Infanta Blanca | |
---|---|
Archduchess of Austria; Princess of Hungary, Bohemia, and Tuscany | |
Born |
Graz, Styria, Austria-Hungary |
7 September 1868
Died | 25 October 1949 Viareggio, Tuscany, Italy |
(aged 81)
Spouse | Archduke Leopold Salvator, Prince of Tuscany |
Issue |
Archduchess Dolores Archduchess Immaculata Archduchess Margaretha Archduke Rainer Archduke Leopold Archduchess Maria Antonia Archduke Anton Archduchess Assunta Archduke Franz Josef Archduke Karl Pius |
House | Bourbon |
Father | Infante Carlos, Duke of Madrid |
Mother | Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma |
Infanta Blanca of Spain (7 September 1868 – 25 October 1949) was the eldest child of Carlos, Duke of Madrid, Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain and his wife Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma. Blanca was a member of the House of Bourbon and - according to the Carlists - an Infanta of Spain by birth. In 1889 she married Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria. The couple had ten children. The family left Austria after the end of the Monarchy and finally settled in Barcelona. When the male line of Blanca's family died out at the death of her uncle, Alfonso Carlos, Duke of San Jaime, some of the Carlists recognized her as the legitimate heiress to the Spanish throne.
Infanta Blanca of Spain was born in Graz, Styria, Austria-Hungary, the eldest child of Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain under the name Carlos VII and of his wife Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma. Blanca's childhood was marked by the third Carlist War (1872–1876) in which her father tried, unsuccessfully, to gain the throne of Spain by force. For a time in 1875, Blanca lived in Elizondo, Navarre at the court established by her father. After the war ended the family lived mostly in the Parisian district of Passy. In 1881 they were expelled from France due to Carlos's political activities. By then Blanca's parents drifted apart. Her father went to live in his palace in Venice, while her mother retired to her estate in Viareggio, Italy. Blanca and her siblings divided their time between them.