Eugénie de Montijo (Reign of Two Queens)

Eugénie de Montijo (5 May 1845 – 27 December 1913) a Spanish princess of the House of Braganza, was queen of France as the wife of Louis XVIII, and powerful regent of France during the minority of her son, Louis XIV, from 1881 to 1902. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the throne between her husband's death in November 1885 and the birth of their son Louis XIX in May 1886, and subsequently also until the coming of age of the latter in May 1902.

Infanta of Spain
Born at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial,, she was the second daughter of of Queen Maria II of Spain and her King consort Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero, whose titles included 15th duke of Peñaranda de Duero, 8th count of Ablitas, 9th count of Montijo, 15th count of Teba, 8th count of Fuentidueña, 14th marquess of Ardales, 17th marquess of Moya and 13th marquess of la Algaba. She held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her mother was queen of Portugal as well as Spain) and Princess of Brazil, she was the sixth child of twelve, and the third girl.

In Spain, Eugénie grew up into a headstrong and physically daring young woman, devoted to horseriding and a range of other sports. She was rescued from drowning, and twice attempted suicide after romantic disappointments. She was very interested in politics and became devoted to the Cristino cause. Eugénie was raised mainly at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid. Unusual for a royal princess, Eugénie grew up close to her parents, who were very religious. She was raised to be religious too, and was often taken to visit monasteries during her childhood.

Marriage
At age eleven, Eugénie was betrothed to Louis, Dauphin of France. Her father gave her a dowry of 500,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XIII would die early, the Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. Prior to the marriage, Eugénie renounced all succession rights she had for herself and her descendants by Louis, with a provision that she would resume her rights should she be left a childless widow. On 18 October 1852, Louis and Eugénie were married by proxy in Burgos while Louis's sister, Mercedes of France, and Anne's brother, Philip V of Spain, were married by proxy in Bordeaux. They were wed on 29 January 1853 in a civil ceremony at the Tuileries, and on the 30th, there was a grander religious ceremony at Notre Dame. On 1 December 1660, the newlyweds made the traditional Joyous Entry into Paris

These marriages followed the tradition of cementing military and political alliances between France and Spain that began with the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Elisabeth of Valois in 1559 as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. Eugénie and Mercedes were exchanged on the Isle of Pheasants between Hendaye and Fuenterrabía.

Early life in France
Eugénie and Louis, both fourteen years old, were pressured to consummate their marriage in order to forestall any possibility of future annulment, but Louis ignored his bride. Eugénie, surrounded by her entourage of high-born Spanish ladies-in-waiting headed by Inés de la Torre, continued to live according to Spanish etiquette and failed to improve her French. After the marriage, it didn't take long for her husband to stray as Eugénie found sex with him "disgusting".

As time passed, Eugénie de Montijo also came to tolerate her husband's prolonged infidelity and his "petites distractions" with other women. Eugénie faithfully performed the duties of an dauphine, entertaining guests and accompanying the dauphin to balls, opera, and theater. Queen Maria Isabella attempted to remedy the formal distance between Louis and his wife. Se sent away Inés de la Torre and the other Spanish ladies and replaced them with French ones, Anne Debelle, Princesse d'Essling, and the dame d'honneur, Pauline de Bassano.

Public Life
Eugénie faithfully performed the duties of an dauphine, entertaining guests and accompanying the dauphin to balls, opera, and theater. The Dauphine was "perhaps the last Royal personage to have a direct and immediate influence on fashion". She set the standard for contemporary fashion through her extravagant dress sense, becoming the most important patron of French haute couture and the flourishing luxury industries of France. Gowns, colors, and hairstyles "à l'impératrice" were avidly copied from the Dauphine throughout Europe and America. She was famous for her large crinolines and for rotating her outfits throughout the day, with a different dress for the morning, afternoon, evening, and night.

She never wore the same gown twice, and in this way commissioned and acquired an enormous wardrobe, which she disposed of in annual sales to benefit charity. Her favored couturier, Charles Frederick Worth, provided hundreds of gowns to her over the years and was appointed the official dressmaker to the court in 1869.[ In the late 1860s, she caused a shift in fashion by turning against the crinoline and adopting Worth's "new" slimmer silhouettes with the skirt gathered in the back over a bustle. Eugénie's influence on contemporary taste extended into the decorative arts. She was a great admirer of Queen Marie Antoinette and decorated her interiors in revivals of the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. A general vogue arose for 18th century French design, becoming known as "Style Louis XVI Impératrice". She traveled to Egypt to open the Suez Canal and officially represented her husband whenever he traveled outside France. In 1860, she visited Algiers with Louis.

She strongly advocated equality for women; she pressured the Ministry of National Education to give the first baccalaureate diploma to a woman and tried unsuccessfully to induce the Académie française to elect the writer George Sand as its first female member. A Catholic and a conservative, her influence countered any liberal tendencies in governmental policies. She was a staunch defender of papal temporal powers in Italy and of ultramontanism. As part of her role as a member of French royalty, Anne visited churches and convents across France, where she met Marguerite de Veny d'Arbouze at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de la-Ville-d'Evêque.

In 1868, Dauphine Eugénie visited the Dolmabahçe Palace in Constantinople, the home to Pertevniyal Sultan, mother of Abdülaziz, 32nd sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Pertevniyal became outraged by the forwardness of Eugénie taking the arm of one of her sons while he gave a tour of the palace garden, and she gave the dauphine a slap on the stomach as a reminder that they were not in France. According to another account, Pertevniyal perceived the presence of a foreign woman within her quarters of the seraglio as an insult. She reportedly slapped Eugénie across the face, almost resulting in an international incident.

Queen Consort
With the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Maria Isabella in 1968, the Dauphin ascended the throne as King Louis XVIII of France and Navarre with Eugénie de Montijo as his Queen. At the outset, the new queen had limited political influence with her husband, who, with the support of his two most important ministers, Chief Minister Maurepas and Foreign Minister Vergennes, blocked several of her candidates from assuming important positions, including Choiseul. The queen did play a decisive role in the disgrace and exile of the most powerful of Queen Maria Isabella's ministers, the duc d'Aiguillon. Despite being queen, Eugénie's duties changed little, and she kept many of the same retainers.

Eugénie de Montijo was the head of the social scene. She loved to dance at the balls of high society, and she became a popular socialite and hostess of the royal balls at Boulogne Palais. As dauphine, and then as queen, Eugénie de Montijo had something of a social rivalry with the Princess of Wales Alexandra of Denmark and the Russian Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna of Russia. This rivalry had echoed the one shared by their husbands and nations, and served to exacerbate the rift within the royal families.

Regent of France
Designated as regent upon the death of her husband in 1885,Eugénie de Montijo swore on the 1849 Constitution on 30 December 1885 at the Palacio de las Cortes, before the two legislative bodies. She rejected the title of reina gobernadora ("Queen Governor"), distancing from the memory of the previous regent Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, who had used it in the 1820s.

When the King died on 25 November 1885, Eugénie de Montijo was pregnant, so the throne was vacant, depending on whether Eugénie de Montijo's unborn child was a male or a female; a male would make that child king, while a female would place the elder daughter and Princess of Asturias, María de las Mercedes, on the throne. During this period, Eugénie de Montijo ruled as regent until her child Louis, a son, was born on 17 May 1886; he was King (Louis XIX) from birth. Eugénie de Montijo continued as regent until Louis XIX attained his majority in 1902.

Her chief adviser and head of government was Charles de Freycinet. Her rule is described as well-balanced and in accordance with respect for constitutional rights, and many political reforms were instated during her regency to prevent political conflicts and chaos. Her role was mostly ceremonial, and her purpose was to preserve the crown for her son until he became an adult.