Ferdinand Philippe Marie d'Orléans, duc d'Alençon (12 July 1844 – 29 June 1910) was the son of Louis Charles Philippe Raphael d'Orléans, Duke of Nemours and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a first cousin of

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 ...

Early life

Duchess Victoria of Nemours with her two sons

Prince Ferdinand of Orléans was born on 12 July 1844. He was the son of

Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours (Louis Charles Philippe Raphaël d'Orléans; 25 October 1814 – 26 June 1896) was the second son of King Louis-Philippe I of France, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Life Childho ...

, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, cousin of

. Among his siblings was older brother Prince Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu, the Imperial consort of Brazil (through his marriage to Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil), and younger sister Princess Marguerite Adélaïde of Orléans, wife of Prince Władysław Czartoryski. His paternal grandparents were

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (Maria Amalia Teresa; 26 April 1782 – 24 March 1866) was List of French royal consorts, Queen of the French by marriage to Louis Philippe I, King of the French. She was the last Queen of France. Among ...

, Queen consort of the French, and King Louis Philippe, who was forced to abdicate after the outbreak of the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

. His maternal grandparents were

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1785 – 27 August 1851) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Initia ...

and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry.

Personal life

On 28 September 1868, he married Sophie Charlotte Augustine, Duchess in Bavaria (1847–1897) at Possenhofen Castle, near

Starnberg Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...

. Sophie, the ninth of ten children born to

Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria (4 December 1808 – 15 November 1888), known informally as Max in Bayern, was a member of a Duke in Bavaria, junior branch of the royal House of Wittelsbach who were Kings of Bavaria, and a promoter of Bavarian f ...

and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, was a sister of

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

, Queen Maria Sophie of the Two Sicilies, and Duchess Mathilde Ludovika in Bavaria, the wife of Neapolitan Prince Luis of the Two Sicilies. Before their marriage, she had been engaged to King

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

, but the King called off the engagement before the marriage. The year after their marriage, the ducal couple moved into Bushy House in the

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

area of Southwest London. The couple had two children: * Louise d'Orléans (1869–1952), who married Prince Alfons of Bavaria (1862–1933) and had children. * Emmanuel d'Orléans (1872–1931), duke of Vendôme, who married Princess Henriette of Belgium (1870–1948) and had children. His wife died in a fire at the Bazar de la Charité in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 4 May 1897. He died in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

on 29 June 1910. He was buried at the '' Chapelle royale de Dreux'', the Orléans family

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

Ancestry

Orders and decorations

* : Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert, ''1868''''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern'' (1908), "Königliche Orden
p. 8
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alencon, Prince Ferdinand, Duke of 1844 births 1910 deaths

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux 601