The Affair of the Spanish Marriages. Part II

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3rd Viscount Palmerston, Duke of Cádiz, Duke of Montpensier, François Guizot, France, Francisco de Asís, French Foreign Minister, Henry John Temple, infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, July Monarchy, King Alfonso XII of Spain, King Ferdinand VII of Spain, King Leopold I of Belgium, King Louis-Philippe of France, Lord Palmerston, Muhammad Ali, Ottoman Empire, Pasha of Egypt, Prime Minister, Prince Antoine of Orléans, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, Princess Marie Christine of the Two Sicilies, Queen Isabella II of Spain, Spain, The Affair of the Spanish Marriages, The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, The Second Egyptian–Ottoman War, The Syrian War, Treaty of Utrecht, United Kingdom of Great Britain

In order to protect their political position, the moderados moved to carry out the French-backed marriages, over Palmerston’s protestations, who insisted that the marriages were a breach of the 1712 Treaty of Utrecht.

Palmerston’s efforts failed – on October 10, 1846, Queen Isabella’s 16th birthday, the Spanish Queen was married to her cousin, Infante Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz, while her sister Luisa Fernanda was married to Prince Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, her first cousin once removed, and the youngest son of King Louis-Philippe of France and his wife Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies, the tenth of eighteen children of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria.

Infante Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz, was born at Aranjuez, Spain, the second son (first to survive infancy) of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain, and of his wife (and niece), Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies. He was named after Saint Francis of Assisi.

Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain was the youngest son of King Carlos IV of Spain and Princess Maria Luisa of Parma. He was a brother of King Fernando VII of Spain, Queen Isabella II’s father.

Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain’s mother, Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies, was the eldest child of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies from his second wife, Infanta María Isabella of Spain, the youngest daughter of King Carlos IV of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma.

This means when Infante Francisco de Asís married Queen Isabella II of Spain, they were double first cousin.

There is evidence that Queen Isabella would rather have married his younger brother, Infante Enrique, Duke of Seville, and complained bitterly about her husband’s effeminate habits after their first night together.

Infanta María Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier (1832 – 1897) was the younger daughter of King Fernando VII of Spain and his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies.

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

Infanta Luisa Fernanda, was only 14 years old, and Antoine, 22, had their nuptials on October 10, 1846 as a double wedding with Queen Isabella and Francisco, and young Antoine was elevated to the rank of an Infante of Spain. Infante Francisco became King Consort of Spain upon his marriage to the Queen. The couple moved to Paris and later to Sevilla. The relationship between Queen Isabella II and her sister was tense, due to Antoine’s conspiracies against the queen.

During the Spanish revolution of 1868, Duke Antoine 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.