Mercedes, Princess of Asturias

Infanta Mercedes
Princess of Asturias
Spouse	Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Issue
Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria Infante Fernando Infanta Isabel Alfonsa
House	House of Bourbon House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Father	Alfonso XII of Spain
Mother	Maria Christina of Austria
Born	11 September 1880(1880-09-11) Madrid
Died	17 October 1904(1904-10-17) (aged 24) Madrid
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain (María de las Mercedes Isabel Teresa Cristina Alfonsa Jacinta) (Madrid, 11 September 1880 – Madrid, 17 October 1904), Princess of the Asturias, for all 24 years of her life the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Spain, was the eldest daughter of King Alfonso XII of Spain and his second wife, Maria Christina of Austria.

For a period from 25 November 1885 to 17 May 1886, she was the extant Head of the State of Spain. Had her younger sibling, unborn at the death of Alfonso XII, been a daughter, María Mercedes would have become Queen Regnant of Spain. The sibling proved to be a boy, Alfonso XIII of Spain, and on his birth in 1886, María Mercedes lost her latent Queenship. She returned to the position of heiress presumptive of Spain, which she held until her own death, and was succeeded in it by her own infant son Alfonso, Alfonso XIII having not yet fathered a child.

Infanta María Mercedes married, in Madrid on 14 February 1901, her second cousin, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a nephew of the King of the then-defunct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, who was elevated to the titles of Infante of Spain and Royal Prince. She died young, when her children were still infants, giving birth to her only daughter.

Coat of arms of Princess Mercedes.

She had three children:

• Don Alfonso, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (1901–1964).
• Fernando (1903–1905), died in San Sebastián one year after her death.
• Doña Isabella Alfonsa, Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infanta of Spain (1904–1985). Married Count Jan Zamoyski (1900–1961) and had issue.

Her husband remarried and one of his daughters became the mother of the present King Juan Carlos I.

She was the 816th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa.

Ancestry

External links

• Royal House of Spain
• Royal House of the Two-Sicilies

Mercedes, Princess of Asturias House of Bourbon Born: 11 September 1880 Died: 17 October 1904
Spanish royalty
Preceded by Infanta Isabella	Princess of Asturias 11 September 1880 – 17 October 1904	Succeeded by Infante Alfonso
	Heir to the Throne as heiress presumptive 11 September 1880 – 17 October 1904