María Francisca de Sales "Paca" de Palafox Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick, 16th Duchess of Peñaranda de Duero (29 January 1825 – 16 September 1860), also known as Paca de Alba, was a Spanish noblewoman and the sister of

Eugénie de Montijo ''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...

, Empress of the French. She was the 16th Duchess of Peñaranda de Duero in her own right and a

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

, and she inherited many other titles from her father. She was also

Duchess of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by ...

by virtue of her marriage to

Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 15th Duke of Alba Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Ventimiglia, 15th Duke of Alba, GE (3 June 1821, Palermo, Sicily – 10 July 1881, Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish nobleman. He was a brother-in-law of Napoleon III through his wife, sister of Empress Eugenie. Biog ...

Life and family

She was the elder daughter of

Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero, 8th Count of Montijo, GE, LH (15 September 178415 March 1839), was a Spanish nobleman, politician and army officer. He was the father-in-law of Napoleon III. Life and career Pro-French in his outlook, he foug ...

, 8th

Count of Montijo Count of Montijo ( es, Conde de Montijo) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain accompanied by the dignity of Grandee, granted in 1599 by Philip III to Juan Portocarrero, Lord of Montijo, mayordomo mayor and a knight of the Order of Sa ...

and 15th Duke of Peñaranda de Duero, and his wife,

María Manuela Kirkpatrick Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

(daughter of the Scottish-born U.S. consul to

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

), who provided inspiration for

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

's novella ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. Her younger sister,

Eugenia ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

, married French emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

in 1853 and became

Empress consort of the French This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technic ...

. While she was a child, her family moved to France. After her father's death in 1839, her mother moved back to Spain with the two girls. Her mother was desperate to get her and Eugenia married off, and the sisters became condescendingly known as ''las condesitas'' by

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

society. The 16th Marquis of Alcañices asked his eldest son,

José Osorio y Silva José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

(later the 9th Duke of Sesto), to take charge of introducing the sisters into society. He ended up falling in love with María, and the two remained friends after her marriage. To get closer to María, he became friends with Eugenia. However, Eugenia fell in love with him, and when she found out that her love was not requited, she attempted suicide with a concoction of phosphorus and milk. As the eldest child, María succeeded to her father's titles – as 16th Duchess of Peñaranda de Duero, 10th Marchioness of Valderrábano, 17th Marchioness of Villanueva del Fresno and Barcarrota, 13th Marchioness of la Algaba, 15th Marchioness of La Bañeza, 15th Marchioness of Mirallo, 14th Marchioness of Valdunquillo, 9th Countess of Montijo, 17th Countess of Miranda del Castañar, 18th Countess of Fuentidueña, 13th Countess of Casarrubios del Monte, 20th Countess of San Esteban de Gormaz, and 18th Viscountess of Palacios de la Valduerna. These titles were incorporated into the

House of Alba The House of Alba de Tormes ( es, Casa de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as the House of Alba, is a prominent Spanish noble family that descended from 12th-century nobility of post-conquest Toledo. The family's claim to Alba de Tormes dates fro ...

through her marriage to Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Ventimiglia, the heir of that house. They married in Madrid on 14 February 1848 and had three children: * Carlos María Fitz-James Stuart y Palafox, 16th Duke of Alba; married María del Rosario Falcó y Osorio, 12th Countess of Siruela. * María de la Asunción Fitz-James Stuart y Palafox, 3rd Duchess of Galisteo; married José Mesía Pando,

mayor of Madrid The Mayor of Madrid presides over the Madrid City Council, the government body of the capital city of Spain. The mayor has the duty of boosting the local policies, it directs the action of the other executive bodies, leads the Local Executive Admin ...

and 4th Duke of Tamames. * María Luisa Fitz-James Stuart y Palafox, 14th Duchess of Montoro; married Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Pérez de Barradas, 14th

Duke of Medinaceli Duke of Medinaceli () is an hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee. The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, created the title and awarded it on 31 October 1479 to ...

. She was made a Dame of the

Order of Queen Maria Luisa The Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa is an Order created by King Charles IV of Spain by royal decree on April 21, 1792, at the request of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their ...

. In 1859, she was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, although her symptoms suggest

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. Her sister wanted to get her out of Madrid and so sent her yacht to

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. Accompanied by their mother (unaware of the severity of the disease) and a doctor, she moved to Paris, where she died on 16 September 1860. Her funeral was held at the

Church of the Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

in Paris, and her remains were transported to Madrid. There, her friend José Osorio y Silva, who was the mayor of Madrid at that time, held a burial ceremony at the Hermitage of Santa María la Antigua, where she had expressed a wish to be buried. Her body was later moved to the family vault of the House of Alba at the Monastery of Inmaculada Concepción in

Loeches Loeches is a municipality of the Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Pl ...

, where it remains.

Bibliography

* Ana de Sagrera (1990). ''Una rusa en España: Sofía, duquesa de Sesto.'' Espasa-Calpe. . * David Baguley, ''Napoleon III and his regime - an Extravaganza.'' Louisiana State University Press, 2000. . * John Bierman, ''Napoleon III and his Carnival Empire.'' St. Martin's Press, 1988. . * Colin Carlin, ''William Kirkpatrick of Malaga'', The Grimsay Press, 2011.

External links

*
Genealogy of the House of Alba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portocarrero y KirkPatrick 1825 births 1860 deaths Dukes of Spain Marquesses of Spain Counts of Spain Viscounts of Spain Counts of San Esteban de Gormaz Maria Francisca People from Granada 19th-century Spanish women Spanish people of Scottish descent Grandees of Spain Spanish nobility