Amelia Orleans

Family

The eldest daughter of Louis Philippe, Count of Paris and his wife Maria Isabella of Orleans . Born in the UK, where her family was in exile after the French Revolution . They were able to return to France only in 1871 .

May 22, 1886 Amelia married the Portuguese prince Carlos , with whom they were born on the same day - September 28. Carlos was the eldest son of the King of Portugal, Louis I and the heir to the throne. The spouses had three children:

• Luis Filipe ( 1887 - 1908 ), Duke of Braganca,
• Maria Anna ( 1887 ),
• Manuel II ( 1889 - 1932 ).

Board

In October 1889, Carlos succeeded his father on the throne and, with him, Amelia became Queen of Portugal. She played an important social and cultural role in the country. In 1892, she founded the Institute for Shipwrecked Assistance, and in 1905 the Royal Carriage Museum (now the National Museum of Carriages ). Particularly important was the creation of the “National Tuberculosis Care” to combat the prevalent disease at that time.

At the turn of the century, the political situation in the country was unstable. The king was not respected, convicted of financial fraud. The rivalry between the dynasties of Bragança and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha increased in the royal family. Republican and anarchist movements found more and more response among the people.

On February 1, 1908, when Amelia and her husband and two sons returned from a vacation in France to Lisbon, two Republican terrorists opened fire on their open crew . The king was killed on the spot, the heir to the throne, Luis Filipe died after 20 minutes, the youngest son Manuel was slightly wounded in the arm and became the next king.

After the tragedy, the queen retired to the Pena palace in Sintra , from where she came out only to support the son of Manuel II . The revolutionary movement was gaining momentum, and on October 5, 1910, Portugal was proclaimed a republic.

Recent years

The royal family left Portugal. Amelia was received from her brother Philip, Duke of Orleans in the UK. After Manuel’s wedding with Princess Augusta Victoria Hohenzollern, the former queen went to France, where she stayed in the Bellevue Palace, near Versailles .

In 1932, Amelia suffered another bereavement - the death of Manuel's son. Thus, she became the last representative of the Portuguese branch of the Saxe-Coburg dynasty. During World War II, the government of Salazar offered Amelia political asylum, but she chose to stay in France. After the war ended, she paid a visit to Portugal. In 1945, the queen became the godfather of Don Duarte, the current Duke of Braganza, thus strengthening the reconciliation of the two branches of the royal family.

Queen Amelia died in France in her Bellevue palace. Her ashes were buried next to the remains of her husband and son in the mausoleum of the church of San Vicente de Fora in Lisbon . She remained the last queen of Portugal, since the monarchy was not restored.

• In 1892, Amelia received from the Pope Leo XIII an honorary award - the Golden Rose .
• During the reign of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, she was bestowed with a large cross of the Order of St. Catherine ^[3] .