Marie Isabelle of Spain (Reign of Kings)

Marie Isabelle of Spain (21 September 1848 – 23 April 1919) a Spanish princess of the House of Braganza, was queen of France as the wife of Louis XVIII, and powerful regent of France during the minority of her son, Louis XIX. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the throne between her husband's death in 1871 and the birth of their son Louis XIX in May 1872, and subsequently also until the coming of age of the latter in May 1881.

Princess of Spain
Born at the Palace of the Counts of Benavente in Valladolid, Spain, and baptised María Isabel Francisca de Asís, she was the eldest daughter of Queen Maria Isabella and King Leopold. She held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her mother was queen of Portugal as well as Spain) and Princess of Brazil and Duchess of Braganza. Despite her Spanish birth, the rulers of Spain belonged to the senior branch of the House of Braganza.

Marie Isabelle was raised mainly at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid. Unusual for a royal princess, Marie Isabelle grew up close to her parents, who were very religious. She was raised to be religious too, and was often taken to visit monasteries during her childhood.

Queen of France
At age eleven, Marie Isabelle was betrothed to King Louis XVIII. To pay the dowry of the Princess, the Spanish Parliament allotted the sum of 40,000 crowns and her mother granted her a allowance of 8,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XVIII would die early, the Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. Prior to the marriage, Marie Isabelle renounced all succession rights she had for herself and her descendants by Louis, with a provision that she would resume her rights should she be left a childless widow.

On 18 October 1861, Louis and Marie Isabelle were married by proxy in Burgos while Louis's sister, Mercedes of France, and Marie Isabelle's brother, Alfonso XII, were married by proxy in Bordeaux.These marriages followed the tradition of cementing military and political alliances between France and Spain that began with the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Elisabeth of Valois in 1559 as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. Marie Isabelle and Mercedes were exchanged on the Isle of Pheasants between Hendaye and Fuenterrabía.

Marie Isabelle and Louis, both fourteen years old, were pressured to consummate their marriage in order to forestall any possibility of future annulment, but Louis ignored his bride. Marie Isabelle surrounded by her entourage of high-born Spanish ladies-in-waiting headed by Inés de la Torre, continued to live according to Spanish etiquette and failed to improve her French. As Queen, Marie Isabelle was considered by some as extravagant, but far more for her many charitable works in aid of the French people. She was known by the French people as an "angel of charity" and "mother of the poor" for her compassion and work on social causes. At a masquerade ball in 1865, she changed her costume three times. When the French parliament discussed her expenses, she replied saying "if you want a Queen, you have to pay for her". As Queen, she was largely responsible for the interiors of the Nouveau palais.

During the years he was in the ascendancy, Léon Faucher attempted to remedy the formal distance between Louis and his queen. He sent away Inés de la Torre and the other Spanish ladies and replaced them with French ones, Anne Debelle, Princesse d'Essling, and Pauline de Bassano, with whom he organized court events that would bring the couple together under amiable circumstances. Anne began to dress in the French manner, and in 1865 pressed the king to bed his queen. Marie Isabelle did not involve herself in politics, but she was influential in the formation of the alliance of the three kingdoms.

After giving birth to two female children—Amélie d'Mercedes (born 1865) and Hélène d'Thérèse (born 1869)—she ensured dynastic continuity, yet, with the threatening landmark for the ruling dynasty set by the previous Legitimists Wars, she was still pressured to undergo a new pregnancy and give birth to a male child in order to consolidate the political system, as it was considered at the time.

Public Life
Marie Isabelle was the head of the social scene. She loved to dance at the balls of high society, and she became a popular socialite and hostess of the Royal balls at Château de la Muette. Louis used to enjoy joining in with the musicians, although he would end up sending them off one by one. When that happened, Marie knew the party was over. She set the standard for contemporary fashion through her extravagant dress sense, becoming the most important patron of French haute couture and the flourishing luxury industries of France. Gowns, colors, and hairstyles "à l'impératrice" were avidly copied from the Queen throughout Europe and America.

She was famous for her large crinolines and for rotating her outfits throughout the day, with a different dress for the morning, afternoon, evening, and night. She never wore the same gown twice, and in this way commissioned and acquired an enormous wardrobe, which she disposed of in annual sales to benefit charity. Her favored couturier, Charles Frederick Worth, provided hundreds of gowns to her over the years and was appointed the official dressmaker to the court in 1869. In the late 1860s, she caused a shift in fashion by turning against the crinoline and adopting Worth's "new" slimmer silhouettes with the skirt gathered in the back over a bustle.

She traveled to Egypt to open the Suez Canal and officially represented her husband whenever he traveled outside France. In 1860, she visited Algiers with Louis. As part of her role as a member of French royalty, Anne visited churches and convents across France, where she met Marguerite de Veny d'Arbouze at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de la-Ville-d'Evêque. She was the patroness of the French Red Cross. During a cholera epidemic in the late 1870s, she visited the sick in hospitals.

In 1868, Queen Marie Isabelle visited the Dolmabahçe Palace in Constantinople, the home to Pertevniyal Sultan, mother of Abdülaziz, 32nd sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Pertevniyal became outraged by the forwardness of Marie Isabelle taking the arm of one of her sons while he gave a tour of the palace garden, and she gave the empress a slap on the stomach as a reminder that they were not in France. According to another account, Pertevniyal perceived the presence of a foreign woman within her quarters of the seraglio as an insult. She reportedly slapped Marie Isabelle across the face, almost resulting in an international incident.

Birth of an Heir
She became pregnant again before the death of her husband in November 1871 (the king suffered from tuberculosis yet he followed a hectic lifestyle). Months later, in May 1871, she would give birth to a male child, Louis, who reigned as Louis XIX upon his birth. The official newspaper Gazette de France called the birth "a marvel when it was least expected". She remained very active and continued with her social projects while holding a dominating position at court.

Regent of France
Designated as regent upon the death of her husband in 1871, Marie Isabelle swore on the Constitutional Charter of 1814 on 30 December 1871 at the Conciergerie, before parliament. When the King died on 25 November 1871, Marie Isabelle was pregnant, so the throne was vacant, depending on whether Maria Christina's unborn child was a male or a female; a male would make that child king, while a female would place the elder daughter and Princess of Asturias, Amélie de las Mercedes, on the throne. During this period, Marie Isabelle ruled as regent until her child Louis, a son, was born on 17 May 1871; he was King (Louis XIX) from birth. Marie Isabelle continued as regent until Louis XIX attained his majority in 1894.

Her chief adviser and head of government was Émile Ollivier. Her rule is described as well-balanced and in accordance with respect for constitutional rights, and many political reforms were instated during her regency to prevent political conflicts and chaos. Her role was mostly ceremonial, and her purpose was to preserve the crown for her son until he became an adult.

Her spell as regent saw the annexation of the Kingdoms of Madagascar, Tahiti, Raiatea, Huahine, and Bora Bora.

Queen Mother
In 1884, when her son Louis XIX officially came of age, her regency legally ended. After the marriage of her son with Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine in 1888, she took a secondary role in public events. Nevertheless, Louis XIX continued to look to her on many occasions for advice. Marie continued to live in the Château de Compiègne in Paris and at the Château de la Muette.