Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689) and Charles II of Spain - Dating, Gossip, News, Photos list. Help us build our profile of Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689) and Charles II of Spain!
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Her uncle the King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, considered various European royal daughters as possible wives for his heir, such as Louis' own cousin Marie Louise d'Orléans, daughter of the king's brother Philippe, Duke of Orléans and Princess Henrietta of England. According to various reports, Marie Louise and Louis were in love, having grown up with each other. However, Louis XIV decided to use Marie Louise to forge a link with Spain and forced her to marry the invalid Charles II of Spain, the Dauphin's own half-uncle.
Her marriage to Charles II was seen as a way to induce better relations between France and Spain; the two nations had been on bad terms because of her uncle's battles in the Spanish Netherlands.
The proxy marriage took place at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 30 August 1679; standing for the groom was Mademoiselle d'Orléans' distant cousin Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti. Until mid-September there were a series of formal events held in honor of the new Queen of Spain. Marie Louise went to the convent of Val-de-Grâce, before her departure, where the heart of her mother was kept. She would never return to France.
On 19 November 1679, Marie Louise married Charles in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. This was the start of a lonely existence at the Spanish court. Her new husband had fallen in love with her and remained so until the end of his life. However, the confining etiquette of the Spanish Court (e.g., touching the Queen was forbidden), the King's mental and physical infirmities and her unsuccessful attempts to bear a child caused her distress.
After ten years of marriage the couple had no children. Marie Louise confided to the French ambassador, that "she was really not a virgin any longer, but that as far as she could figure things, she believed she would never have children."
During the last years of her life she became overweight. After horseback riding on 11 February 1689, she felt a severe pain in the abdomen which forced her to lie down the rest of the evening. She died the following night.
