Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans; 31 July 1824 – 4 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.

Prince Antoine
Duke of Montpensier
Photograph, c. 1860
Born(1824-07-31)31 July 1824
Château de Neuilly, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Kingdom of France
Died4 February 1890(1890-02-04) (aged 65)
Palacio de Orléans-Borbón, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Kingdom of Spain
Burial(1890-02-08)8 February 1890
Spouse
(m. 1846)
Issue
among others...
Marie Isabelle, Countess of Paris
Princess Maria Amelia
Princess Marie Christine
Mercedes, Queen of Spain
Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera
Names
French: Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orléans
Spanish: Antonio María Felipe Luis de Orleans
HouseOrléans
FatherLouis Philippe I
MotherMaria Amalia of Naples and Sicily
SignaturePrince Antoine's signature

Marriage and issue

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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 issue.
  2. Maria Amelia (1851–1870)
  3. Maria Cristina (1852–1879)
  4. Maria de la Regla (1856–1861)
  5. Stillbirth child (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, without issue.
  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

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Portrait by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, 1851

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.

Despite never reaching the throne, however, through cognates, he is an ancestor of all Spanish monarchs since Juan Carlos I. His great granddaughter Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona, was the mother of Juan Carlos, who assumed the throne in 1975 and later abdicated in favor of his son, Felipe VI in 2014.

Early collector of photography

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The Duke of Montpensier was an early collector of photography. His collection consisted of dozens of albums and hundreds of early photographs, mainly of Spanish, French and British photographers. The collection was dispersed after his death.[2]

Honours and arms

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Honours

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Arms

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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.

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Le Figaro (6 February 1890) : http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2810289.item
  2. ^ Carlos Sánchez Gómez & Javier Piñar Samos, 'La biblioteca fotográfica de Antonio de Orleans, Duque de Montpensier (1847–1890)' (in Spanish). In: I jornadas sobre investigación en historia de la fotografía, pages 104-131 (online text).
  3. ^ Base Léonore
  4. ^ "Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 146. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 148. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1850), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 33, 49
  9. ^ H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). Vol. 1. p. 37.
  10. ^ "Grand Crosses of the Order of the Tower and Sword". geneall.net. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  11. ^ "Nichan ad-Dam, ou ordre du Sang, institué... - Lot 198".
  12. ^ Napoli (Stato) (1857). Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno ... Stamp. Reale. p. 403.
Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 31 July 1824 Died: 4 February 1890
French nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Prince Antoine Philippe d'Orléans
Duke of Montpensier
16 August 1830 – 4 February 1890
Vacant
Title next held by
Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans
Italian nobility
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria Brignole-Sale
Duke of Galliera
9 December 1888 – 4 February 1890
Succeeded by