Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart | |
Countess of Paris | |
Succession: | Orléanist consort to the French throne |
Reign: | 21 January 2019 – present |
Reign-Type: | Pretendence |
Birth Name: | Maria Philomena Magdalena Juliana Johanna de Tornos y Steinhart |
Birth Date: | 19 June 1977 |
Birth Place: | Vienna, Austria |
Issue: | Prince Gaston Princess Antoinette Princess Louise-Marguerite Prince Joseph Princess Jacinthe Prince Alphonse |
Father: | Alfonso de Tornos y Zubiría |
Mother: | Marie-Antoinette von Steinhart |
Religion: | Catholicism |
Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart (born 19 June 1977) is an aristocrat of Hispanic-Austrian descent. Philomena, who uses the courtesy title of "Countess of Paris", is the wife of Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris, Orléanist claimant to the defunct throne of France and head of the House of Orléans.
Philomena is the daughter of Alfonso de Tornos y Zubiría (b. Getxo, 13 October 1937 - d. Paris, 5 April 2013), of Basque ancestry, and his wife (married Vienna, 18 September 1976) Maria Antonia Anna Zdenka, Edle von Steinhart (b. 1944), of Austro-Hungarian noble ancestry. Philomena has a sister named Maria Magdalena (1980) and a brother, David (1982). Her paternal grandparents are Juan de Tornos y Espelíus (former head of the personal secretariat of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, grandfather of the current King of Spain) and Doña María del Carmen Zubiría y Calbetón, daughter of Don Luis de Zubiria y Urizar, 2nd Marquis de Yanduri. Her maternal grandparents were Dr. Ferdinand, Edler von Steinhart (1910–1998) and his wife (married September 1939) Gabriele Felicitas Murad von Werner (1913–1994), paternal granddaughter of Murad Effendi, Ottoman diplomat who was born as Franz Xaver Karl Georg Arthur von Werner.
She spent part of her youth in the Auvergne and studied at the Lycée Maritime in Ciboure. Philomena, her husband Jean and their children lived at their family estate in Dreux, France, but in 2020 they moved to live in Montréal de l'Aude.
Philomena married Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme in a civil service on 19 March 2009 in Paris, conducted by Mayor Rachida Dati. The religious wedding was held on 2 May 2009 at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame at Senlis, with a reception at the Château de Chantilly.[1] The bride wore a gown by Christian Lacroix and a jacket embroidered by Maison Lesage.[2]
The couple have six children:[3]
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