Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (Maria Amalia Teresa; 26 April 1782 – 24 March 1866) was Queen of the French by marriage to Louis Philippe I, King of the French. She was the last Queen of the French.

Among her grandchildren were the monarchs Leopold II of Belgium, Empress Carlota of Mexico, with whom Maria Amalia regularly corresponded while she was in Mexico, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, and Queen Mercedes of Spain.

Early years Maria Amalia (left) with her older sister Maria Luisa, by Angelica Kauffmann, 1782. Maria Amalia was born on 26 April 1782 at the Caserta Palace made an effort to be a part of her daughter's life, though she was cared for daily by her governess, Vincenza Rizzi. As a child, Maria Amalia's mother and her aunt, Marie Antoinette, arranged for her engagement to Marie Antoinette's son, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, her cousin, the future king of France. Her young fiancé died in 1789.

Maria Amalia faced chaos and upheaval from a young age. The death of her aunt Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution and her mother's subsequent dramatic actions emblazoned the event in her memory. During the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Neapolitan court was not hostile to the movement. When the French monarchy was abolished and her aunt Marie Antoinette and uncle Louis XVI were executed, Maria Amalia's parents joined the First Coalition against France in 1793. Although peace was made with France in 1796, by 1798 conflict again erupted and the royal family fled to the Kingdom of Sicily,

While in exile, Maria Amalia encountered her future husband, Louis Philippe d'Orléans, also forced from his home in France

The two were married in 1809, three years after they met in Italy, whereupon Marie-Amelie became Duchess of Orléans. The ceremony was celebrated in Palermo 25 November 1809. The family was given permission to return to France again in 1817. During their tenure as Duke and Duchess of Orléans, her spouse made Palais-Royal a center of high society in Paris when the aristocracy found the royal court, which was organized according to revived l'ancien regime-etiquette, too stiff. However, it was rather her sister-in-law Madame Adelaide who was regarded the hostess at Palais-Royal, while Marie-Amelie was described as dignified but silent and withdrawn. In 1832, after the failed coup of Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchess de Berry, Marie-Caroline appealed to her from her prison at Blaye, as did one of Marie-Caroline's followers, Mesnard; however Maria Amalia refused to even receive the petition of the first nor to promise anything to the second, despite being personally attached to the Duchess de Berry.

The Queen's daily routine centered around family dinners, religious duties and charitable work: she kept a strict guard over her daughters and later her daughters-in-law, sewing with them in the drawing room when she was not occupied with her charitable work. Maria Amalia received a personal allowance of 500.000 franc, and spent 400.000 franc of that sum on charity.

She was regarded to have performed her representational duties with dignity. In 1843, she hosted Britain's Queen Victoria at the Château d'Eu in Normandy. She spent her remaining years living a private family life, and was joined by most of her children with the exception of the Duke of Montpensier. Maria Amalia regarded the elder branch of the Bourbon to have superior right to the French throne, and she supported her son the Duke of Nemours when he reconciled with the head of the elder Bourbon line, Henri, Count of Chambord, on behalf of the Orléans line. She was the last surviving grandchild of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. After her death, the dress she had kept since 1848 when her husband had left France was put on her, according to her last wishes.

Issue

Ancestry