Princess Claude of Orléans
| Princess Claude | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| prev. Duchess of Aosta | |||||
| Born | 11 December 1943 Larache | ||||
| Spouse | Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta | ||||
| Issue | Princess Bianca Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia Princess Mafalda | ||||
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| House | House of Orléans (by birth) House of Savoy (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Henri, comte de Paris | ||||
| Mother | Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| French royal family Orléanist |
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Princess Claude of Orléans (Claude Marie Agnès Catherine; born 11 December 1943) is a French princess of the House of Orléans. She is the former wife of Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, a disputed head of the House of Savoy. Claude was the third Orleanist Princess to hold the title Duchess of Aosta.
Biography
Family
Princess Claude was born in Larache as the ninth child and fifth daughter of Henri, comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza.[1]
She is the sister of Prince Henri, Count of Paris, the current Orleanist pretender to the French throne, as well as Diane, Duchess of Württemberg, and Prince Jacques, Duke of Orléans. They grew up together on an estate outside Lisbon, Portugal.[2]
Marriage and issue
On 22 July 1964 in Sintra, Portugal, Princess Claude married Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta. [3] He was the only son of Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark. His father had been recognized by some as Tomislav II of Croatia, making Amedeo his titular heir for a short period.
During the time of their wedding, Amedeo was a student at the Morosini Naval College in Venice, where his father had also attended.[1] The couple met while attending the wedding of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Sofia of Greece and Denmark in May 1962 in Athens.[2] They announced their engagement on 4 October 1963.[1] The couple married in a parish church twelve miles from Lisbon.[2] The wedding had been planned for earlier in the month, but was rescheduled after former king Umberto II of Italy (uncle of the groom) needed time to recover from an abdominal operation.[4] The wedding was attended by 300 guests, including Umberto and Prince Juan Carlos and his wife Princess Sofia.
They had three children together:
- Princess Bianca Irene Olga Elena Isabella Fiorenza Maria of Savoy (b. 2 April 1966); married Gilberto Carbonello Tiberto Maria, Count Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga, and has issue.
- Prince Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amedeo Elena Maria Fiorenzo, Duke of Apulia (b. 13 October 1967); married Princess Olga Isabella of Greece, daughter of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, and has issue.
- Princess Mafalda Giovanna Shams Maria Fiorenza Isabella of Savoy (b. 20 September 1969); married, firstly, Don Alessandro Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau dei principi di Palazzolo (nephew of Queen Paola of Belgium), divorced without issue. Mafalda married, secondly, Francesco Ferrante Carlo Napoleone, 10th Baron Lombardo di San Chirico[5] and has issue.
Divorce
Amedeo and Claude officially separated from each other 20 July 1976. They received a civil divorce 26 April 1982, and an ecclesiastical annulment from the Roman Rota 8 January 1987. Amedeo remarried to Silvia Paternò di Spedalotto later that year. Silvia is now the current holder of the style Duchess of Aosta. Claude reverted to her previous style of Princess of France, as a daughter of the Orleanist claimant Henri, comte de Paris.
Ancestry
References
- ^ a b c "Princess of Orléans Fiancée of a Prince", The New York Times, Paris, 5 October 1963
- ^ a b c "Princess Claudia Bride in Portugal", The New York Times, Sao Pedro de Sintra, Portugal, 22 July 1964
- ^ "The Aosta Knots and Stars Tiara". A Tiara a Day.
- ^ "Royal Wedding Set July 22", The New York Times, Lisbon, 17 June 1964
- ^ Lombardo di San Chirico