Princess Hélène of Orléans
Princess Hélène | |||||
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Duchess of Aosta | |||||
Born | York House, Twickenham, England | 13 June 1871||||
Died | 21 January 1951 Castellammare di Stabia, Italy | (aged 79)||||
Burial | |||||
Spouse | Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (m. 1895; died 1931)Colonel Otto Campini
(m. 1936) | ||||
Issue | Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta | ||||
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House | Orléans | ||||
Father | Prince Philippe, Count of Paris | ||||
Mother | Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain |
Princess Hélène of Orléans (
Family
Hélène was the third of eight children born to
Meanwhile, a close friend of the Count and Countess of Paris, Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari, placed at their disposal the ground floor and gardens of the Hôtel Matignon on the rue de Varenne in Paris.[1] Along the adjacent rue de Babylone the Duchess had a two-story town house built to accommodate the Orléans children, their governesses and tutors, which served as Hélène's home from 1876 until her father was again exiled.[1]
In 1883 the last legitimate prince in the male-line of Louis XV,
Potential matches
Most of Hélène's siblings had married well, including
Relationship with the Duke of Clarence
Clarence offered to renounce his succession rights if necessary, writing to his brother: "You have no idea how I love this sweet girl now, and I feel I could never be happy without her".[5] His mother agreed with the match, as did his father.
However Queen Victoria's fears of insurmountable opposition from multiple sources proved accurate.
Clarence never got over his feelings for Hélène and their relationship is commemorated at his tomb at Windsor Castle by a bead wreath with the single word "HELENE" written upon it.[5] Queen Victoria wrote to her grandson recommending another of her grandchildren, Princess Margaret of Prussia, as an alternative, but nothing came of that suggestion,[5] and Clarence told his grandmother that his love for another cousin, Alix of Hesse (a match for which the Queen had long hoped) had gone unrequited.[1] An engagement to Princess Mary of Teck was later arranged, but Clarence died before their wedding could take place.
Other potential suitors
Although acknowledging his parents' desires for a French alliance in his diary, the future Tsar
Marriage and children
On 25 June 1895, at the
The couple had two sons:
- Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (21 October 1898 - 3 March 1942)
- Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta who briefly reigned as King Tomislav II of Croatia. (9 March 1900 - 29 January 1948)
Widowed in 1931, Princess Hélène was married for a second time in 1936 to Colonel Otto Campini.
Avocations
In 1892 Hélène travelled with her brother Philippe to Egypt and Palestine, the first of many trips outside of Europe. After the breakdown of both her health and her marriage, Hélène began frequent trips to Africa which lasted up to ten months at a time. She travelled down the Nile, into the Congo, and through much of East Africa, as well as crossing the Sahara. During these trips she became known as a big-game hunter, a reputation bolstered by articles she wrote for Harper's Weekly and later full-length travel books which were illustrated with photographs she had taken. In 1913-1914 Hélène undertook a round-the-world trip which she recorded in another travel book.[8]
War-time Nurse
When the
Ancestry
Ancestors of Princess Hélène of Orléans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- ^ ISBN 2-35154-004-2.
- ^ Hanson, Edward (2020). "Another Orléans Princess: Hélène de France, Duchess of Aosta". British Historical Society of Portugal Annual Report. 47: 93. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "Royal Houses United", The Washington Post, 26 June 1895
- ^ a b "Duke D'Aosta's Bride", The Washington Post, 17 March 1895
- ^ a b c d e f Pope-Hennessy, pp. 196-199.
- ISBN 0-671-22242-2
- ^ Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 77, 84.85, 88-89
- ^ Hanson, The Wandering Princess, chapter 7 onwards.
- ^ Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 220-221, 227
Sources
- Pope-Hennessy, James (1959). Queen Mary 1867–1953. London: George Allen and Unwin Unlimited. ISBN 0-04-923025-5.
- Hanson, Edward (2017). The Wandering Princess: Princess Helene of France, Duchess of Aosta (1871–1951). Fonthill. ISBN 978-1-78155-592-7.