Louise Of Orléans
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Louise of Orléans (Louise-Marie Thérèse Charlotte Isabelle; 3 April 1812 – 11 October 1850) was the first Queen of the Belgians as the second wife of King Leopold I from their marriage on 9 August 1832 until her death in 1850. She was the second child and eldest daughter of the French king
Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...
and his wife, Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies. Louise rarely participated in public representation, but acted as the political adviser of her spouse. Her large correspondence is a valuable historical source of the period and has been published.


Life

Born in
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, Sicily, on 3 April 1812, she was the eldest daughter of the future Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, and of his wife Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies. As a child, she had a religious and ''
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
'' education thanks to the part played by her mother and her aunt, Princess Adélaïde of Orléans, to whom she was very close. She was given a strict religious upbringing by her aunt. She also learned to speak English, German, Dutch and Italian. As a member of the reigning House of Orléans, she was entitled to the rank of a Princess of the Blood Royal.


Marriage

In 1830, her father became King of the French. Her position thus changed and her status was raised to that of the eldest daughter of a king. On 9 August 1832, the twenty-year-old Louise married King Leopold I of the Belgians, who was twenty-two years her senior, at the Compiègne Palace. Leopold had been widowed after the death of his first wife, Princess Charlotte of Wales, in childbirth in 1817. Since Leopold was a Protestant, The marriage had been suggested already when Leopold was considered for the throne of Greece, and was repeated when he was elected king of the Belgians instead of Louise's brother the duke of Nemours. The marriage created an alliance between two newly elected and less established monarchs, her father and spouse, and was thus seen as suitable. Louise's mother disliked the marriage because Leopold was a Protestant, but since Louise's father was a new monarch and his position weak in the eyes of other monarchs, the marriage was considered favorable for the new French Orléans dynasty, as it might then become easier for Louise's siblings to marry members of established dynasties. While the marriage was arranged against Louise's will, and she was unhappy to leave France and her family, Leopold was very careful to treat her with consideration and respect from the beginning, which was appreciated by Louise, and soon their relationship came to be described as a harmonious one. Described as a devoted wife and loving mother, she was of a shy nature, and as her husband preferred that she live a quiet family life, she was not given much opportunity to overcome her shyness. She was devoted to the upbringing of her children, and it was noted that she entertained Leopold by reading for him from Stendhal, Chateaubriand,
Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
, and
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. After the birth of their last child in 1840, Leopold and Louise often spent their free time separately: while Leopold visited the Ardennes, Louise preferred to take her vacations in Oostende. From 1844, Leopold had a relationship with Arcadie Claret, whom he settled in a house near the palace in Brussels. Louise's health, which was weakened by childbirth as well as the misfortunes of her family in France, caused the sympathies of the public to be with Louise against Leopold in this matter, and the carriage of his mistress was bombarded with filth on the street.


Public role as Queen

Queen Louise was described as a shy and introverted personality with weak health. Belgium was a newly independent monarchy, and there was yet no established tradition about what the role of a queen consort should look like. King Leopold's view was that public royal representation was to be used sparsely, and he did not create a public role for Louise as queen. Queen Louise was rarely seen in public and her life centered around the supervision of her children's upbringing, correspondence with her birth family in France, and religious devotion with her private confessor Pierre de Coninck, with whom she had a close relationship. Louise was given four ladies-in-waiting as companions: the
Dame d'honneur Dame d'honneur (, ) was a common title for two categories of French ladies-in-waiting, who are often confused because of the similarity. Dame d'honneur can be: * Short for Première dame d'honneur, which were commonly shortened to Dame d'honne ...
, Countess Louise-Jeanne de Thezan du Poujol de Merode, and the three Dames du Palais, Baroness Caroline du Mas Goswin de Stassart, Baroness Caroline de Wal Masbourg Emmanuel d'Hooghvorst, and Countess Zoé Vilain. While the king seldom engaged himself and even more rarely Louise in public representation, he did however regularly arrange private royal representation in the form of receptions, balls and state banquets for the aristocracy in the royal Palace of Laeken. During the first years of his reign, most of the guests were British, as the Belgian nobility were still largely loyal to the House of Orange, but gradually the Belgian aristocracy started to attend the royal receptions. The guests of the royal receptions were almost the only people Louise met in Belgium. Among this small circle, Louise gradually became somewhat less shy and appeared to enjoy the masquerade balls. Every morning, Queen Louise received reports from her ladies-in-waiting of people asking her for financial assistance. She then personally visited their homes to bring them comfort and financial aid. Sometimes Queen Louise did not have enough money for her charitable works and then borrowed money from her ladies-in-waiting without telling her husband. She also received such applications from France and often answered them if her secretary informed her that they were genuine. She was a supporter of the lace making business, which was in a period of decline in the 1830s but was greatly helped by her financial support of a lace making school. King Leopold eventually allowed Louise to make her own trips around Belgium, and her favorite place became the Flemish coastal towns, particularly Oostende, where she took riding trips, bathed in the sea and walked along the beach, collecting seashells. She was seldom permitted to make trips abroad. Leopold did not bring her on his visit to the baptism of Princess Victoria in London in 1841, despite her wish to accompany him. He did bring her to Paris to visit her parents in 1841, as well as to Brühl in 1843, where she met
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
of Great Britain. In 1844, she celebrated her birthday with Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, and she was also present at the state visit to London in 1847. Despite the fact that Queen Louise was a shy personality who was rarely seen in public, she was a person with a strong will and many opinions in private. She was known to have a great interest in political issues, and the contemporary German press once claimed that the Belgian queen "has an extreme interest in political affairs and this is an issue of discontent in Brussels". King Leopold did in fact, with time, ask for her opinions in state affairs, and she is known to have given him advice in diplomatic issues. Eventually, the king's confidence in her ability grew to an extent that he suggested to the government that Queen Louise should be made official regent when he was absent from the country. His suggestion was however met with such unanimous opposition that he was forced to retract his plans. Queen Louise was given public sympathy in Belgium when her parents were deposed during the
February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
of 1848. She visited her exiled parents in England in October that same year. The revolution in France made the Belgian king and queen more popular in Belgium, and they toured the Belgian provinces to great acclaim.


Death

Queen Louise died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in the former Royal palace of
Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...
on 11 October 1850.King Leopold I
Monarchie.be, Retrieved 2 April 2016
Her death was confirmed in record by ministers Charles Rogier and
Victor Tesch Victor Jean-Baptiste Tesch (12 March 1812 – 16 June 1892)Gardini, Fausto Luxembourgensia.blogspot.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved on 30 October 2013. was a Luxembourgish and Belgian jurist, industrialist, journalist and liberal politician. He was born i ...
. Her body was brought to Laeken, and a memorial was erected in Oostende. She is buried beside her husband in the Royal Crypt of the
Church of Our Lady of Laeken The Church of Our Lady of Laeken (; ) is a Catholic parish church in the Brussels district of Laeken, Belgium. Built in neo-Gothic style, it was originally erected in memoriam of Queen Louise-Marie, wife of King Leopold I, to the design of th ...
.


Children

Louise and Leopold had four children, including
Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...
and Empress Carlota of Mexico. * Louis Philippe, Crown Prince of Belgium (24 July 1833 – 16 May 1834) *
King Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Le ...
(9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) *
Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (; 24 March 1837 – 17 November 1905), was the third born and second surviving son of King Leopold I of Belgium and Louise d'Orléans. He was the brother of Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlo ...
(24 March 1837 – 17 November 1905), whose son became King Albert I of Belgium; *
Princess Charlotte of Belgium Charlotte of Mexico (; ; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Coburg ...
(7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), consort of
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico Maximilian I (; ; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was an Austrian archduke who became emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Mexican Republic on 19 June 1867. A member of the House of Habsburg-Lorra ...
.


Honours

* : Grand Cordon of the Royal Order of Leopold * : Dame of the Order of Queen Saint Isabel, ''14 July 1835'' * :
Dame ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also u ...
of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, ''10 February 1835''


Arms

File:Alliance Coat of Arms of King Leopold I and Queen Louise.svg, Alliance Coat of Arms of King Leopold I
and Queen Louise File:Royal Monogram of Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium.svg, Royal Monogram of Queen Louise-Marie
of Belgium


Ancestry


References


Further reading

* Mia Kerckvoorde (2002). ''Louise d’Orléans, reine oubliée, 1812-1850''. Paris: Duculot. . * Madeleine Lassère (2006). ''Louise, reine des Belges. 1812-1850''. Paris: Perrin. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Of Orleans 1812 births 1850 deaths 19th-century French people 19th-century French women Nobility from Palermo Princesses of France (Orléans) Queens consort of Belgium Belgian Roman Catholics French Roman Catholics 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Belgium House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium) Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel Children of Louis Philippe I Daughters of kings Leopold I of Belgium Mothers of Belgian monarchs