Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain (3 October 1911 – 11 September 1953) was a German-Spanish princess. She was the third wife of Georgian Prince Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani. Through her father,

Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria Prince Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (Ferdinand Maria Ludwig Franz von Assisi Isabellus Adalbert Ildefons Martin Bonifaz Joseph Isidro; 10 May 1884 – 5 April 1958) was a prince of the House of Wittelsbach and Infante of Spain, the eldest son and ...

, she was a member of the Bavarian

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

. Through her mother, Infanta María Teresa of Spain, she was a granddaughter of

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

and niece of

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

Early life

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain, was born on 3 October 1911 at the Palace of the Cuesta de la Vega,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, to

and Infanta María Teresa of Spain. Her parents were first cousins, both grandchildren of

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

. Prior to her birth, her uncle,

King Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII ( Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also ...

, declared that any children born of her parents' marriage would be ''

Infante Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

s'' or ''Infantas'' of Spain. She was christened ''María de las Mercedes Teresa María de la Paz Fernanda Adalberta Cristina Antonia Isidra Raimunda Josefa Jesusa Fausta Francisca de Borja y Todos los Santos'' on 11 October 1911 at the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid () is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Eu ...

. Her godparents were

Infanta María de la Paz of Spain Infanta María de la Paz of Spain (23 June 1862 – 4 December 1946) was a Spanish infanta. A daughter of Queen Isabella II, she married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived the rest of her life in Germany, dedicating her time ...

(her paternal grandmother) and Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (her paternal uncle, for whom

Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Don Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (Full Italian language, Italian name: ''Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi, Principe di Borbone dell ...

stood proxy). She had two elder brothers, Luis Alfonso (1906–1983) and José Eugenio (1909–1966), and one younger sister, María del Pilar (1912–1918). Her mother died in 1912. Her father remarried her late mother's lady-in-waiting, Doña María Luisa de Silva y Fernandez de Henestrosa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina. Following the establishment of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

in 1931, the family fled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Marriage and issue

On 29 August 1946, Infanta María de las Mercedes married Prince

Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani Irakli Bagration-Mukhraneli ( ka, ირაკლი ბაგრატიონ-მუხრანელი; 21 March 1909 – 30 October 1977) was a Georgian prince of the Mukhrani branch of the former royal dynasty of Bagrationi. Early life ...

at the

Miramar Palace The Miramar Palace (, also known as or ; ) is a late 19th-century palace located on the La Concha Bay of the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. It was built in 1893 commissioned by the Spanish royal family, based on an 1889 project ...

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. On the advice of

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (; 21 April 1992) was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia, a position which he claimed from 1938 to his death in 1992. Early life Vladimir was born Prince Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia at Porvoo in ...

Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), was a claimant to the Spanish throne as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII o ...

, head of the Spanish royal family in exile, recognised the union as dynastic. Consequently, her children were in the line of

succession to the Spanish throne Succession to the Spanish throne follows male-preference cognatic primogeniture. A dynast who marries against the express prohibition of the monarch and the Cortes Generales, the legislative chamber of Spain, is excluded from the succession. Up ...

. In 1948, Irakli's sister

Leonida Leonida is a given name and a surname which may refer to: * Leonida Bagration of Mukhrani (1914–2010), wife of Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, a pretender to the Russian throne * Leonida Barboni (1909–1970), Italian film cinematogr ...

married Grand Duke Vladimir.1946 Decree of the Head of the Russian Imperial House
They had two children: * Princess Mariam Bagration of Mukhrani (born 27 June 1947) * Prince Bagrat Bagration of Mukhrani (12 January 1949 – 20 March 2017) Princess María de las Mercedes died on 11 September 1953 in

from a pre-existing heart condition. She is buried in the Pantheon of the Princes at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Honours

Dame of Honor and Devotion of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

María de las Mercedes de Baviera
(Retrieved 4 June 2016)

Arms

File:Coat of Arms of Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain, Princess of Bavaria.svg, Coat of Arms of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain

Ancestors

References

External links

( abc.es, 12 September 1953) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria de las Mercedes of Bavaria and Bourbon, Infanta 1911 births 1953 deaths Bavarian princesses Spanish infantas House of Wittelsbach House of Bourbon (Spain) House of Mukhrani People from Madrid Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial