Mercedes of Spain (1880-1904)

Youth

Infanta Mercedes was born on September 11, 1880 in the Royal Palace in Madrid , becoming the eldest daughter of the Spanish king Alfonso XII and his second wife Maria Cristina , born archduchess of Austria from the Teschen branch of the Habsburgs ^[1] . Father was a granddaughter of the Infante Francisco de Asis Bourbon and the exiled Queen Isabella II , by her mother Carl Ferdinand of Austria and Elizabeth of Austria of the Hungarian Habsburg branch. The princess was baptized under the name of Maria de las Mercedes Isabella Teresa Christina Alphonse de Bourbon and Habsburg-Lorraine ( Spanish María de las Mercedes Isabel Teresa Cristina Alfonso de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena ) ^[2] . Her grandmother, former queen Isabella, who had come specially from Paris for this event, became the newborn godmother. For a family, the birth of a girl was a big disappointment. Spouses and Spanish people hoped for the birth of a son and heir. Presumably, the Mercedes was named in memory of the first wife of Alfonso XII, Maria de las Mercedes of Orleans , who died of tuberculosis in 1878 ^[2] .

From birth, she became the heir of her father, but his disappointment was so great that at first he did not want to give her the title of heir, confining himself to the title of Infanta. Antonio Canovas del Castillo , the then head of the Spanish government, who did not like Queen Maria Cristina, the mother of Mercedes, did not want the woman to inherit the Spanish throne, due to the disastrous rule of Queen Isabella ^[3] .

However, on March 10, 1881, Mercedes still received the title of heiress from her aunt Isabella , the father's sister. Such a step was made under the pressure of the new government head Mateo Praxedes Sagasta . On November 12, 1882, Mercedes had a younger sister, Infanta Maria Teresa . After the birth of the second daughter, the marriage of parents began to fall apart, due to the absence of an heir. Alfonso married Maria Cristina only to continue the race, there was no love in him. By that time, Alfonso already had two sons (including Fernand San ), born out of wedlock by opera singer .

In July 1883, Maria Cristina left Spain with her daughters to visit relatives in Austria.

By the summer of next year, Alfonso’s condition worsened, he became ill with tuberculosis. After a short-term improvement, on November 25, 1885, the king died at the age of 27, and Mercedes nominally became the head of Spain under the regency of his mother. She was not proclaimed queen, since her mother was then pregnant with a third child. The birth of the third daughter would have made Mercedes the Queen of Spain, but on May 17, 1886, Maria Cristina gave birth to a boy who was proclaimed king the same day. Mercedes again became the heir to the throne, retaining its position until the end of life.

Education

The first public performance of the young Infanta was the announcement of her mother as a regent for her young brother. Maria Cristina held her hand during the procession. Education Princess of Asturias, along with her sister Maria Teresa received at the Royal Palace in Madrid. The education of the young children was led by their mother and aunt Isabella, the former heir to the throne ^[4] . The queen raised children strictly. Despite the status of the heir to the throne, Mercedes did not receive an education corresponding to the future queen, confining itself to the usual education that all members of the dynasty received. Infanta was taught to play the piano, she took drawing lessons, and Queen Maria Cristina taught her daughter royal duties at court. ^[5] Special attention was paid to religion ^[5] .

Mercedes was described as a serious girl, shy and inexpressive. She was more like a mother who had an elongated face, typical of many Hapsburgs ^[5] . The family spent summer time in the Miramam Palace in San Sebastian ^[5] . In her youth, Mercedes accompanied her mother on several trips abroad. This mainly related to visiting relatives. They visited Granny Isabella in Paris, Aunt Maria de la Paz in Munich and another granny Elizabeth in Vienna ^[5] .

In 1898, the political situation in Spain began to heat up due to the complicated American-Spanish relations and the war for the redistribution of colonies that began in 1898. Mercedes and her sister began to live more modestly, and their mother did not allow them to participate in Spanish public life. On May 9, 1899, Maria Cristina planned to hold a reception in the Royal Palace in honor of her daughters entering high society, but the holiday was postponed due to the war ^[6] . In the same year, Mercedes met her future husband Carl Bourbon-Sicilian , the second son of Alfonso Bourbon-Sicilian, Grafo di Caserta and his wife Marie Antoinette from the same house Bourbon-Sicily ^[7] .

Marriage

Prince Karl belonged to the ousted royal house of the Two Sicilies and arrived in Spain a few years before meeting Mercedes for military service. The meeting between Mercedes and Karl was not an accident - the prince was chosen to marry Queen Maria Cristina and Infanta Isabella. The widowed queen was his nephew. At court, it was considered obligatory to marry the heir to the throne against a representative from the Bourbon family, so that the throne would not be inherited by representatives of another royal house.

Prince Charles, who did not already belong to the ruling house, settled for permanent residence in Spain, transferred to Spanish citizenship, which only increased the chances of marriage. He changed his name to Spanish style, becoming Carlos. The prince also refused to inherit the Sicilian throne in the event of the restoration of the monarchy, being at that time the second in the line of succession after his father and older brother ^[8] .

Carlos was very serious, was smart and shy, and this attracted the attention of the heiress. On December 14, 1899, they announced their engagement. The Infanta immediately faced strong disapproval from the liberal and Republican parties, and Spanish society did not accept this marriage either. Such a negative was mainly connected not with Carlos himself, but with his father, who took part in the Carlist wars . There were fears that after marriage, Carlos would bring with it a new war, even his name - Carlos - was perceived negatively. In addition, the house of the Sicilian Bourbons was considered the most conservative among the Catholic dynasties, which clearly did not suit the liberals ^[9] .

Their union was disapprovingly written in Spanish newspapers, protesters gathered on the streets of Madrid , Seville and Granada . The archbishop of the city of Valladolid even wrote a letter to the queen, warning her about the consequences of such a union. The queen wrote to him in reply: “Monsignor, maybe it will be better for you to turn to prayers and other duties, and then we will avoid this catastrophe that you predict to us” ^[10] .

Mercedes itself expressed strong disappointment with such a negative reaction in a letter to her aunt Paz : “I am happy to marry him, but I am very sad. Who does all this? My mother suffers because of this ... all because his father fought with Don Carlos . Is this fair? ” ^[11] .

The situation in the capital marred by marriage ^[12] . On the wedding day, the main streets of Madrid were closed, and the Royal Palace was under close guard due to the huge number of protesters on the streets. No major incidents occurred and the wedding took place on February 14, 1901 in the chapel of the Royal Palace in Madrid ^[13] .

Death

The couple began to live in the Royal Palace, closer to the queen mother, who wanted to live alongside her daughters and participate in raising their grandchildren ^[14] . Union was happy. Three children were born in marriage:

• Don Alfonso, Prince of Bourbon-Sicilia , Infant of Spain (1901–1964) - Prince of Asturias in 1904-1907, was married to Alice of Bourbon-Parma , had three children;
• Fernando (1903-1905) - died in San Sebastian a year after the death of his mother.
• Isabella Alphonse, Princess of Bourbon-Sicily , Infanta of Spain (1904–1985) - the wife of Count Jan Zamoyski, had four children.

After the birth of two sons, Mercedes really wanted to have a daughter. In September 1904 she turned 24 years old. After that, she became very sick. She had appendicitis, which was first diagnosed as a simple bowel spasm. On October 16, she prematurely gave birth to a daughter, Isabella Alphonso ^[15] .

On the child's birthday, the state of Mercedes was extremely bad. When she gave birth to the child, the doctors first said that the child was dead, but it turned out to be wrong. Mercedes passed away the next day, October 14, 1904.

Three children of Mercedes remained to live in the Royal Palace with grandmother Maria Christina. The eldest son after the death of his mother inherited her title, transferring him in 1907 to Don Alfonso - the eldest son of King Alfonso XIII ^[16] .

Buried in the Escorial . After her death, Carlos entered into a second marriage with Louise of Orleans , who bore him a son and three daughters. Among them was Maria de las Mercedes - the mother of King of Spain Juan Carlos .

  - Order of Queen Maria Louise (Spain).

• Aronson, Theo. Royal Vendetta: The Crown of Spain 1829-1965. : [ eng ] . - London: The Bobbs Merrill Company, Inc., 1966.
• Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo. La Reina María Cristina: Madre de Alfonso XIII y Regente de España : [ isp. ] . - London: La Esfera de los Libros, 2007. - 424 p. - ISBN 9788497346382 .
• Puga, Maria Teresa. Ferrer, Eusebio. Rojas, Enrique. 20 Infantas de España: Sus vidas, entre las ilusiones y el destino : [ isp. ] . - Barcelona: Ed. Juventud, 1998. - 302 p. - ISBN 9788426130846 .

• Profile on Geneall.net (German)
• Profile on Thepeerage.com (eng.)