Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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Princess Helen Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 January 1814, Ludwigslust - 17 May 1858, Richmond-upon-Thames), Duchess of Orléans and Chartres, was a German princess who married into the House of Orleans.
Life
The daughter of erbprinz Frederick Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819) and his second wife, princess Karoline Luise von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1786–1816), third daughter of grand-duke Carl August and princess Louisa of Hessen-Darmstadt. Via her father she was grand-daughter of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his wife Louise of Saxe-Gotha.
On 30 May 1837 Helene Luise married Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans at the Château de Fontainebleau. He was the eldest son of king Louis-Philippe of France and Maria Amalia. Their two children were:
- Louis Philippe Albert (1838–1894), comte de Paris ∞ 1864 Princess Maria Isabella d’Orléans-Montpensier (1848–1919)
- Robert Philippe Louis Eugène Ferdinand (1840–1910), duc de Chartres ∞ 1863 Princess Françoise d'Orléans (1844-1925)
On 13 July 1842 her husband died in the fall of the July Monarchy, thus sparking a debate within the house of Orleans over the setting-up of a regency council that would be necessary due to Louis-Philippe's heir still being an infant. The main contenders were Louis-Philippe's widow and his brother Louis, Duke of Nemours, but further developments meant that the regency did not in the end materialise. Helen died of flu in Richmond and was initially buried at Weybridge before being translated to the Royal Chapel of Saint Louis in Dreux in 1876.
Bibliography
- Généalogie des rois et des princes, by Jean-Charles Volkmann. Edit Jean-Paul Gisserot (1998)
- Les Orléans, une famille en quête d'un trône, by Georges Poisson Perrin (1999)
- Hélène de Mecklembourg-Schwerin; Madame la duchesse d'Orléans; New edition. Paris: Michel Lévy (1859)