Princess Claude of Orléans

Princess Claude
prev. Duchess of Aosta
Spouse	Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
Issue
Princess Bianca Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia Princess Mafalda
Full name
Claude Marie Agnès Catherine d'Orléans
House	House of Orléans
Father	Henri, comte de Paris
Mother	Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza
Born	11 December 1943 (1943-12-11) (age 67) Larache
Religion	Roman Catholicism

French Royal Family Orléanist

HRH The Count of Paris HRH The Countess of Paris HRH Princess Marie Isabelle HRH The Count of Clermont HRH Princess Blanche HRH The Duke of Vendôme HRH The Duchess of Vendôme HRH Prince Gaston HRH The Duke of Angoulême HRH The Duchess of Angoulême HRH Princess Thérèse HRH Prince Pierre Extended royal family HRH The Duchess of Montpensier HRH The Countess of Schönborn-Buchheim HRH Princess Hélène HRH The Duchess of Calabria HRH The Duchess of Württemberg HRH The Count of Évreux HRH The Countess of Évreux HRH Princess Clothilde HRH Princess Adélaïde HRH The Duke of Anjou HRH The Duchess of Cadaval HRH Prince François HRH The Duke of Orléans HRH The Duchess of Orléans HRH Princess Diane HRH The Duke of Chartres HRH The Duchess of Chartres HRH The Duke of Valois HRH Princess Louise HRH Princess Hélène HRH Prince Constantin HRH Princess Isabelle HRH The Duke of Aumale HRH Princess Claude HRH Princess Chantal HRH The Count of La Marche

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Princess Claude of Orléans (Claude Marie Agnès Catherine; 11 December 1943) is a French princess from the House of Orléans. She is the former wife of Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, a disputed head of the House of Savoy. Claude was the third Orleanist princess to hold the title Duchess of Aosta.

Biography

Family

Princess Claude was born in Larache as the ninth child and fifth daughter of Henri, comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza.^[1]

She is the sister of Prince Henri, Count of Paris, the current Orleanist pretender to the French throne, as well as Diane, Duchess of Württemberg, and Prince Jacques, Duke of Orléans. They grew up together on an estate outside Lisbon, Portugal.^[2]

Marriage and issue

On 22 July 1964 in Sintra, Portugal, Princess Claude married Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta. He was the only son of Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark. His father had been recognized by some as Tomislav II of Croatia, making Amedeo his titular heir for a short period.

During the time of their wedding, Amedeo was a student at the Morosini Naval College in Venice, where his father had also attended.^[1] The couple met while attending the wedding of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Sofia of Greece and Denmark in May 1962 in Athens.^[2] They announced their engagement on 4 October 1963.^[1] The couple married in a parish church twelve miles from Lisbon.^[2] The wedding had been planned for earlier in the month, but was rescheduled after former king Umberto II of Italy (uncle of the groom) needed time to recover from an abdominal operation.^[3] The wedding was attended by 300 guests, including Umberto and Prince Juan Carlos and his wife Princess Sofia.

They had three children together:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Princess Bianca Irene Olga Elena Isabella Fiorenza Maria of Savoy	2 April 1966 (1966-04-02) (age 45)		married Gilberto Carbonello Tiberto Maria, Count Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga; has issue
Prince Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amedeo Elena Maria Fiorenzo, Duke of Apulia	13 October 1967 (1967-10-13) (age 44)		married Princess Olga Isabella of Greece, daughter of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark; has issue
Princess Mafalda Giovanna Shams Maria Fiorenza Isabella of Savoy	20 September 1969 (1969-09-20) (age 42)		married firstly Don Alessandro Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau dei principi di Palazzolo, divorced without issue; Mafalda married secondly Francesco Ferrante Carlo Napoleone, 10th Baron Lombardo di San Chirico[4] and has issue

Divorce

Amedeo and Claude officially separated from each other 20 July 1976. They received a civil divorce 26 April 1982, and an ecclesiastical annulment from the Roman Rota 8 January 1987. Amedeo remarried to Silvia Paternò di Spedalotto later that year. Silvia is now the current holder of the style Duchess of Aosta. Claude reverted back to her previous style of Princess of France, as a daughter of the Orleanist claimant Henri, comte de Paris.

Ancestry

Claude's ancestors in four generations

16. Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans (=20)

8. Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres

17. Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (=21)

4. Prince Jean, Duke of Guise

18. Prince François, Prince of Joinville

9. Princess Françoise of Orléans

19. Princess Francisca of Brazil

2. Henri, Count of Paris

20. Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans (=16)

10. Prince Philippe, Count of Paris

21. Helen of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (=17)

5. Princess Isabelle of Orléans

22. Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier

11. Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans

23. Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain

1. Claude d'Orléans

24. Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours

12. Prince Gaston, Count of Eu

25. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

6. Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza

26. Pedro II of Brazil

13. Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil

27. Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies

3. Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza

28. Count John Nepomuk Dobrzensky

14. Count John Dobrzensky

29. Baroness Maria Friederike Wanczura

7. Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz

30. Count Joseph Kottulinsky

15. Countess Elisabeth Kottulinsky

31. Countess Adelaide von Attems

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Princess of Orléans Fiancée of a Prince", The New York Times (Paris), 5 October 1963 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Princess Claudia Bride in Portugal", The New York Times (Sao Pedro de Sintra, Portugal), 22 July 1964 
3. ^ "Royal Wedding Set July 22", The New York Times (Lisbon), 17 June 1964 
4. ^ Lombardo di San Chirico

Princess Claude of Orléans House of Orléans Born: 11 December 1943
Regnal titles
Preceded by Irene of Greece and Denmark	Duchess of Aosta	Succeeded by Silvia Paternò di Spedalotto