Antoine of Orleans (1866-1930)

Antoine Rene Louis Philippe Jean Florent of Orleans , Infant of Spain and fourth duke of Galliera (in Italy) was born with Seville on February 23rd, 1866 and is deceased with Paris on December 24th, 1930. It is a family member royal Spanish and a grandson of the king of the French Louis-Philippe Ier.

Family

Antoine of Orleans is the only son surviving of the French prince Antoine of Orleans (1824-1890), Duc of Montpensier, and his wife the Spanish Infante Louise Fernande de Bourbon (1832-1897). By his father, he is the grandson of the king of the French Louis-Philippe Ier (1773-1850) and of his wife Marie-Amélie de Bourbon (1782-1866), princess of Deux-Siciles. By his mother, he is also the grandson of two other sovereigns: the king Ferdinand VII of Spain (1784-1833) and its wife the queen Marie-Christine of Bourbon (1806-1878), princess of Deux-Siciles.

March 6th, 1886, the prince marries in Madrid his German cousin the princess Eulalie de Bourbon (1864-1958), infante of Spain and girl of the queen Isabelle II of Spain and her husband the king consort François d' Assise Bourbon, duke of Cadiz. Let us notice that, thanks to this marriage, Antoine of Orleans becomes one second time the brother-in-law of Alphonse XII of Spain, since this one was it already as husband of Mercedes of Orleans (1860-1878), sister of Antoine.

Marriage of Antoine and Eulalie are born three children:

Alphonse of Orleans (1886-1975), infant of Spain and 5th duke of Galliera, which marries in 1909 the princess Béatrice of Edinburgh and Saxony-Cobourg and Gotha (1884-1966). From where 3 children;
Louis-Ferdinand of Orleans (1888-1945), infant of Spain and prince de Galliera, who marries, in 1930, Marie Say (1857-1943), girl of Constant Andre Say and Jeanne Wey and widow of prince de Broglie. Without postéritié;
Roberte of Orleans (1890-1890), infante of Spain and princess of Galliera.

Biography

Infant Antoine from Orleans is born in Seville, little before the end of the reign of his/her aunt the queen Isabelle II, but it passes a good part of its childhood abroad, because of revolution of 1868, which drives out its family of Spain. However, the father of Antoine, ambitious and liberal the duke of Montpensier, is not without bond with the revolutionists who push it to leave his country of adoption. It is indeed with its money that rising was prepared and he hopes well to be elected king as a thanks! Unfortunately for him, the attempt is a failure and the banishment of Orleans is confirmed by the Spanish provisional government.

In December 1874, the coup d'etat of the general Arsenio Martínez Campos allows the restoration of Spanish monarchy and the young person Alphonse XII is proclaimed new sovereign (following the renunciation of his/her mother). A few months after, Orleans are forgiven and the young Antoine goes back food with his family to Seville, with the Palais of San Telmo. In 1878, the reconciliation of Orleans and Bourbons Spanish are even total since the king Alphonse XII marries one of the older sisters of Antoine, the princess Mercedes of Orleans (1860-1878).

In 1886, Antoine of Orleans marries in his turn one of the sisters of Alphonse XII, the infante Eulalie of Spain (1864-1958). But the prince is unsteady and extravagant while his wife is a strong and cultivated woman, who refuses to support humiliations that Antoine makes him undergo. This is why the couple separates, then divorce, shortly after the birth of their third child.

But the union of Antoine with the sister of the king gives all the same to the prince the opportunity to play a certain official part at the Court of Madrid. In 1892, the prince takes part thus in the voyage of his wife with Cuba and in the the United States, at the time of the commemoration of the quadricentennial of “discovered” of America by Christophe Colomb.

In 1895, the king Humbert Ier of Italy (1844-1900) raises the title of duke of Galliera in favor of Antoine of Orleans. The legitimate heir to the title, Philipp Renotière von Ferrary (1850-1917), indeed refuses to carry it and prince Antoine proposes the bonds of his family with the last duchess of Galliera, Maria of Brignole-Dirty (1812-1888), to be made confer the title.

In 1900, infant it of Spain meets, with the Savoy hotel of London, Marie-Louise Manac' H (1869-1949), widow of Simon Gugenheim. Immediately allured by this Breton young person, the prince starts with it an love affair which is spread out at the great day between London, Paris and Seville. However, even with his mistress, Antoine of Orleans is unable to remain faithful and it finishes, in 1906, by wearying that which it little by little introduced into the large world. There remains that the Spanish prince does not come out completely unscathed from this relation because his mistress, furious to be gotten rid of, breaks several teeth to him by striking it of its sunshade!

During all these years, the prince carries out large train and wastes the fortune of his family while its ex woman lives in a relative poverty. Its excessive expenditure thus forces it to sell, in 1919, the grounds of its Italian duchy.

Antoine from Orleans dies in Paris in 1930. Its remainders are transferred to the Pantheon from the infants from the monastery from the Escurial.

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