A woman, who although thoroughly disgraced herself with questionable morals
and reputation, and she would take quite a berating from most Europeans.
However, the people loved her; she was brave and generous.
It was her country of Spain that took this lady to their hearts.
She was born in 1830, the first child of Ferdinand
VII and Maria Cristina, on 10 October.
Her sister Luisa arrived two years later.
Ferdinand, at the time, appeared to be dying and urged on by his wife,
he decided to declare his brother Carlos to be his heir.
But Maria's sister, the very strong-willed Carlota, ripped up
the royal decree to save the throne for the natural successor.
And all hell broke loose, as the country was forced into civil war.
And so our story begins as we look back on the life of
Isabella II, queen of Spain.
Isabella was proclaimed queen after her father's death, but the dead
king's brother Carlos had different ideas
and declared himself king instead.
It was a confusing time for the family, whose widowed
mother would now secretly marry a corporal Fernando Munoz.
This outraged the public and although this single event gave rise
to celebrations throughout their various palaces
it did little in the way of calming the ongoing situation with Carlos.
The royal army eventually won out, and Carlos and his men
were forced to surrender by 1839.
The following year Isabella's mother
her husband and children left for France.
Leaving their daughter to come to terms with the struggles and factions
within Spain.
Baldomero Espartero, would take up the regents
role and became head of the royal guard.
He placed a new governess to look after both Isabella
and Luisa, but the girls never learned their lessons.
Isabella was
said to be plump and untidy; she was easily led and stubborn,
but when the need arose, she could also be charming.
Although she required patience and she was clearly not
contemplating what would happen next.
On 8 October 1841,
Isabella suffered what she would call "that awful night"
shots fired suddenly shattered a window, and forces attacked with the hope
of kidnapping the queen, and reviving hopes that Maria may return.
Thankfully Espartero returned in time to stop the rebels and restore order.
But from that moment onwards, Espartero would be almost constantly
by the side of Isabella.
But concern diminished, and even when Washington Irving,
an author stroke envoy, saw Isabella on her 14th birthday;
he said, "she acquitted herself well, with propriety and expression"
In 1843, Isabella
was now of age and declared legal to sit upon the throne.
However, beauty wasn't her best asset; plagued by eczema
and royally overweight, not what you'd call a pretty sight.
Isabella's mother would eventually return to Spain.
It's said the dramatic scene of mother and daughter flying into each other's
open arms was a sight to behold and the first time they had seen eachother
in three years.
Now aged 16, Isabella was considered prime for marriage,
and the search began with her mother looking for suitable spouses.
Not just Isabella but sister Luisa also.
The Spanish marriages brought great interest
from the English court as both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
travelled to Paris and talked with king Louis Phillipe.
A recommendation of a non-french bourbon prince was argued by Victoria.
Of course, Isabella had no say in how this would all turn out,
but her mother listened intently to all the suggestions before making her choice.
The title fell on the shoulders of Francisco
de Asis; he was basically her cousin.
Yet she also arranged a marriage for her sister Luisa to Louis Phillipe's son.
Queen Victoria was clearly not amused at the news;
she said, "the settlement is infamous, and we must remonstrate." but little came
of her complaints, and the weddings were set to go ahead in 1846.
Some years later that Isabella broke her silence
over her hsuband and in particular her wedding night.
She said, "what man would wear more lace than I."
Poor old Francisco he was a forlorn man,
but nonetheless, he was now king consort.
But Isabella didn't waste time on this new man
in her life, and he was promptly removed from the royal bedroom
and replaced with a new lover, Francisco Serrano.
Isabella's mother was distraught by this, more so after all the work,
she put into finding what she thought was the perfect man for her daughter.
Completely embarrassed once again, Maria left Spain and returned to Paris.
Isabella now
tiring of Serrano, turned her attentions to another, a young opera tenor.
But he was soon removed, and now reconciliation was being sought
between Isabella and her husband, if for nothing more than appearances.
Maria returned with the hope she may be able to put right the wrongs
in her daughter's marriage.
Yet she must have been surprised at how the people took to their queen!
Isabella was highly popular and for all the gossip about her adultery,
you'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
You see she won over the people by her generosity, but how?
Well she'd quite freely give away her jewels to beggars in the streets
and that aside would provide large dowries to daughters of her ministers
and generals.
But Isabella's real passion was for her for lovers,
another named marquis of Bedmar stepped up, but
he almost at once feared for his life when Isabella's husband
threatened to have all her men strung up from her balcony.
It was enough of a hint for Bedmar to leave the palace.
Isabella had her first child, a boy, in 1850.
Of course, no one knew who the father might be,
but sadly the baby died within hours.
Just two years later, Isabella once again gave birth, this time to a girl.
Still having no idea who the father was on this occasion,
although her new lover Jose Ruiz de Arana was the leading suspect.
In some eyes, Isabella's behaviour was beyond redemption.
A few weeks after the birth, she was heading back from the royal chapel
when a Franciscan priest, Martin Merino, stabbed Isabella.
Luckily she was wearing metal embroidery and a whalebone corset
which helped prevent serious injury.
As for Martin, he was garrotted, and his body burned.
Isabella had never thought anything of this nature
would happen; an assassination attempt had to be taken seriously.
So she turned to god to attempt to appease the church.
She'd donate large sums of money, but although her spiritual support grew,
her most important priority that being her indulgence
in sex was always at the forefront of her mind.
Another baby, her
third, was born in 1854 but again died
just three days later, and again the father unknown.
The following months would prove intolerable for Isabella,
and her subjects soon found plenty of complaints coming her way.
Her mother was accused of greed and corruption.
In Madrid, the powers that be declared a state of siege.
Isabella had no idea what to do but believed Espertero could save her.
He again returned but insisted that now she reformed her wayward life
and that her mother must be exiled.
In 1857 Isabella gave birth to a boy, Alfonso.
As you can imagine by now, his father is unknown,
but Francisco, probably quite tired of all this,
decided to give him the title the Prince of Asturias.
We can confidently say that Francisco fathered none of his wife's children.
After the defeat of Carlos in the Carlist war,
his son, the count of Montemolin, would now attempt to take the throne.
He arrived in Valencia and began a march towards Madrid.
Hopeful of an uprising, alas it never happened,
and once captured, he now begged for his life.
Isabella feeling anxious gave it to him but said he must renounce all plans
to take the crown in the future; otherwise,
he won't be so leniently dealt with in the same way.
The raucous state of Spain eventually calmed and Isabella
paid a visit to Napoleon
III and Empress Eugenie, Isabella always made an impression
but on occasion some of the mutterings were quite possibly a little unfair.
Still on this trip, some observers described her as a giant rubber ball,
although Eugenie approved of her and the visit.
Isabella, a proven adultress, somehow remained loyal to the church.
It was at this point she was awarded the golden rose,
a papal prize for queenly virtue.
As for her husband, well, nothing!
He was even described once "as the most insignificant creature ever."
In the meantime, another lover loomed.
This chap was Carlos Mafori, Isabella doted on him
and paid this man even more attention than her children.
Her ignorance was bliss!
But behind the scenes, plots were still in the making to overthrow the queen.
It seemed that this time the cards were literally stacked
against Isabella.
General Juan Prim would lead this movement,
attempting to gain Carlist support to join his liberal faction.
In September 1868, Admiral Juan Bautista Topete
proclaimed Luisa queen of Spain, and although he wasn't too enthused
about the plan, Prim offered to attempt revolution to break the queen.
The rebels landed at Cadiz and marched on Madrid.
Isabella, who was away in northern Spain, heard of the news
and wanted to return to the city, she wasn't afraid of these men,
but her closest friends begged her not to travel.
Her prime minister then resigned, and a military dictator
named Manuel Concha had taken over.
It looked like the end of the road
for Isabella; the pope had asked her not to abdicate,
but she succumbed and, in a tearful moment, said,
"I thought I had struck deeper roots in this land."
Isabella had lost, and the only outcome
to the years of bitterness towards her was to move away.
She fled to Paris with Mafori and her children.
Francisco her husband also left but stayed out of the city in a small villa.
Although discussions continued between Isabella
and the pope, nothing could now stop the inevitable.
Her advisors again spoke of abdication,
which would ultimately allow her son Alfonso to take the throne.
In Spain, the nation was a mess; Serrano
became regent and then sent Prim to look for a new king.
Amadeo of Savoy was chosen,
but upon his arrival, Prim was assassinated.
The turbulent times continued; Isabella
ensured she was kept informed at every stage.
But the rump parliament which by now had had four presidents
in the last eight months, couldn't find a prime minister to hold it
all together; and eventually, the army stepped in.
By the end of
1874, Alfonso was finally invited back to Spain to accept the crown,
and he was welcomed by thousands lining the streets of Madrid.
Isabella also returned, but by now much lighter in monetary terms.
She had frittered much of her fortune away, however, she was still holding out
for a nice pension from the Spanish treasury.
Alfonso XII would steady the ship and continue to rule for the next 12 years
until his death of tuberculosis.
Six months after his death, his widow gave birth to a son, Alfonso XIII.
Hope was lifted for Isabella again as she was not quite finished just yet.
One of her advisors suggested that her abdication had never been
formally ratified; therefore, she should resume her role as queen.
But after all the years of turmoil, the government had heard of her plotting
and forced her to move back to Paris.
There was no chance of a return and for the majority of the rest of her life
she spent much of her time mainly in the French capital, meeting her husband
only on a birthday or, quite amusingly, if their carriages passed in the street,
she would lower her head whereby Franciso would bow.
Although Isabella's children grew up to be model citizens,
both respected and loved, Isabella continued her cardinal ways.
And although she partied long into the night, her
figure, quite possibly not the slimmest and infact growing larger
each day, still attracted many new lovers.
In 1890 Isabella met Queen Victoria,
and they had lunch in Biarritz, but the topic of Victoria's
concern in Isabella's marriage never came to the table.
On the horizon were more important concerns for Isabella
who was now enduring a deterioration in health.
In 1904 the, ex Empress Eugenie came to visit.
Although Isabella was cursed at the time with flu,
she insisted on being the good host, yet she would stand in a draughty doorway
to receive her guest and later showed her out, declaring that "disowned
monarchs are sensitive to want of attention."
On 9 April, surrounded by her daughters
and receiving her last rites, she spoke out one last time,
"take my hand and pull my right arm as hard as you can.
There is something very strange in my chest.
I think I'm going to faint."
No one ever expected an apology from Isabella; she had lived her life, at times wayward
but in a style and fashion that represented her.
Yes, she had power and clearly overindulged living to the full.
Her inability to successfully rule would only bring more heartache.
She represented a turbulent era for Spain,
but one that eventually came out of Isabella's shadow.