Biography of Alfonso XII King Spain 1857
Alfonso XII King Spain 1857-1885 1846 Spanish Double Royal Wedding
Biography of Alfonso XII King Spain 1857-1885 including his birth, marriages, death and life events, life events of his siblings, and his ancestry to five generations, royal ancestors and royal descendants.
On 29 Sep 1833 [his grandfather] Ferdinand VII King Spain (age 48) died. His daughter [his mother] Isabella II Queen Spain (age 2) succeeded Queen Spain. Her succession was disputed by her uncle Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain (age 45) since her father Ferdinand VII King Spain (age 48) had modified the laws of the Salic Spanish Succession, known as the Pragmatic Sanction, shortly before her birth. Traditionally the Spanish succession has allowed females to inherit. When Philippe V King Spain inherited the throne he introduced the French Salic Law barring females.

On 10 Oct 1846 two Spanish Princesses were married ...

[his father] Francisco de Asís King Consort Spain (age 24) and [his mother] Isabella II Queen Spain (age 16) were married. They were double first cousins. She was forced to marry by the Moderare Party. She, apparently commented, "what shall I tell you about a man whom I saw wearing more lace than I was wearing on our wedding night?". She the daughter of Ferdinand VII King Spain and Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Queen Consort Spain (age 40). They were first cousins.

[his future father-in-law] Antoine Orléans Duke Montpensier (age 22) and [his aunt] Infanta Luisa Fernanda Duchess of Montpensier (age 14) were married. She the daughter of Ferdinand VII King Spain. He the son of King Louis Philippe I of France (age 73).

On 23 Jan 1878 Alfonso XII King Spain (age 20) and Maria de las Mercedes Unknown Queen Consort Spain (age 17) were married. She by marriage Queen Consort Spain. She the daughter of Antoine Orléans Duke Montpensier (age 53) and Infanta Luisa Fernanda Duchess of Montpensier (age 45). He the son of Francisco de Asís King Consort Spain (age 55) and Isabella II Queen Spain (age 47). They were half first cousins.

Adeline Horsey Recollections. There are many features of interest in the old house [Map]. In the Great Hall there is a blocked-up entrance to an underground passage through which despatches were carried in the Civil War; and there is a hiding-place large enough to hold twenty people. Henry VII slept at Deene, when as Earl of Richmond he rode to Bosworth Field; the room is known as "the King's Room", and the Royal arms are sculptured over the fireplace. The Tapestry Room has a fine ceiling, and is the room always reserved for Royal guests, the last visitors who occupied it being the sons of the [his sister] Infanta Eulalia, Don Alphonso and his brother, who stayed at Deene in 1907. They both thoroughly enjoyed the shooting, and used to telegraph the bags to King Alfonso, who wired that he was not having anything like such good sport !