Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón

Luis Fernando de Orleans y Borbón was born in Madrid on November 5, 1888, and died in Paris on June 20, 1945. He was a Spanish infante from the House of Bourbon. His aunt, the Spanish regent Maria Christina, granted him the rank of infante at birth. He retained the title until 1924, when his cousin, King Alfonso XIII, revoked it because of his conduct, which was considered scandalous and unbecoming. Luis Fernando was the second son of Infante Antonio de Orleans, 4th Duke of Galliera, and Infanta Eulalia of Spain, a daughter of Queen Isabella II. His parents were first cousins: their mothers, Isabella II and Infanta Luisa Fernanda, were both daughters of King Ferdinand VII. Luis Fernando’s paternal grandfather was Antonio de Orleans, Duke of Montpensier, while his maternal grandfather was Prince Consort Francis of Assisi. He had an older brother named Alfonso, known within the family as Ali. A sister named Roberta was born in 1890 but did not survive the birth. Luis Fernando was baptized on December 2, 1888, in the chapel of the Royal Palace of Madrid. His godparents were his uncle Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria and Infanta Paz of Bourbon. He was given the names Luis Fernando María Zacarías. During his childhood, his cousin Alfonso XIII was still a minor, and Luis Fernando grew up in an environment shaped by dynastic expectations. In 1899, Luis Fernando and his brother were sent to England to be educated at Beaumont College, a Jesuit school. They did not return to Spain until 1904. By then, their family circumstances had changed profoundly. After several years of mutual conflict and infidelity, their parents divorced in 1900. The separation caused a major scandal within the Bourbon family. Luis Fernando subsequently developed a distant relationship with his mother, who spent much of her time traveling throughout Europe. He broke off contact with his father, who at the time was involved in a turbulent relationship with Carmen Giménez Flores. Alfonso XIII later granted her the title of Viscountess of Térmens, causing further resentment on Eulalia’s part. Luis Fernando’s adult life was likewise marked by rumors and scandals. In July 1914, The New York Times unexpectedly reported that he had married a young British woman named Beatrice Harrington. It soon became clear, however, that this was a case of mistaken identity: the groom was actually Luis de Borbón, Duke of Ánsola, a distant relative of the infante. In October 1924, Luis Fernando was expelled from France after becoming involved in a drug-trafficking case. In response to the scandal, Alfonso XIII revoked his privileges and his rank as a Spanish infante on October 9 of that year. Luis Fernando protested the decision, but he could no longer remain in either Spain or France and moved to Lisbon. In March 1926, he was arrested again while attempting to cross the Spanish-Portuguese border disguised as a woman. He was charged with smuggling. In 1929, the press reported his alleged engagement to Mabelle Gilman Corey, a Broadway actress and the former wife of steel magnate William E. Corey. The wedding never took place. Instead, in July 1930, his engagement to Marie Constance Charlotte Say was announced. Marie Say, a great-niece of the economist Jean-Baptiste Say, was the widow of Prince Henri Amédée de Broglie and the owner of Chaumont Castle. She had inherited a sugar factory from her father, Constant Say. At the time of the engagement, Luis Fernando was 41 and Marie Say was 72. The planned marriage caused considerable controversy. Marie’s nephew, François de Cossé, Duke of Brissac, went to court on behalf of the family in an attempt to prevent the wedding. He argued that his aunt was no longer capable of making an independent decision about marriage. Marie Say replied that she had been considering marriage for twelve years but had postponed it because of her grandchildren. The court ruled that the duke had no legal right to prevent his aunt’s marriage. A commission of three doctors subsequently examined Marie’s mental condition and confirmed the court’s assessment. On July 19, 1930, Luis Fernando and Marie Say were married in a civil ceremony in London. A religious wedding followed in October at San Siro Cathedral in Sanremo, Italy. The couple settled there and lived in a house that Luis Fernando had been given by his mother. His relationship with Eulalia remained contradictory and changeable. Luis Fernando’s lavish lifestyle forced Marie Say to sell her castle and estates at Chaumont. In February 1935, he was expelled from France again after being arrested during a raid by the vice squad. His sexual orientation had been the subject of speculation for years, and because of his notably feminine appearance, people in Madrid disparagingly referred to him as the “king of homosexuals.” After largely exhausting his wife’s fortune, he left her and lived alone in Paris. He later became actively involved in the French Resistance. It was also reported that in 1938 he had been seen in Berlin wearing a yellow star sewn onto his jacket, after the National Socialists had forced Jews to wear this identifying mark. Marie Say died in 1943 at the age of 86 in her apartment on the Rue de Grenelle in Paris. Luis Fernando was living in a retirement home at the time. He died two years later, aged 57, in a Paris clinic from the consequences of an operation performed to treat cancer. He was buried in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Rue de la Pompe, known as the Spanish Church of Paris. From 1909 to 1924, Luis Fernando held the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III and was the first knight of the Royal Cavalry and Equestrian Order of Granada. In 2012, the first biography of him was published under the title El infante maldito.