Isabella, Princess of Asturias (1851-1931)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other Princesses of Asturias named Isabella, see Isabella, Princess of Asturias (disambiguation)

Spanish Royalty
House of Bourbon
1833-present

Isabella II Children    Isabella, Princess of Asturias    Alfonso XII    Maria de la Paz, Princess of Bavaria    Infanta Eulalia Alfonso XII Children    Maria de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias    Teresa, Princess of Bavaria    Alfonso XIII Grandchildren    Alfonso, Duke of Calabria Great Grandchildren    Carlos, Duke of Calabria Alfonso XIII Children    Alfonso, Prince of Asturias    Jaime, Duke of Segovia    Infanta Beatriz    Infanta Maria Cristina    Juan, Count of Barcelona    Infante Gonzalo Grandchildren    Infanta Pilar    Juan Carlos I    Infanta Margarita    Infante Alfonso Juan Carlos I Children    Elena, Duchess of Lugo    Cristina, Duchess of Palma    Felipe, Prince of Asturias Grandchildren    Infanta Leonor    Infanta Sofía Edit

Infanta doña María Isabel, also known as La chata, Princess of Asturias (1851–1931), was twice the recognized first heir to the throne of Spain. She was invariantly called "Princesa" in Spain, as the eldest daughter and a holder or formerholder of Asturias, her younger sisters being more usually called with the prefix "Infanta".

She was born as the eldest surviving child of the then-reigning Queen Isabel II of Spain, from her marriage with her first cousin and king consort, Francis of Spain.

In the turmoiled age of Carlist uprisings and sporadic civil war, Isabella was immediately recognized as the heir to her mother's throne, by granting her the traditional crown-princely title of Asturias.

When her only surviving brother, the future Alfonso XII of Spain was born in 1857, young Isabella moved to be the second-in-line to the throne, the boy becoming Prince of Asturias.

When Alfonso ascended the throne in 1875, and had not yet any own children, the 24-year old Isabella returned to the position of heiress-presumptive. This she lost finally in 1880 upon the birth of Alfonso's first child, Infanta Maria de las Mercedes of Spain, the next Princess of Asturias.

Isabella was married in 1868 to her mother's and father's first cousin, Prince Cajetan (Gaetano) of the Two Sicilies (1846-71), Count of Girgenti, a younger son of king Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Don Cajetan de Borbon de Sicilia y de Habsburgo-Lorena was created Infante of Spain. A troubled and depressed young man, he committed suicide at the age of 25 at Luzern, Switzerland. Princesa Isabel was reportedly very popular and respected in Madrid. Isabella had no children, and died, at 79, in exile in France soon after her nephew Alfonso XIII had lost the throne to republicans.

Isabella, Princess of Asturias (1851-1931) House of Bourbon Born: 1851 Died: 1931
Vacant Title last held by Princess Isabella her mother	Princess of Asturias First Time 1851–1857	Succeeded by Prince Alfonso
Vacant Title last held by Prince Alfonso her brother	Princess of Asturias Second Time 1875-1880	Succeeded by princess Mercedes her niece