Infanta María del Pilar of Spain
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Infanta María del Pilar of Spain | |
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Isabella II of Spain |
Infanta María del Pilar of Spain (
At the age of seven, Pilar accompanied her mother into exile in
There was a project to marry Pilar to
Early life
Born on 4 June 1861 at the
The Queen paid little attention to the King, who was considered effeminate and whom she had been forced to marry at age sixteen. However, during their dysfunctional marriage, Queen Isabella was pregnant twelve times. Historians and biographers have come to believe that King Francisco was the biological father of few if any of the Queen's children. Their paternity has been attributed to Isabella's various lovers. Between 1859 and 1865, Isabella's romantic attentions centered in the diplomat and politician Miguel Tenorio de Castilla (1818-1912). Twelve years older than Isabella, Tenorio arrived at the court of Madrid in April 1859 as secretary to the Queen. He was a widower with a son and with an extensive political career. His relationship with Isabella was placid and he served her with loyalty and efficiency. In August 1865, he was dismissed from his post as both Leopoldo O'Donnell, president of the government, and his successor, Ramón María Narváez, were weary of the influence Tenorio had over the Queen. Tenorio is frequently assigned the paternity of three of the Queen's daughters, Infantas Pilar, Paz and Eulalia. However, King Francisco recognized as his all of the children born during his troubled marriage. Four daughters and one son survived infancy. Infanta Pilar was his favorite and the one to whom he felt closer.
Infanta Pilar spent her early year in the formal atmosphere of the Spanish court. Until age four, she was raised by a wet nurse who had been carefully chosen. At the age of seven, her education was placed under the supervision of the Duchess of Berwick and Alba. By that time, the stability of Isabella II's reign was shaky. Isabella lost, in quick succession, the two most prominent politicians of her government. Leopold O'Donell died in November 1867 and Narvaez in April 1868, while still presiding over the government. In summer 1868, after spending some days in the
Exile
The first home of the Spanish royal family in exile was the Château de Pau, a renaissance castle that had been the birthplace of Pilar's ancestor Henry IV of France. The Château de Pau was conveniently located close to the Spanish border and it was given to them as temporary residence by Napoleon III. As the castle was very uncomfortable, the deposed Spanish royals lived there no more than a month. Isabella II decided to settle in Paris where she bought the Palace Basilweski in the avenue du Roi-de-Rome. Located near the Arc de Triomphe, the Palace Basilweski was renamed the Palace of Castille and became the home in exile for Infanta Pilar and her family.[citation needed]
Away from the formality of the Spanish court, life in exile allowed more freedom to Infanta Pilar and her sisters. They became the first Spanish princesses no to be educated under the confines of a palace. Infantas Pilar, Paz and Eulalia were enrolled at the Sacré-Coeur, a Catholic school run by nuns in la rue de Varnnes. Although the Sacré-Coeur was a boarding school, the three infantas went to class there daily while remaining living at the Palace of Castile. French soon became their first language. Isabella II, who resented that her own mother had neglected her, was devoted to her children. The reduced household and the proximity brought by the exile made the relationship between the Queen and her three younger daughters closer. Pilar's brother was sent to study in Vienna while their eldest sister lived in Switzerland with her husband.[citation needed]
On the second anniversary of their arrival in France, the fall of the monarchy of Napoleon III and the disturbances in Paris forced Queen Isabella and her children to leave the city on 29 September 1871. They spent the next year living at the Hotel de la paix in Geneva, Switzerland. On 26 November 1871, Pilar's brother-in-law, the Count of Girgenti, committed suicide. In August 1872, a month after the commune was dissolved, the Queen decided to return to Paris. Their residence, the Palace of Castille, had survived the disturbances. However, used as a hospital, its interiors and decorations had been destroyed requiring extensive renovations. Back in Paris, Pilar, who was eleven year old, returned to take classes at the Sacré-Coeur for two more years, leading a quiet family life. During a visit to Rome in 1873, Infanta Pilar and her sisters received their first communion from the hands of Pope Pius IX.[citation needed]
On 29 December 1874, Infanta Pilar's brother became King Alfonso XII after a
Return to Spain
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, President of the Council of Ministers, finally authorized the return of Queen Isabella in the summer 1876. After almost eight years living in exile, Infanta Pilar arrived from France by sea, landing in Santander on 30 July 1876. She had turned fifteen years old the previous month. King Alfonso and the Princess of Asturias welcomed their mother and sister, but they left the city the same night. Pilar, with her mother and younger sisters, remained in Santander. They made a trip to Ontaneda to go sea bathing and later traveled from Santander to El Escorial by train. On 13 October, they visited Madrid for seven hours. Isabella II was not allowed by the government to live in Madrid so Pilar, her mother and sisters stayed at El Escorial until the Queen decided to settle with her younger daughters in Seville.
For almost a year, between November 1876 and September 1877 Pilar lived with her mother and sisters at the
In the fall 1877, a new life began for Infanta Pilar at the Royal Palace of Madrid where she had been born sixteen years earlier. Her education continued there under the supervision of her sister Isabella. The three young infantas lived in a wing of the royal palace separated from their two eldest siblings. This arrangement gave them some independence. Their care was supervised by the Marchioness of Santa Cruz. Pilar and her sister Paz, only one year her junior, were particularly close.
Prospects of a marriage
On 23 January 1878, at the
Infanta Pilar was third in the line of succession as neither King Alfonso nor Isabella, Princess of Asturias, had children by then. With no direct heir to the throne of Spain, it was a matter of urgency to find a husband for Pilar. Since the years of exile in Paris, it had been a cherished project between Queen Isabella II and her friend
Pilar was hoping to marry the Prince Imperial. They had met as children when Pilar and her sister were sometimes invited to play with him at the Tuileries Palace. The prince was then living in exile in England. He was due to pay an official visit to Madrid on his return from South Africa, where he was fighting with the British troops in the Anglo-Zulu War. Before his return, he was killed in South Africa on 1 June 1879. Pilar was deeply distraught by his death. She outlived him by only two months.
Death
In the early summer 1879 it was organized that Pilar, Paz and Eulalia would spend some time in Eskoriatza, a small town known for its hot springs of mineral waters. On 10 July they arrived in Eskoriatza in the province of Gipuzkoa after a long and tiresome journey. In the following weeks, the sisters rested, leading a peaceful life dedicating their time to walks around the country side and reading. Infanta Paz noticed that Pilar looked pale and tired but since the sisters read each other's letters, Paz did not write about it to their eldest siblings to avoid alerting Pilar.
On 1 August the local people arranged a small fiesta in Pilar's honor. Wearing a white dress, and with a red beret on her head, Pilar attended the rustic fete and enjoyed its simple pleasures: donkey rides, bullocks and open-air dancing. That night, she complained of feeling tired. On 3 August, Pilar did not feel well and she stayed in bed all day. At night while she was reading Graziella by Alphonse de Lamartine, she had an acute attack of convulsions, lost consciousness, and never woke up again. She died, probably of tuberculous meningitis. However, the official medical report was diagnosed with serious effusion. She was buried a few days later in El Escorial.
Pilar's siblings Alfonso and Isabella arrived too late to see her alive. "Everyone", wrote Paz afterwards, "loved Pilar best of all". On the day of the Prince Imperial's death, 1 June 1879, a pressed violet - the flower of the
Empress Eugenie wrote from
Infanta Paz, who was seventeen at the time, was deeply affected by her sister's death. Years later, Paz married
Titles, styles and honours
- 4 June 1861 – 5 August 1879: Her Royal Highness Infanta María del Pilar of Spain
- : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa[citation needed]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Infanta María del Pilar of Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- ^ Rubio, La Chata, p. 187.
Bibliography
- Aronson, Theo. Venganza real: la Corona de España, 1829–1965. Ed.Grijalbo, 1968.
- Baviera, S.A.R. Princesa Pilar de; Chapman-Huston, Comandante Desmond. Alfonso XIII. Col. "Z"
- Infanta Paz. Cuatro revoluciones e intemedios: Setenta años de mi vida. Espasa-Calpe, Madrid, 1935.
- Infanta Eulalia; Memorias de Doña Eulalia de Borbón, Infanta de España (1864–1931). Ed. Juventud, 1954.
- Rubio, María José. La Chata: La Infanta Isabel de Borbón y la Corona de España. Madrid, La Esfera de los Libros, 2003. ISBN 84-9734-350-6
External links
Media related to Infanta María del Pilar of Spain at Wikimedia Commons