Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies de las Mercedes de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y Orléans, Countess of Barcelona (Spanish: Doña María de las Mercedes Cristina Genara Isabel Luisa Carolina Victoria y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Orléans (Spanish pronunciation: [maˈɾi.a meɾˈθeðes]; 23 December 1910 – 2 January 2000) was the mother of Juan Carlos I, King of Spain from 1975 to 2014, and grandmother of the reigning Spanish King, Felipe VI.

Princess María de las Mercedes
Countess of Barcelona
Born(1910-12-23)23 December 1910
Madrid, Kingdom of Spain
Died2 January 2000(2000-01-02) (aged 89)
Lanzarote, Kingdom of Spain
Burial4 January 2000
El Escorial
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1935; died 1993)​
Issue
Full name
María de las Mercedes Cristina Genara Isabel Luisa Carolina Victoria de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Orléans
HouseBourbons of the Two Sicilies
FatherCarlo of the Two Sicilies
MotherLouise of Orléans
ReligionRoman Catholicism
Coat of arms of Maria Mercedes of Bourbon, Countess of Barcelona as consort of the Pretender to the Spanish Throne

Biography

María was born in Madrid, daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife, Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne. She was granted, at birth, the rank and precedence of an infanta of Spain, although not the actual use of the title, her own being Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Her family moved to Seville, when her father was made Captain General of that province. When the Second Spanish Republic forced them into exile, they lived in Cannes and later in Paris, where she studied art at the Louvre.[1]

On 14 January 1935, she attended the wedding, in Rome, of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, daughter of King Alfonso XIII. There she met the brother of the bride, her second cousin and future husband, the Infante Juan, fourth son and designated heir of Alfonso XIII. They married in Rome on 12 October 1935. When her husband took up Count of Barcelona as a title of pretence on 8 March 1941, María became the Countess of Barcelona.[2] They had four children.

Issue

They lived in Cannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak of World War II, they moved to Lausanne to live with Queen Victoria Eugenie, the mother of Infante Juan. Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera.

In 1953, the Countess represented the Spanish Royal Family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[3]

In 1976, one year after the monarchy was restored in Spain in the person of her son, Juan Carlos, they returned to Spain. She mediated between her son and her husband, estranged since Juan Carlos had been designated heir by Franco. In 1977, Juan renounced his rights in favour of their son, who officially allowed him to retain the title of Count of Barcelona.[2]

She broke her hip in 1982 and the left femur in 1985, which forced her to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She became a widow in 1993.

She was a fervid fan of bull fighting and of the Andalusian culture. In 1995, her granddaughter Infanta Elena married in Seville in part because the Countess' love for the city.

She was the 1,171st Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 4 March 1929.

She died of a heart attack in the Royal Residence of La Mareta, in Lanzarote, where the royal family had gathered to celebrate the New Year.[4] She was buried with the honors of a queen at the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid.

Ancestry

Honours
National
Foreign

Heraldry

See also

References
  1. Doña María de las Mercedes
  2. Enache, Nicolas. La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 458, 532. (French). ISBN 2-908003-04-X
  3. Coronation guests and their jewels http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/03/flashback-friday-coronation-guests-and.html
  4. Maria de Borbon, 89, Mother of Spain's King
  5. Royal Decree 1189/1988, of 14 October. BOE, no.248, 15 October 1988, p 29811.
  6. https://atthespanishcourt.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/condbcnmelleriocenabodaeii.jpg?w=529
  7. Titular Sovereign of the order from 1941 to 1977. (in Spanish) Royal Order of Queen Maria. Blasones hispanos Archived 15 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 15, 2015
  8. http://geneall.net/images/album/name/p6746_20131029014925.jpg
  9. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d9v8Jn90QUc/TKT-mFsNAPI/AAAAAAAAVgM/jRAYIZz1vQk/s1600/juanymarapf6ue2.jpg
  10. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nk9T5874sUY/VRFZPO53ygI/AAAAAAAARWw/BckS2_A2TLw/s1600/522-the%2Bmother-TRH%2BInfanta%2BPilar%2Bof%2BSpain,%2Blater%2BDuchess%2Bof%2BBadajoz%3B%2Band%2BCountess%2BMaria%2Bde%2Blas%2BMercedes%2Bof%2BBarcelona%2B%2Banpilar.jpg
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. http://www.noblesseetroyautes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/e3.jpg
  14. http://www.chivalricorders.org/bourbon/spain/brbspngn.htm
  15. https://atthespanishcourt.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/condesadebarcelonalis.jpg
  16. http://royal.myorigins.org/pics/Princess_Maria_Mercedes_of_Bourbon-Two_Sicilies.jpg
  17. Bunel, Arnaud. "Heraldique europeenne" (in French). Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 23 December 1910 Died: 2 January 2000
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg		 — TITULAR —
Queen consort of Spain
15 January 1941 – 22 November 1975
Reason for succession failure:
Monarchy abolished in 1931		 Succeeded by
Sophia of Greece and Denmark
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