Prince Fernando of Orléans

Ferdinand d’Orléans, whose full name was Fernando María Enrique Carlos de Orleans y Borbón, was born on 29 May 1859 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain. He was a French prince of the House of Orléans and also an Infante of Spain. His life reflected the close connections between the French and Spanish royal families, as well as the political upheavals that shaped his family in the nineteenth century. Ferdinand was the eldest and sixth of the ten children of Antoine d’Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, and his wife, Louise-Fernande de Bourbon, a Spanish infanta. His name referred to Saint Ferdinand of Castile, whose feast day fell on the following day. His godparents were his paternal uncle Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, and Henri’s wife, Marie-Caroline. Through his father, Ferdinand was a grandson of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, who had lost his throne as a result of the Revolution of 1848. His mother was a granddaughter of Ferdinand VII, King of Spain. After the French Revolution of 1848, Ferdinand’s family settled in Seville. His parents initially lived there in the Palace of San Telmo, while the Orléans family also owned other estates in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Before Ferdinand’s birth, his maternal aunt, Queen Isabella II of Spain, had established a special arrangement. Since she did not yet have a surviving child, she decreed in 1850 that the children of her sister would bear the title of Spanish infantes. Ferdinand received this rank, as did his elder sisters. On 10 October 1859, he was officially made an Infante of Spain together with his father. Ferdinand spent most of his childhood in Seville and Sanlúcar. Of his parents’ ten children, only five besides Ferdinand reached the age of fourteen: Marie-Isabelle, Marie-Amélie, Marie-Christine, Mercedes, and Antoine. This high rate of child mortality shaped the family environment. As the eldest son, Ferdinand also carried his parents’ hopes, as they looked to him to play an important role in the family’s future. He began his education at the Palacio de las Dueñas in Seville. His tutor was Bruno Moreno, who worked as his father’s secretary and enjoyed his particular confidence. Moreno taught the young prince Spanish grammar and mathematics. Ferdinand received instruction in religion and biblical history from Don Juan Domingo Eguezabal, the chaplain of San Telmo. His education therefore combined secular subjects with the religious training considered important for a prince of his background. In 1868, the Spanish Revolution fundamentally changed the family’s life. Ferdinand and his relatives were forced to leave Spain and went into exile. They first lived in France, at Randan Castle, then in Lisbon, and later returned to France. Although the family briefly came back to Seville in 1870, it left Spain again before the end of that year. The political circumstances disrupted Ferdinand’s education and prevented him from continuing his studies with the Marist fathers at the Valldemia College in Mataró, Catalonia. At that time, Carlist patrols were active in the region, making a stay there unsafe. Instead, Ferdinand became a student at the Petit Séminaire of La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin in the French department of Loiret. He died there on 3 December 1873, aged only fourteen, from a sudden and severe case of measles. His early death ended the hopes his parents had placed in their eldest son. Ferdinand was buried in the royal chapel at Dreux, the traditional burial place of the House of Orléans. His tomb is located in the chapel’s northern ambulatory. A recumbent effigy created by Aimé Millet depicts him holding a book, recalling both his brief period of education and his status as a young prince. From his birth until 10 October 1859, Ferdinand held the title of Royal Highness, Prince Ferdinand de Orleans y Borbón. From that date until his death, he was styled Royal Highness Ferdinand de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain and Prince of Orléans. His honors included the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Charles III and the Order of the Golden Fleece, into which he was admitted as its 997th knight on 28 November 1859.