Prince Luis of Orléans

Luis Maria Felipe de Orléans y Borbón was a Spanish infante who lived for only a few years. He was born on April 30, 1867, at the Palacio de San Telmo in Seville, the residence of his parents, Antonio de Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, and Luisa Fernanda de Borbón. His mother was a sister of the Spanish queen Isabel II. Before his birth, a royal decree dated April 8, 1867, established that her future nephew would enjoy the privileges of a Spanish infante. Luis was the tenth and last child of his parents. His siblings included María Isabel, who married her cousin Felipe de Orléans, Count of Paris, and had eight children, as well as María Amalia and María Cristina. Both sisters died young of tuberculosis. Another sister, María de la Regla, had already died in childhood. The family also had a stillborn son. Luis’s older brother Fernando María Felipe, considered his parents’ favorite child, died of measles in 1873. His sister María de las Mercedes later became queen of Spain through her marriage to her cousin Alfonso XII, though the couple had no children. Another brother, Felipe Raimundo María, also died as a child. The eldest surviving brother, Antonio María Luis, became a Spanish infante and Duke of Galliera. He married his cousin, Infanta Eulalia, later separated from her, and led an eccentric life. Luis’s early childhood unfolded during a period of political upheaval. When he was one year old, the Revolution of 1868 overthrew his aunt Isabel II. The queen went into exile with her family. The Montpensier family initially remained in Spain. In 1870, Luis’s father attempted to become a candidate for the Spanish throne. However, a duel with Enrique de Borbón, which ended with his opponent’s death, and the election of Amadeo of Savoy as king changed the political situation. The following year, the Montpensier family also went into exile in France. At that time, France was a republic, and Luis’s father owned Randan Castle there. Luis was particularly frail in health. His weak and delicate constitution shaped the brief course of his life. Whenever his parents and siblings traveled to Paris, he usually remained at Randan Castle, where he was cared for by wet nurses. His family circumstances and the political situation meant that his childhood was spent largely around the family residences and in the setting of his relatives’ French exile. On May 21, 1874, Luis died at the age of seven at Randan Castle, his parents’ French residence. His death came only five months after that of his brother Fernando, and the family later had them buried together in the royal chapel at Dreux. A reclining statue of a child also commemorates Luis there. The work, depicting a veiled child, was created by the sculptor Aimé Millet and is titled “L’Enfant voilé.” Luis thus remained a short-lived member of the Spanish Bourbon family, whose childhood was shaped by dynastic connections, political upheaval, and the exile of his relatives.