Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878) was Queen Consort of Spain, the first wife of Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier and of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain.

Family and upbringing

María de las Mercedes in 1874

She was born at the Palacio Real in Madrid, the sixth of her parents' nine children, none of whom died in infancy but only four of whom would live to the age of 20. Her mother's elder sister, the Queen regnant Isabella II and her King consort, Francisco de Asis de Borbón, served as Mercedes' godparents at her christening, when she was given the names: María de las Mercedes Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Felipa Amalia Cristina Francisca de Paula Ramona Rita Cayetana Manuela Juana Josefa Joaquina Ana Rafaela Filomena Teresa Santísima Trinidad Gaspara Melchora Baltasara et omni sancti.

Through her father, Mercedes was the granddaughter of Louis Philippe I, King of the French and of Princess Maria Amalia di Borbone, princess of the Two Sicilies. Through her mother, Mercedes was the granddaughter of King Fernando VII of Spain by his niece and fourth wife, María Cristina di Borbone, princess of the Two Sicilies. Thus, all four of Mercedes' grandparents belonged to the House of Bourbon, since the descendants of Louis XIII reigned in Spain, France (the Orleans branch 1830-1848), and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies).

Although Mercedes was patrilineally a French princess, she was also a Spanish infanta and spent the first eight years of her life in Spain. Her childhood was spent at the palace of San Telmo in Andalusia, her father's rumoured aspirations to obtain his sister-in-law's crown periodically rendering him unwelcome at the royal court in Madrid.

Marriage

When Queen Isabella II was deposed in 1868, Mercedes' family left Spain for exile. It was reportedly during that banishment, in 1872, that she met her first cousin, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, also living in exile.

Upon restoration, King Alphonso married Maria de la Mercedes at the church of Atocha, in Madrid on 23 January 1878, following a huge ball in December 1877. Allegedly the king's choice dashed the hopes of his still-exiled mother, Queen Isabella, for Alfonso's marriage to the Blanca de Borbón, daughter of his Carlist rival, Carlos, Duke of Madrid.

Death

Arms of Queen Mercedes of Spain.

However, shortly after their honeymoon, it became evident that the bride suffered from typhoid fever. The marriage would last only six months, during which she had a miscarriage. Queen Mercedes succumbed to the illness in Madrid two days after her 18th birthday, on 26 June 1878, having been unconscious for several days.

Her corpse was arrayed in the black and white vestments of a nun and she was buried at the Escorial, although not in the royal crypt where, by tradition, only queens who had given birth to a royal heir were interred.

Legacy

Queen Mercedes co-initiated the building of the Cathedral of la Almudena in Madrid, opposite the royal palace, construction beginning in 1883. In May 2004 Felipe, Prince of Asturias was wed there to Letizia Ortiz. Queen Mercedes' remains were re-interred there on 8 November 2000, in accordance with the wishes of her widower.

A town was named, in memoriam, Reina Mercedes, in the province of Isabela, which is named for Queen Isabella II, and is located in the Philippines, itself named (Las Filipinas) for King Felipe II.

When the king's minister Cánovas del Castillo suggested that he take a new wife, Alfonso acquiesced, choosing his late wife's sister, Infanta Maria Cristina de Orléans. But she, too, contracted tuberculosis, and died during the engagement period. In late 1879 he would marry Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria-Teschen, who would give him three children, one of whom, Alfonso XIII, was born after his own death and during whose minority Maria Christina would serve as queen regent of the realm.

Titles and styles

• 24 June 1860 - 23 January 1878 Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Mercedes of Spain, Princess of Orléans
• 23 January 1878 - 26 June 1878 Her Majesty The Queen