The Infanta Catalina Micaela of Spain and Portugal (1567-1597), daughter of Felipe II and Duchess of Savoy through her marriage to Charles Emmanuel I.
Catalina Micaela was very close to her older sister Isabel Clara Eugenia and her father. Her early death at 30 was a terrible blow to both of them and the elderly Spanish King would die a year later in 1598. Her three eldest sons moved to their uncle’s court in Madrid to complete their education in 1903.
Her third son, Emmanuel Filibert of Savoy, entered in the service of her brother King Felipe III in 1610. His uncle made him Grand Admiral and appointed him Viceroy of Sicily.
Her eldest daughter, Margaret of Savoy, Duchess consort of Mantua and Montferrat, was appointed Vicereine of Portugal by her cousin King Felipe IV. She died in her mother’s native Spain 15 years after Portugal’s independence.
Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain and Empress Eugénie of France, 1920
The Empress was born the daughter of a Spanish Grandee (her sister married the then Duke of Alba) and was one of Ena’s godmothers. Her godchild would later marry Spain’s King Alfonso and become the godmother of the current Duchess of Alba, Eugénie’s sister’s great-granddaughter.
Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias. She was one of the daughters of Maria Carolina, and was likely named for her mother’s favourite sister, Marie Antoinette.
(I love that there’s a front AND a back to this miniature. I’ve never seen one done like this before!)
Maria Antonia married Fernando VII in 1802 when he was Prince of Asturias and was the last Princess consort of Asturias for over two centuries. Doña Letizia became Princess consort in 2004 ending María Antonia’s “reign”.
(While the Countess of Barcelona and Queen Sofía have been styled as Princess consort of Asturias those were titles in pretense)
Today (May 17) in 1886:
Photo: The two sides of a 20 pesetas coin from 1889 featuring the child King’s profile with the inscription “Alfonso XIII by the Grace of God, Constitutional King of Spain”
Italian bronze bust of Philip II (1527-98) King of Spain, wearing etched armour with the collar and badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece. An oval relief at the centre of the breastplate with a crucifix. Inscribed on the integrally-cast socle: PHI . REX . ANGL . ETC
In the inscription, Philip is designated King of England, reflecting his marriage to Mary Tudor at Winchester in July 1554. The bust must have been made before January 1556, when he succeeded his father Charles V as King of Spain. It was commissioned by the Duke of Alba, probably following his appointment as Governor of Milan in April 1555.
Her Royal Highness Doña María de las Mercedes de Orléans y Borbón, Infanta of Spain and Princess of Orléans in 1877.
In 1878 the Infanta married her cousin Alfonso XII against Alfonso’s mother and the government’s wishes, who wanted an alliance with an European princess. 17 years old on her wedding day, she became the youngest Queen consort of Spain and the first and only one who has been born in Spain. She died six months later, two days after her 18th birthday, on June 26 1878 at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
A town was named, in memoriam, Reina Mercedes (Queen Mercedes), in the province of Isabela (named after her aunt Isabel II) in the Philippines, itself named (Las Filipinas) for King Felipe II.
Kings of Castile and Spain→ FELIPE
Las infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia y Catalina Micaela, 1575. Detail.
The Infanta Catalina Micaela, daughter of Felipe II
“For Spain, always for Spain, everything for Spain. Long live Spain. Long live the King.” —The Count of Barcelona transferring all his claims to the Throne to his son, King Juan Carlos. La Zarzuela Palace, May 14,1977.
The King allowed his father to use the title Count of Barcelona for the rest of his life (It is not a noble title but one that belongs to the King of Spain) and has decided that he will be entombed, under the name of Juan III in the Pantheon of the Kings in El Escorial. Only the Sovereign and the Queen or King consort mother (or father) of the next Sovereign are buried in this Pantheon.
