Princess Isabelle of Orléans (1878–1961)

Isabelle was born at the Château d'Eu, Eu, France, the third daughter and fifth (fourth surviving) child of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris and Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain. In 1886, when she was eight years old, a law was promulgated by the Third Republic that effectively exiled all dynasties who formerly ruled France, whereupon she and her family moved to England.

As a young woman, Isabelle had many suitors, chief among them being the future Albert I of Belgium. Albert, however, was forced to end the courtship under pressure from his uncle King Leopold II, who feared that a marriage to the daughter of an exiled pretender to the French throne would result in backlash from the republican government in Paris.Voir Pierre Daye, Léopold II, Fayard, 1934, p. 462

On 30 October 1899, Isabelle married her first cousin Prince Jean, Duke of Guise (1874–1940). Jean was the son of prince Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840–1910) and Françoise d'Orléans (1844–1925). Upon the death of her brother, Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Orléans, claimant to the throne of France as "Philip VIII", the Duke of Guise became, at least for his Orleanist supporters, titular king of France as "Jean III".{{CN|date=May 2024}} The title was disputed by members of the Spanish Anjou branch of the family, descended from Louis XIV.

The couple had four children:

• Princess Isabelle of Orléans (27 November 1900 – 12 February 1983). First married in 1923 to Bruno, Count of Harcourt (1899–1930) and then to Prince Pierre Murat in 1934.
• Princess Françoise of Orléans (25 December 1902 – 25 February 1953). Married to Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark in 1929. He was the son of King George I of Greece and Olga, Queen of Greece. They were parents of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark.
• Princess Anne of Orléans (5 August 1906 – 19 March 1986). She married Prince Amedeo of Savoy, 3rd Duke of Aosta in 1927.
• Henri, Count of Paris (5 July 1908 – 19 June 1999). He married Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza in 1931.

Princess Isabelle died in Larache, Morocco, on 21 April 1962 at age 82.

{{Ahnentafel

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|1= 1. Princess Isabelle of Orléans

|2= 2. Prince Philippe, Count of Paris

|3= 3. Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans

|4= 4. Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans

|5= 5. Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

|6= 6. Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

|7= 7. Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain

|8= 8. Louis Philippe I of France

|9= 9. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily

|10= 10. Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

|11= 11. Princess Caroline Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

|12= 12. Louis Philippe I of France (= 8)

|13= 13. Princess Marie Amélie of Naples and Sicily (= 9)

|14= 14. Ferdinand VII of Spain

|15= 15. Princess Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies

}}

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{{s-hou|House of Orléans|7 May|1878| 21 April|1961|House of Bourbon}}

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{{S-bef|before=Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria}}

{{S-tul|title=Queen consort of France|years= 28 March 1926 – 25 August 1940}}

{{S-aft|after=Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza}}

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{{Princesses of Orléans}}

{{Princesses of Orléans by marriage}}

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Category:1878 births

Category:1961 deaths

Category:19th-century French people

Category:20th-century French people

Category:19th-century French women

Category:20th-century French women

Category:Princesses of France (Orléans)

Category:People from Eu, Seine-Maritime

Category:Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel

Category:Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux

Category:Children of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris