalia of Saxony[3] 2. Ferdinand VII of Spain 10. Philip, Duke of Parma[5] 5. Maria Luisa of Parma[4] (= 15) 11. Louise Élisabeth of France[5] 1. Luisa Fernanda of Spain 12. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies[6] 6. Francis I of the Two Sicilies[7] 13. Maria Carolina of Austria[6] 3. Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies 14. Charles IV of Spain[8] (= 4) 7. Maria Isabella of Spain[7] 15. Maria Luisa of Parma[8] (= 5)

References

1. Archived November 2, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
2. "HRH Infanta Doña Luisa Fernanda and her descendants". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved 2006-07-06.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
3. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 9.
4. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand VII. of Spain" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
5. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 96.
6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Francis I. of the Two Sicilies" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
7. Ortúzar Castañer, Trinidad. "María Cristina de Borbón dos Sicilias". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.
8. Navarrete Martínez, Esperanza. "María de la O Isabel de Borbón". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.