Prince Gaetan, Count of Girgenti

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Prince Gaetan
Count of Girgenti
Born(1846-01-12)12 January 1846
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Died26 November 1871(1871-11-26) (aged 25)
Lucerne, Switzerland
Burial
El Escorial, Madrid, Spain
Spouse
Infanta Isabella of Spain
(m. 1868)
Names
Maria Theresa of Austria

Prince Gaetan of the Two Sicilies, Count of Girgenti (

Isabella, Princess of Asturias, twice the recognized heir presumptive to the throne of Spain. Through this union, Gaetan was created an Infante
of Spain.

Marriage and later life

Painting (Circa 1856) by Prince Gaetan, with additions by Giacinto Gigante, of a church and fountain on the Neapolitan Coast

Gaetan married

Kingdom of Italy unified under the House of Savoy. The ceremony took place shortly before Spain's Glorious Revolution
which brought an end to Isabella II's reign.

Gaetan and Isabella's marriage proved unhappy. For two years, Gaetan traveled throughout Europe visiting relatives in major cities including Vienna. A troubled and depressed man, Gaetan experienced weak health and epilepsy. He had unsuccessfully attempted suicide at least once before shooting himself in the head in his hotel room in Lucerne, Switzerland. Isabella returned to Spain in 1874 and did not remarry. Their brief union produced no issue.[citation needed]

In the course of his short life Gaetan pursued an active military career, including commissions in the Bourbon Neapolitan army and subsequently, in exile, as colonel of a regiment of lancers in Austria. He also saw service with the Papal army, fighting against Garibaldi at the Battle of Mentana, 1867. During the 1868 revolution against Queen Isabella II of Spain, the Prince, aged only 22, commanded the Pavia Hussars regiment and fought at the Battle of Alcolea.[1]

Prince Gaetan's arms

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ The Foreign Correspondent. Newsletter of the Continental Wars Society. Issue 121. January 2019. Pages 3-4.