Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme

Prince Emmanuel of Orléans, Duke of Vendôme (Philippe Emmanuel Maximilien Marie Eudes; 18 January 1872 – 1 February 1931)[1] was a French royal from the House of Orléans.

Prince Emmanuel
Duke of Vendôme
Born(1872-01-18)18 January 1872
Meran, Austria-Hungary
Died1 February 1931(1931-02-01) (aged 59)
Cannes, French Third Republic
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1896)
IssueMarie Louise, Princess Philip of Bourbon Two-Sicilies
Princess Sophie
Princess Geneviève
Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Nemours
HouseOrléans
FatherPrince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon
MotherDuchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria

Early life edit

Emmanuel was born in Obermais, Meran on 18 January 1872. He was the second child and only son of Ferdinand Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Alençon and his wife Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria.[2] His mother was the famed duchesse d'Alençon who died in a fire at a charity bazaar in Paris on 4 May 1897. His older sister, Louise d'Orléans, married Prince Alfons of Bavaria.[3]

His paternal grandparents were Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours (son of Queen Maria and King Louis Philippe, who was forced to abdicate after the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848)[4] and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a first cousin of Queen Victoria).[5] His maternal grandparents were Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria.[3]

Career edit

The Duke was a Major in the Austro-Hungarian Army, however, he was not allowed to serve in World War I due to an 1886 law barring all princes of the two former sovereign houses of France from being permitted serving their county in the army or navy or hold office in the French government.[1] The Prince, undeterred, volunteered with the French Red Cross, was appointed a principal delegate on the Belgian front and served as a director of the Franco-Belgian Hospital in Calais.[1]

In 1926, he led an excavation party that unearthed the village of Roquebillière, in the Alpes-Maritimes department, where several Roman tombs were found containing rare jewels, vases and objets d'art.[1]

Personal life edit

On 12 February 1896, he married Princess Henriette of Belgium (1870–1948) in Brussels. Henriette was a daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,[2] and the sister of King Albert I of Belgium. Together, they were known as the Sporting Duke and Duchess,[6] and had four children:[2]

The couple had estates in Belgium, France and Switzerland until after World War I, when their fortune diminished rapidly and they were forced to sell some properties.

Philippe died unexpectedly in 1931 from heart failure after catching a cold, in Cannes, France.[1] He is buried in the Chapelle Royale de Saint Louis, in Dreux. His widow, Henriette Marie of Belgium died aged 77, on 28 March 1948, in Sierre, Valais, Switzerland.[11]

Honours edit

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (2 February 1931). "DUKE OF VENDOME IS DEAD AT CANNES; Brother-in-Law of King Albert of Belgium Succumbs to Heart Attack at 59. OF ORLEANS-BOURBON LINE French Law Prevented His Fighting in the War--Duke of Nemours, Heir, Married American" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery. Paris. 2002. pp. 474–476 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
  3. ^ a b Thom, Alexander (1876). Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the Year 1879. Dublin: Longmans & Co., and Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 65. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  4. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1845). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility by Edmund Lodge Esq. Saunders and Otley Conduit Street. p. 73. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. ^ Towned (of Brighton.), William (1858). The Descendants of the Stuarts. An unchronicled page in England's History. p. 23. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Leopold's Niece to Hunt Grizzlies;" (PDF). The New York Times. 26 July 1908. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  7. ^ "BOURBON PRINCE TO WED.; Philip of Sicilian Branch to Marry Duke of Vendome's Daughter" (PDF). The New York Times. 10 August 1915. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b "PRINCESS SOPHIE OF ORLEANS IS DEAD; Daughter of the Duke of Vendome and Niece of KingAlbert of Belgium" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 October 1928. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  9. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (13 April 1928). "Miss Watson's Wedding to Duke Delayed At Last Moment With the Church Ready" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  10. ^ Times, Special to The New York (24 May 1929). "DUKE DE NEMOURS TO VISIT NEWPORT; He and Duchess Are Expected as Guests of Mrs. G.F. Watson This Summer" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  11. ^ 19-20th Cent. Princess Henriette Marie of Belgium, Duchess of Vendôme. http://ann-lauren.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/19-20th-cent-princess-henriette-marie.html
  12. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1908), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
  13. ^ "Boletín Oficial del Estado" (PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  14. ^ Journal de Monaco