Category Archives: Sardinia Royals

Maria Pia of Savoy, Queen of Portugal

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Maria Pia of Savoy, Queen of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Born at the Royal Palace of Turin in the Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, on February 14, 1847, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy was the second daughter and youngest surviving child of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia (later king of a united Italy) and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria.  She was named in honor of her godfather Pope Pius IX.  Maria Pia had seven siblings:

After her mother died in 1855, Maria Pia was cared for almost exclusively by her governesses and her older sister.   Maria Pia and her sister Maria Clotilde lived at Stupingi Palace, officially under the guardianship of their mother’s former lady-in-waiting, the stern Countess of Villa Maria.  The two sisters saw their father intermittently, although he often sent the girls gifts and letters.  Maria Pia was not much of an academic, but show interest and ability in drawing, dancing, and music.

The marriage of Maria Pia and Luis; source: Wikipedia

At the age of fifteen, Maria Pia was engaged to King Luis I of Portugal, the eldest son of Queen Maria II of Portugal and Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  The couple married by proxy on September 27, 1862.  Maria Pia set out from Turin for Portugal two days later, arriving in Lisbon on October 5.   The religious wedding was held at the Church of St Dominic the following day.  Celebrations continued in Lisbon for the next three days.

After the wedding, the new couple settled at the Ajuda Palace, which Luis had refurbished for his new wife.  During the early months at the palace, Maria Pia passed the time with music lessons, attendance at the opera, billiards, and sketching.  Maria Pia and Luis had two sons:

Queen Maria Pia with her sons Carlos and Alfonso – source: Wikipedia

Maria Pia was fond of her sons.  She was known to walk the streets of Lisbon with them, sometimes accompanied by nannies and sometimes alone.  She was also known to sit on the ground with her boys during playtime, uncommon for royal women at the time.  The Countess of Daupiás gave the first pair of roller skates in Portugal to Maria Pia in 1873.  Maria Pia would skate down the halls of Ajuda Palace with her children, screaming, “Make way!” to surprised servants and courtiers.

Maria Pia was infamous for her wild spending.  She rarely wore the same dress twice and enjoyed hosting balls, parties, and masquerades.  She tended to throw expensive glassware when her Savoy temper flared.  In addition, she drove her servants crazy with her love of expensive cigars and her habit of throwing still-smoldering butts wherever she happened to be walking.  Maria Pia’s excessive debts caused endless headaches for the Portuguese parliament.  She insisted that her spending was justified for her work as a queen.

As much as she loved to splurge, Maria Pia was fond of charity work.  In 1876, she raised funds to care for those displaced by floods in Portugal and for Brazilians hit by a drought and famine.  Maria Pia founded a children’s hospital in Porto, Portugal in 1882.  Upon hearing of a fire that destroyed much of Porto in 1888, Maria Pia visited the homes of those affected, distributing food, clothing, and funds.

King Luis I died in October 1889.  Although he and Maria Pia were fond of one another, Luis’ many affairs caused a rift with his wife that never subsided.  Maria Pia continued to devote herself to charity work and served as regent for her son Carlos when he was abroad.

Dowager Queen Maria Pia (right) with Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and Queen Amélia of Portugal, 1905. source: Wikipedia

The early 1900s were a difficult time for Maria Pia.  Her brother King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated in 1900.  Following the assassination of her son King Carlos I of Portugal and his son Crown Prince Luis Filipe in 1908, and the deposing of her grandson King Manuel II of Portugal two years later, Maria Pia fell into a deep depression.  She returned to her native Italy soon after, where she died on July 5, 1911, at the Royal Chateau at Stupingi Palace in Turin, Italy.  She is buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy, making her one of just a few Portuguese consorts not to be buried in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal in Lisbon.

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Portugal Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Maria Clotilde of Savoy, Princess Napoleon

by Emily McMahon  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Maria Clotilde of Savoy, Princess Napoleon;  Credit – Wikipedia

Born on March 2, 1843, at the Royal Palace of Turin in Savoy, now part of Italy, Ludovica Teresa Maria Clotilde was the eldest of the eight children of Vittorio Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy, the future first King of Italy, and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria. The princess was known from birth by her last two names, Maria Clotilde.

Maria Clotilde had seven younger siblings:

Maria Clotilde’s parents and siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Just days after giving birth to her last child, Maria Clotilde’s mother Adelheid fell ill after attending the funeral of her mother-in-law. Adelheid died four days later, on January 20, 1855, leaving 11-year-old Maria Clotilde, the eldest of her six surviving children.

Despite her early death, Adelheid’s actions and character had a great deal of influence on her eldest daughter. Dutiful and deeply religious, Maria Clotilde tried to serve as a second mother to her brothers and sister. Vittorio Emanuele became King of Sardinia in 1849, a few weeks after his eldest daughter’s sixth birthday. He had only occasional contact with his children in the years that followed due to his work toward the unification of Italy and the attention he paid to his numerous mistresses.

Vittorio Emanuele was eager to gain the support of the United Kingdom and France against Austria during the Wars of Italian Independence. To seal a French-Italian alliance, a marriage between Maria Clotilde and a Bonaparte prince was arranged in 1858. Emperor Napoleon III’s only son was a toddler so his cousin Napoléon-Jérôme was selected as the Bonaparte groom. Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte  was the son of Jérôme Bonaparte, the brother of Emperor Napoleon I, and Princess Catherine of Württemberg.  Maria Clotilde was fifteen at the time and Napoléon-Jérôme was 37.

Maria Clotilde was not impressed by her portly, anti-clerical liberal fiancé. Her innocence, piety, and sense of duty clashed with Napoléon-Jérôme’s love of wine, women, and food. Nevertheless, the two were married at Turin on January 30, 1859. The differences between the bride and groom did not go without notice. The wedding was described as being between an elephant (Napoléon-Jérôme) and a gazelle (Maria Clotilde). The couple settled in Paris.

Maria Clotilde and her husband in 1859; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple had two sons and one daughter:

Maria Clotilda with one of her children, probably Napoléon Victor; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Clotilde devoted her life to prayer, charity, and her family. She was well-respected in France for her sense of duty and grace, while her husband had long been disliked for his devotion to pleasure and his supposed avoidance of service during the Crimean War. Napoléon-Jérôme was a notorious womanizer both before and after his marriage.

Maria Clotilde was urged by her father to leave Paris just before the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870. At first, she refused to leave, sending her father a cold letter about her duties to the Houses of Savoy and Bonaparte. As the dangers increased and the remaining members of the Bonaparte family fled, Maria Clotilde and her husband eventually abandoned Paris for Switzerland. After a few years, Maria Clotilde and her husband quietly separated and she returned to Turin with her daughter.

Maria Clotilde continued her life of devotion and charity after she returned to Italy. She spent her final years at the traditional summer residence of the Savoy family, the Castle of Moncalieri in Montcalieri, a town located just outside of Turin. Maria Clotilde died there on June 25, 1911, at the age of 68, surviving her husband by twenty years.  She was buried at the Basilica of Superga near Turin, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy.

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Maria Anna of Savoy, Empress of Austria

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Maria Anna of Savoy, Empress of Austria, Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna of Savoy and her twin sister Maria Teresa were born on September 19, 1803, at the Palazzo Colonna in Rome, Papal States, now in Italy, the daughters of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este.  Maria Anna spent part of her childhood on the island of Sardinia, the only part of her father’s lands that Napoleon had not conquered. In 1814, her father’s conquered land was restored and the family returned to Turin.

Maria Anna had six siblings:

Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and his family; Credit – Wikipedia

In February 1831, Maria Anna married Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria. The marriage was childless and probably never consummated, but the couple remained devoted to each other. Emperor Ferdinand suffered from several ailments including epilepsy and hydrocephalus. He was considered incapable of ruling although he kept a coherent diary. His father’s will stipulated that Ferdinand’s uncle Archduke Ludwig be consulted on government matters and during Ferdinand’s reign a council called the Secret State Conference controlled the government. Ferdinand is famous for telling his cook, “I am the Emperor and I want dumplings” when the cook told him that the apricots needed for the traditional apricot dumplings (German: Marillenknödel) were not in season.

Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph during the Revolutions of 1848 and lived the rest of his life at Hradčany Palace in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. He died on June 29, 1875, at the age of 82, and was buried in the Ferdinandsgruft (Ferdinand’s Vault) in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. Maria Anna survived her husband by nine years and died at the age of 80 on May 4, 1884, in Prague, now in the Czech Republic, which was then part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Empress Maria Anna was buried next to her husband in the Imperial Crypt.

Tomb of Maria Anna of Savoy; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Austria Resources at Unofficial Royalty