Princess Clémentine of Orléans
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Princess Clémentine of Orléans, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony (6 March 1817 – 16 February 1907) was the sixth child of ten and youngest daughter of Louis-Philippe, King of the French, and his wife Marie Amalie of the Two Sicilies. She was the mother of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.
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[edit] Early life
Marie Clémentine Léopoldine Caroline Clotilde d’Orléans, Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, was born on 6 March 1817 at the Château de Neuilly, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, soon after the Bourbon Restoration. She became a royal princess following her father's ascension to the French throne in 1830.
As a young woman, it was written that she "is represented to possess great beauty and accomplishments."[1] Clémentine was taught history by the radical historian Jules Michelet, who would spend lessons glorifying the French Revolution to his young student.[2]
[edit] Marriage
As a princess, Clémentine was sought after as a bride by royal families throughout Europe. In 1836, it was rumoured that Clémentine would marry her cousin, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, when the period of his widowhood expired.[1]
King Leopold II of Belgium organised the marriage of Clémentine and Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary, a cousin of Prince Albert, who married Queen Victoria.[3]
The contract of marriage between Clémentine and August was signed in Vienna on 24 February 1843 by the French Ambassador Charles Joseph, Comte de Flahaut, representing Clémentine and the Belgium Ambassador Baron O'Sullivan, representing August.[4]
Prior to the wedding, the couple sought to reside in Austria, and an application was made to Prince Metternich, to know on what footing the husband of Princess Clémentine would be received at the Court of Vienna.[5] The answer was that Princess Clémentine would be received as Princess of the Royal Family of the Bourbons but the Austrian Court would not recognise August as a Royal Highness.[5] In consequence, it was decided that Prince Augustus would reside in France, and that he would quit the Austrian service and enter that of France, although he was an Austrian subject.[5]
On 20 April 1843, Princess Clémentine married Prince August at the Château de Saint-Cloud, with much "of European royalty in attendance."[6] The couple had five children:
[edit] Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary | 28 March 1844 | 3 July 1921 | married his cousin, Princess Louise, daughter of King Léopold II of Belgium, on 4 February 1875; had issue |
| Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary | 8 August 1845 | 14 September 1907 | married Leopoldina of Brazil, younger daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, on 15 December 1864; had issue |
| Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary | 1846 | 1927 | married Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria, Palatine of Hungary and became the foremother of the so-called Hungarian branch of the Habsburg dynasty, on 12 May 1864; had issue |
| Princess Amelie of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary | 1848 | 1894 | married Maximilian Emanuel, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria; had issue |
| Ferdinand, Tsar of Bulgaria | 26 February 1861 | 10 September 1948 | married Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of Robert I of Parma, on April 20, 1893 had issue |
Described as "a woman of formidable character and ambition... Clémentine dominated her husband and spoilt her children. Having herself married no more than a wealthy but undistinguished prince, she sought thrones for her sons."[7]
[edit] 1848 and aftermath
The Revolutions of 1848 in France led to the end of her father's reign, forcing Clémentine and her family to flee France, although Clémentine and Auguste, after ensuring their children were safely away, mingled with the crowd on the Place de la Concorde during the abdication[8] before leisurely travelling to Versailles by train.[9] She then headed to Coburg, and then onto Vienna, where her husband was an officer with the Austro-Hungarian army.
Clémentine campaigned to regain the assets taken by decree from the Orléans by Louis Napoleon, seeking the return of the ancestral inheritance by, amongst other things, a letter writing campaign to the French media.[10] She publicly refused the offer from Emperor Napoleon of 200,000 francs, demanding instead the heritage of her fathers.[11]
While staying with Queen Victoria in July 1851, Clémentine had to cut short her visit to return to Spain when news arrived that her sons' tutor "had gone off his head".[12] Victoria fretted that she would share Clémentine's fate and revolution would end the British monarchy, and feared what would happen to her children.[13]
[edit] Clémentine and Ferdinand
Realising that she would never be queen, Clémentine turned her efforts to instilling in Ferdinand, her favorite child, the idea that, as a direct descendant not only of Louis-Philippe but of the Sun King, he deserved to be a king, of which country was not an important matter. As it turned out, that country was Bulgaria and Clémentine actively lobbied for Ferdinand's election as Prince of Bulgaria.[14]
Once installed as Prince, Clémentine then worked to ensure European recognition of Ferdinand, lobbying other heads of state, including Kaiser Wilhelm II and Ferdinand's suzerain, Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire. She was said to "cast a beneficent and civilizing glow around [Ferdinand], smoothing away many difficulties by her womanly tact and philanthropic activity."[15]
Clémentine also found time to design a royal crown for Ferdinand, which included a "requisite number of jewels from her own dressing case".[16] Unfortunately, Ferdinand made a number of alterations to the design but decided not to pay the painter for painting a portrait of the new crown, leading him to be sued by the painter in a Munich court.[16]
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Said to be "one of the cleverest royal ladies in Europe"[17], Clémentine was known for her "shrewd mind and a remarkable understanding of European politics and diplomacy", and was often sent by Ferdinand as his representative on diplomatic missions around Europe. An extremely wealthy woman, Clémentine made herself popular in her adopted homeland by showering money on Bulgaria, including a donation of four million francs towards the completion of a railway line linking Bulgaria to Europe's rail network.[14]
Clémentine also sought a suitable bride for Ferdinand and was said to be "anxious" to arrange a marriage between Ferdinand and Princess Helen of Orléans, the Comte de Paris's daughter, but Princess Helen demurred.[17]
[edit] Clémentine in later life
Increasingly deaf as she aged, Clémentine became dependent on an enormous ear trumpet and on people obligingly raising their voices for her. It became an occupational hazard of the Bulgarian court to be caught in long, loud conversations with Clémentine that she was reluctant to end. However, even well into her eighties, Clémentine often traveled to Paris to study the latest fashions.[17]
A friend of Queen Victoria, Clémentine would lunch with Victoria, particularly at Coburg when Victoria would visit her German relatives.[18]
In February 1896, Clémentine was reported to have "broken off relations" with Ferdinand following Ferdinand's consent to have his son Boris baptised into the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.[19]
In 1899, her daughter-in-law Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma died following complications from the birth of daughter Nadeja[20] and Clémentine assumed responsibility for the education of Crown Prince Boris.
Following the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903 and the resultant increase in refugees, Clémentine co-ordinated the humanitarian response, gathering donations from throughout Europe, including 2000 Francs from Kaiser Wilhelm II.[21]
[edit] Death and legacy
Clémentine suffered from inflammation of the right lung in February 1898 and, while there were fears for her health,[22] she was able to recover satisfactorily.[23]
In early February 1907, Clémentine was struck with a bout of influenza, which, considering her age, was feared to be terminal.[24] Clémentine was reported to have recovered from this bout "so that all danger has passed"[24] but remained weak.
Clémentine died in Vienna on 16 February 1907, at the age of eighty-nine.[25] Her influence on Ferdinand was so pronounced that people began to predict his downfall. She was buried in Coburg, with an inscription on her memorial reading "King's daughter, no Queen herself, yet King's mother."
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[edit] Sources
- Aronson, T. (1986) Crowns in conflict: the triumph and the tragedy of European monarchy, 1910-1918, J. Murray, London. ISBN 0-7195-4279-0.
- Barman, R. (2002) Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825-1891, Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4400-9.
- Constant, S. (1979) Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria, Sidgwick and Jackson, London. ISBN 0-283-98515-1.
- de Saint-Amand, I. (1895) The Revolution of 1848, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
- Longford, E. (1987) Victoria R.I., George Weidenfeld & Nicholson Ltd, London. ISBN 0-297-17001-5.
- Mansel, P. (2001) Paris Between Empires, Phoenix, London. ISBN 1 84212 656 3.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, "From the Latest London Papers", 13 September 1836, p. 3
- ^ Mansel, p. 311
- ^ The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, "Their Majesties will come to town on the 29th", 29 May 1838, p. 3
- ^ Courier (Hobart), "Isle of France", 15 September 1843, p. 4
- ^ a b c The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Leavitt, Trow, & Co., v. 1 (Jan. - Apr. 1843), p 431
- ^ Court and Lady's Magazine, Monthly Critic and Museum, "MARRIAGE OF H.R.H. THE PRINCESS CLEMENTINE of ORLEANS, TO PRINCE AUGUSTUS OF SAXE-COBURG GOTHA", June 1843, p. 110
- ^ Barman, p. 156
- ^ de Saint-Amand, p. 211
- ^ de Saint-Amand, p. 277
- ^ The Moreton Bay Courier, "British and Foreign", 1 November 1856, p. 4
- ^ News of the World, "Protest of the Princess Clémentine", 13 July 1856, p. 2
- ^ Longford, p. 217
- ^ Longford, p. 197
- ^ a b Constant, S., Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria (Sidgwick and Jackson 1979)
- ^ Forbes, N., Toynbee, A. Mitrany, D. & Hogarth, D. (2009) The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Romania and Turkey Globusz Publishing, New York http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Balkans/00000022.htm Accessed 15 February 2009
- ^ a b News of the World, "Gossip of the Day", 9 December 1900, p. 6
- ^ a b c The London Journal, "Princess Clementine of Orleans", 8 July 1893, p. 11
- ^ The Times, "The Queen at Coburg", 24 April 1894, p. 5
- ^ The Brisbane Courier, "Baptism of Prince Boris", 8 February 1896, p. 5
- ^ Marlborough Express, "Death of a Princess", 3 February 1899, p. 2
- ^ Hawera and Normanby Star, "The Balkans", 3 December 1903, p. 2
- ^ The Times, "Court Circular, 12 February 1898, p. 12
- ^ The Times, "Court Circular", 17 February 1898, p. 6
- ^ a b The Times, "Court Circular", 5 February 1907, p. 7
- ^ New York Times, "Princess Dead Aged 89", 17 February 1907, p. 9
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