| Marie Isabelle | |
| Succession: | Orléanist consort to the French throne |
| Reign: | 30 May 1864 – 5 August 1873 |
| Reign-Type: | Pretendence |
| Succession1: | Unionist consort to the French throne |
| Reign1: | 24 August 1883 – 8 September 1894 |
| Reign-Type1: | Pretendence |
| Countess of Paris | |
| Full Name: | French: Marie Isabelle Françoise d’Asis Antoinette Louise Ferdinande Christine Amélie Philippine Adélaïde Joséphine Hélène Henriette Caroline Justine Rufine Gasparine Melchiore Baltassare Mâté d’Orléans Spanish; Castilian: María Isabel Francisca de Asís Antonia Luisa Fernanda Cristina Amelia Felipa Adelaida Josefa Elena Enriqueta Carolina Justina Rufina Gasparina Melchora Baltasara Matea [1] |
| Birth Date: | 21 September 1848 |
| Birth Place: | Royal Alcázars of Seville, Seville, Spain |
| Death Place: | Palacio de Orléans, Villamanrique de la Condesa, Spain |
| Father: | Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier |
| Mother: | Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain |
| Issue: | Amélie, Queen of Portugal Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans Princess Hélène, Duchess of Aosta Princess Isabelle, Duchess of Guise Louise, Infanta Carlos of Spain Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Montpensier |
| House: | Orléans |
Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans (María Isabel de Orleans y Borbón; 21 September 1848 - 23 April 1919) was born an infanta of Spain and a Princess of Orléans and became the Countess of Paris by marriage.
She was born in Seville to Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain. Antoine was the youngest son of Louis-Philippe I, the last King of France, and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Infanta Luisa was the daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. All four of her grandparents and seven of her eight great-grandparents were members of the French Royal House of Bourbon.
On 30 May 1864 at St. Raphael's Church in Kingston upon Thames, England, when she was only fifteen, Isabelle married her cousin Philippe d'Orléans, claimant to the French throne as Philippe VII. They had eight children:
As the French royal family had been in exile since their grandfather King Louis Philippe abdicated in 1848, Marie Isabelle and her husband first lived at York House, Twickenham. In 1871 the family was allowed to return to France, where they lived in the Hôtel Matignon in Paris and in the Château d'Eu in Normandy.
The Countess of Paris was known for her rather masculine habits of smoking cigars and participating in field sports, especially shooting, yet could surprise people with her elegance on formal occasions.[2]
In 1886, they were forced to leave France for a second time. In 1894, her husband died in exile at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. Marie Isabelle lived in the Château de Randan in France, and died in 1919 at her palace in Villamanrique de la Condesa, near Seville.
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