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es, María Luisa de Orleans e Inglaterra , house =
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
Palais Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France , death_date = , death_place = Royal Alcázar,
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, burial_place =
El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...
, father =
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans ''Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria. His elder brother was the "Sun King", Louis XIV. Styled Duke of Anjou from birt ...
, mother =
Henrietta of England Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644 O.S. N.S.">New_Style.html" ;"title="6 June 1644 New Style">N.S.– 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria. Fleeing England with her mother and g ...
, religion =
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Marie Louise d'Orléans ( es, María Luisa de Orleans; 26 March 1662 – 12 February 1689) was
Queen of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
as the wife of King Charles II. She was born ''petite-fille de France'' as the daughter of Duke Philippe I of Orléans and
Princess Henrietta of England Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644 O.S. N.S.">New_Style.html" ;"title="6 June 1644 New Style">N.S.– 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria. Fleeing England with her mother and go ...
. Marie became the Queen of Spain on 19 November 1679, and remained in her post until her death in 1689 from the presumed cause of
appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...
.


Life


Childhood

Marie Louise d'Orléans was born at the
Palais Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...
in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. She was the eldest daughter of Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans and of his first wife,
Princess Henrietta of England Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644 O.S. N.S.">New_Style.html" ;"title="6 June 1644 New Style">N.S.– 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria. Fleeing England with her mother and go ...
. As a '' petite-fille de France'' she was entitled to the attribute of ''
Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled '' Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it t ...
,'' although, as was customary at court at the
palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
, her style, ''Mademoiselle d'Orléans'', was more often used. Charming, pretty and graceful, Marie Louise, who was her father's favourite child, had a happy childhood, residing most of the time in the Palais Royal, and at the
château de Saint-Cloud The Château de Saint-Cloud was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. On the site of the former palace is the state-owned Parc de Saint-Cloud. The château was expand ...
situated a few kilometres west of Paris. Marie Louise spent a lot of time with both her paternal and maternal grandmothers—
Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unt ...
, who doted on her and left the bulk of her fortune to her when she died in 1666; and
Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...
, who lived in
Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest ci ...
. Marie Louise's mother died in 1670. The following year, her father married
Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate (german: Prinzessin Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz), (french: Princesse Élisabeth-Charlotte du Palatinat); known as Liselotte von der Pfalz, 27 May 1652 – 8 December 1722) was a German m ...
. All her life, Marie Louise would maintain an affectionate correspondence with her stepmother.


Queen

In July 1679, Marie was informed by her father, Philippe, and uncle, King Louis XIV of her betrothal to
Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...
. Distressed by the arranged marriage, Marie spent most of her time weeping, since she had fallen in love with her cousin Louis. The
proxy marriage A proxy wedding or proxy marriage is a wedding in which one or both of the individuals being united are not physically present, usually being represented instead by other persons. If both partners are absent a double proxy wedding occurs. Marriage ...
took place at the
Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence f ...
on 30 August 1679; standing for the groom was Mademoiselle d'Orléans' distant cousin Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti. Until mid-September there were a series of formal events held in honour of the new Queen of Spain. Marie Louise went to the convent of
Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of he ...
, before her departure, where the heart of her mother was kept. She would never return to France. On 19 November 1679, Marie Louise married Charles in person in Quintanapalla, near
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...
, Spain. This was the start of a lonely existence at the Spanish court. Her new husband had fallen in love with her and remained so until the end of his life. However, the confining etiquette of the Spanish Court (e.g., touching the Queen was forbidden) and unsuccessful attempts to bear a child caused her distress. Her most frequent companion was the French ambassadress, Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, the Marquise de Villars. Unlike the fashionable palaces at Versailles, Saint-Cloud and Paris, her new residences were the forbidding '' Real Alcázar de Madrid'' and the even more stark '' Palacio del Buen Retiro—''a country palace where Marie Louise was allowed to stable her French horses. She also spent time in the ''
Palacio Real de Aranjuez The Royal Palace of Aranjuez ( es, Palacio Real de Aranjuez) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family. It is located in the town of Aranjuez (Madrid), Spain. Established in the 16th century as a royal hunting lodge, the pala ...
'', south of Madrid. After ten years of marriage the couple had no children. Marie Louise confided to the French ambassador, that
''she was really not a virgin any longer, but that as far as she could figure things, she believed she would never have children.''
During the last years of her life she became overweight. She was reportedly fond of sweetened lemon and cinnamon drinks, the making of which required 32 pounds of sugar. After horseback riding on 11 February 1689, she felt a severe pain in the abdomen which forced her to lie down the rest of the evening. After doctors found that her condition had become mortal, confessors were called in to save her soul. On her deathbed, she spoke to her husband the following words:
Many women may be with His Majesty, but none will love him more as I do G. Maura y Gamazo, Vida y Reinado... op. cit., p. 342
She died the following night.


Aftermath

The death of Marie Louise left her husband heartbroken. There were rumours that she had been poisoned by the notorious ''intrigante''
Olympia Mancini Olympia Mancini, Countess of Soissons (French: ''Olympe Mancini''; 11 July 1638 – 9 October 1708) was the second-eldest of the five celebrated Mancini sisters, who along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, were known at the court of Ki ...
, comtesse de Soissons, at the behest of her mother-in-law, the dowager queen
Mariana of Austria Mariana of Austria ( es, Mariana de Austria) or Maria Anna (24 December 163416 May 1696) was Queen of Spain as the second wife of her uncle Philip IV of Spain from their marriage in 1649 until Philip died in 1665. She was then appointed regent fo ...
, because of Marie Louise's childlessness. Mariana and Marie Louise had, however, not been known to be estranged and the elder queen appeared devastated at the young queen's death. It seems likely that the real cause of Marie Louise's death was
appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...
.


Ancestry


References


Sources

* * * * *Lurgo, Elisabetta (2021). ''Marie-Louise d'Orléans. La Princesse oubliée, nièce de Louis XIV.'' Paris, Perrin. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Louise of Orleans 1662 births 1689 deaths Royal consorts of Naples Royal consorts of Sicily Spanish royal consorts House of Orléans House of Bourbon (Spain) 17th-century House of Habsburg Nobility from Paris Princesses of France (Bourbon) 16th-century French people Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial