Amélie of Orléans
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| Amélie of Orléans | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Portugal | |
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| Tenure | October 19, 1889 – February 1, 1908 |
| Spouse | Carlos I |
| Issue | |
| Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal Manuel II Maria Ana de Bragança |
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| Full name | |
| Marie Amélie Louise Hélène | |
| House | House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House of Orléans |
| Father | Philippe, comte de Paris |
| Mother | Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans |
| Born | September 28, 1865 Twickenham |
| Died | October 25, 1951 (aged 86) Le Chesnay |
Amélie of Orleans (28 September 1865 – 25 October 1951) was the eldest daughter of Philippe, comte de Paris and his wife and cousin Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans. She was Queen consort of Portugal, and was known by her subjects by the name of Maria Amélia.
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[edit] Family
Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans and Duchess Helena Luisa Elizabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her maternal grandparents were Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain.
The Dukes of Orléans and Montpensier were siblings, both sons of Louis-Philippe of France and Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies.
[edit] Marriage
On 22 May 1886, Amélie married Prince Carlos of Portugal. He was the eldest son of Luís I of Portugal and Maria Pia of Italy. He was at the time the Heir apparent to the throne. The bride was almost twenty-one years old and the groom about twenty-three. The marriage had been arranged by their familys after several attempts to arrange a marriage for her with a member of the Austrian or Spanish dynasties. Amelie and Carlos came to live quite harmoniously with each other.
They had three children:
- Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza (21 March 1887 - 1 February 1908).
- Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal (born and deceased on 14 December 1887).
- Manuel II of Portugal (19 March 1889 - 2 July 1932).
[edit] Queen consort
Amelie played an active role as a queen, and somewhat softened the growing criticism towards the monarchy with her personal popularity, though she did recive some criticism for her expenses. She was active in many social projects, such as the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, and the foundation of charity organisations, sanatoriums and drugstores. She was considered less formal then her mother-in-law, learned Portuguese and is described as calm and soft. She was interested in litterature, Opera and theatre, she was a diarist and also painted. During the absence if her spouse in 1895, she acted as regent. In 1902, she made a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea, which was much criticised for its luxury.
In 1892 Pope Leo XIII gave a Golden Rose to Amélie.
On 19 October 1889, her father-in-law died and Carlos succeeded him on the throne. Amélie became the new Queen consort of Portugal. However her husband became known for his extramarital affairs while the popularity of the Portuguese monarchy started to wane as it was falsely accused to be the face of a bankrupt economy, industrial disturbances, socialist and republican antagonism and press criticism.
Trying to face political republican opposition growing in the major cities, and their revolutionary meanings to establish a republic on Portugal, in 1907, Carlos dissolved the Parliament and authorised João Franco, already Prime Minister of Portugal since 1906, to govern in parlamentarian dictatorship till order was restored. That was a usual democratic method used in the liberal parlamentarian regime in Portugal, since 1833, when the big parties could not agree as to Government. In January 1910, many high political personalities, committed to the revolutionary bombing intentions of the Republican Party, were arrested and judged in Lisbon, then sentenced to the colonies. General elections were settled to the month of April when the regicide occurred, and the general victory of the new party of João Franco was assured, and that could not agree nor the Republican Party, nor the two parties who alternate power in Portugal at the time, the Partido Progressista, and the Partido Regenerador.
[edit] Lisbon regicide
On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled in the royal train to Barreiro and from there took a boat to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais das Colunas in downtown central Lisbon' principal square Terreiro do Paço. On their way to the Palace of Necessidades, the carriage with Carlos I and his family passed through Rua do Arsenal (Arsenal Street). While crossing the square, and turning to the street several shots were fired from the crowd by at least two successful men: Alfredo Costa, Manuel Buiça, between many others. The King died immediately, his heir Prince Dom Luís was mortally wounded, Infante Dom Manuel hit in the arm and Queen Amélie surprisingly unharmed, after defending her youngest son, the new king Manuel II, with the flower bouquet she kept in her hand.
The two assassins more evident were shot on the spot by members of the bodyguard and later were recognized as members of the Portuguese Republican Party and of their masonic left-wing terrorist organisation Carbonária. About twenty minutes later, Prince Luis Filipe died and the next day, Manuel was acclaimed king of Portugal, the last one of the Braganza dynasty. Amélie became Queen Dowager after he married in exile in 1913 his cousin the German princess Queen Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern-Sigmarigen.
Manuel II of Portugal was deposed by a military coup, later known as the 5 October 1910 revolution, resulting in the establishment of the Portuguese First Republic. Queen Amélie left Portugal with the rest of the royal family and went into exile. She lived most of her remaining life in France. During the world War II she was offered to return to Portugal by the Portuguese government, but she declined the offer. She visited Portugal the last time in 1945.
She was the last reigning Queen consort of Portugal, as the monarchy has never been restored.
[edit] Ancestry
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amélie d'Orléans |
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Amélie of Orléans
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 28 September 1865 Died: 25 October 1951 |
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| Portuguese royalty | ||
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| Preceded by Maria Pia of Italy |
Queen consort of Portugal 19 October 1889 - 1 February 1908 |
Vacant |
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