MARIA CRISTINA, FERDINAND’S FOURTH WIFE—INTRIGUES AT COURT
1829–1832
On May 17, 1829, Queen Maria Amalia passed away. She was a most virtuous and conscientious lady, and had she realized that the duties of a Queen were not synonymous with those of an Abbess, the King and the country would have been more benefited by her irreproachable life. The atmosphere of the convent hung always about her, and when not engaged in working for the poor she was occupied with her devotions.
When the King wished to walk with the Queen, he generally had to wait till some sewing for the poor was completed; and in all the dissensions between the King and his subjects his wife would sit silently weeping or praying, but never try to understand anything about the struggle between despotism and constitutionalism, which was tearing the realm asunder. Moreover, Maria Amalia left the field free for the presumptuous, frivolous women of the Court, when she decided never to go to any theatre nor to allow any balls or parties at the palace.
A drive in the Retiro or the Prado was the only relaxation the royal lady permitted herself, and it was there that the Portuguese Princess, Maria Francisca de Braganza, the wife of Don Carlos, also took her daily airing in a beautiful carriage drawn by six mules. The Princess of Naples, Princess Luisa Carlota, wife of the Infante Don Francisco, had long felt herself slighted by this haughty Princess, and by her sister, the Princess de Beira, widow of the Infante Don Pedro, and after the death of Queen Maria Amalia she determined to mature a plan by which her position at Court would be improved. For, knowing the susceptible nature of Ferdinand, and that his obstinate nature was weak and yielding where the fair sex was concerned, his sister-in-law determined that this susceptibility should be turned to account in the person of her sister, Maria Cristina. The position of Luisa Carlota had, moreover, always been somewhat ambiguous, from the open secret of the relation of her husband with Godoy; and as this Prince and Princess always thus felt themselves somewhat alien from the rest of the Royal Family, they were strongly in favour of the Liberal party, which was in direct opposition to Don Carlos, his wife, and the widowed Portuguese Princess.
Thus, intrigue and enmity reigned between the two parties, and Luisa Carlota could hardly conceal her triumphant feeling when, on showing the King the portrait of her beautiful sister, she saw that his face expressed admiration for the bonny girl, who was daughter of Francis I. of Naples, the brother of his first wife, and therefore his niece by marriage; and on December 11, 1829, the beautiful young Princess made her formal entry into Madrid as the bride of the King.
QUEEN MARIA CRISTINA, MOTHER OF ISABELLA II.
When the Princess arrived at Aranjuez with her parents, she was received by the Infantes Francisco de Paula and Don Carlos, and so the first formal words of welcome in the name of the King were addressed to the bride by him who afterwards became her most bitter enemy and rival.
The impression made upon the Spanish people by the Italian Princess during her journey from Barcelona to the capital was favourable. Her beauty and youth appealed strongly to the susceptible Spaniards, and her kindness of heart was seen in her suggestion that the soldiers should put their cloaks on in the inclement weather; and on the day of her triumphal entry into Madrid as their Queen, with the King at the right side of her carriage and the Infantas on the left, the people went wild with joy at what they considered as the dawn of a new era for the realm. It was soon evident that the young Queen had great influence over her husband. Unlike her predecessor on the throne, Maria Cristina loved to take an active part in the affairs of the realm; and Don Carlos, who had always had ascendancy over Ferdinand, found that his position in the confidence of his brother was gradually on the wane.