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María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias (11 September 1880 – 17 October 1904), was the eldest daughter of King Alfonso XII of Spain and his second wife, Maria Christina of Austria. She was for all 24 years of her life, Princess of Asturias, the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Spain. For a period from 25 November 1885 to 17 May 1886, she was the extant Head of the State of Spain. Had her younger sibling, unborn at the death of Alfonso XII, been a daughter, Mercedes would have become queen regnant of Spain. The sibling proved to be a boy, Alfonso XIII of Spain, and on his birth in 1886, Mercedes lost her latent queenship. She returned to the position of heiress presumptive of Spain, which she held until her own death, and was succeeded in it by her own infant son Alfonso, Alfonso XIII having not yet fathered a child. Princess Mercedes married in Madrid on 14 February 1901, her second cousin, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a nephew of the King of the then-defunct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, who was elevated to the rank of Infante of Spain. The marriage was highly controversial due to the Prince's father ties with the Carlist. She died three years later from complication while giving birth to her third child. == Early life== Born on 11 September 1880 at the Royal Palace of Madrid, Princess María de las Mercedes was the eldest daughter of King Alfonso XII and his second wife, Maria Christina of Austria.〔Puga, '' 20 Infantas de España'', p. 175〕 She was christened María de las Mercedes Isabel Teresa Cristina Alfonsa.〔Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo, ''La Reina María Cristina'', p. 115.〕 Her godmother was Queen Isabella II, her paternal grandmother, who came from retirement in Paris to attend the birth of her first grandchild.〔Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo, ''La Reina Maria Cristina'', p. 115.〕 There was great disappointment because family and nation were hoping for a boy.〔Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo, ''La Reina Maria Cristina'', p. 115.〕 To smooth thing out, Queen Maria Christina suggested giving her daughter the name Mercedes in honor of her husband's first wife, Mercedes of Orléans.〔Puga, '' 20 Infantas de España'', p. 175〕 Mercedes was heiress presumptive from her birth, but the disappointment was so great that she was initially treated only as an ''infanta''. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, then head of the government, who disliked Maria Christina and did not want the crown to pass again to a female after the disastrous reign of Isabella II, decided to ignore the newborn.〔Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo, ''La Reina Maria Cristina'', p. 116.〕 Mercedes's paternal aunt Isabella retained the title of Princess of Asturias until Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, President of the government replacing Cánovas, pressured King Alfonso XII to accord the title to Mercedes, which he did on 10 March 1881. On 12 November 1882, Mercedes gained a sister, Infanta Maria Teresa. The marriage of their parents was unhappy. Alfonso had married Maria Christina in order to secure the succession to the throne, he did not love his wife and was disappointed when she gave birth to two daughters, while he already had two extramarital sons. In July 1883, Maria Christina left the Spanish court and traveled with her daughters to visit her own family in Austria. By the summer of 1884, Alfonso XII's health deteriorated; he had tuberculosis. After a brief improvement, the 27-year-old king died on 25 November 1885, and Mercedes became the extant Head of the State of Spain under the regency of her mother. She was not proclaimed queen, however, because her mother was pregnant. The birth of another sister would have made her queen, but the sibling proved to be a boy, who became King Alfonso XIII upon his birth on 17 May 1886. She resumed the position of heiress presumptive, which she held for the rest of her life. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mercedes, Princess of Asturias」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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