Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain

For other uses, see Mercedes of Spain.

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain (3 October 1911 – 11 September 1953) was a German-Spanish princess. She was the third wife of Georgian Prince Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani. Through her father, Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, she was a member of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. Through her mother, Infanta María Teresa of Spain, she was a granddaughter of Alfonso XII and niece of Alfonso XIII.^[1]

Infanta María de las Mercedes
Princess Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani
María de las Mercedes, circa 1918
Born	(1911-10-03)3 October 1911 Palace of the Cuesta de la Vega, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain
Died	11 September 1953(1953-09-11) (aged 41) Madrid, Spanish State
Burial	El Escorial
Spouse	Prince Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani ​ ​ (m. 1946)​
Issue	Princess Mariam Prince Bagrat
Names Spanish: María de las Mercedes Teresa María de la Paz Fernanda Adalberta Cristina Antonia Isidra Raimunda Josefa Jesusa Fausta Francisca de Borja y Todos los Santos
House	Wittelsbach (agnatic) Bourbon (enatic)
Father	Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria
Mother	Infanta María Teresa of Spain

Early life

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain, was born on 3 October 1911 at the Palace of the Cuesta de la Vega, Madrid, to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria and Infanta María Teresa of Spain.^[2] Her parents were first cousins, both grandchildren of Isabella II of Spain. Prior to her birth, her uncle, King Alfonso XIII, declared that any children born of her parents' marriage would be Infantes or Infantas of Spain. She was christened María de las Mercedes Teresa María de la Paz Fernanda Adalberta Cristina Antonia Isidra Raimunda Josefa Jesusa Fausta Francisca de Borja y Todos los Santos on 11 October 1911 at the Royal Palace of Madrid. Her godparents were Infanta María de la Paz of Spain (her paternal grandmother) and Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (her paternal uncle, for whom Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies stood proxy).^[3] She had two elder brothers, Luis Alfonso (1906–1983) and José Eugenio (1909–1966), and one younger sister, María del Pilar (1912–1918). Her mother died in 1912. Her father remarried her late mother's lady-in-waiting, Doña María Luisa de Silva y Fernandez de Henestrosa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina.

Following the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, the family fled to Germany.

Marriage and issue

On 29 August 1946, Infanta María de las Mercedes married Prince Irakli Bagration of Mukhrani at the Miramar Palace in San Sebastián.^[4]

On the advice of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia,Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, head of the Spanish royal family in exile, recognised the union as dynastic. Consequently, her children were in the line of succession to the Spanish throne. In 1948, Irakli's sister Leonida married Grand Duke Vladimir, whom the Grand Duke considered dynastic.^[5]

They had two children:

• Princess Mariam Bagration of Mukhrani (born 27 June 1947)^[6]
• Prince Bagrat Bagration of Mukhrani (12 January 1949 – 20 March 2017)

Princess María de las Mercedes died on 11 September 1953 in Madrid from a pre-existing heart condition. She is buried in the Pantheon of the Princes at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Honours

• Dame of Honor and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta^{[7][better source needed]}

Arms

• Heraldry of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain
• 
  Coat of Arms of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bavaria, Infanta of Spain

Ancestors

Ancestors of Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain

8. Prince Adalbert of Bavaria 4. Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria 9. Infanta Amalia of Spain 2. Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria 10. Infante Francisco de Asís of Spain 5. Infanta María de la Paz of Spain 11. Isabella II of Spain 1. Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain 12. Infante Francisco de Asís of Spain (= 10) 6. Alfonso XII of Spain 13. Isabella II of Spain (= 11) 3. Infanta María Teresa of Spain 14. Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria 7. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria 15. Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

References

1. Bagration Genealogy (Retrieved 4 June 2016)
2. "Gaceta de Madrid" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
3. "BAUTIZO DE LA INFANTA DOÑA MERCEDES". ABC. 11 October 1911. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
4. Wittelsbach Genealogy (Retrieved 4 June 2016)
5. 1946 Decree of the Head of the Russian Imperial House Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
6. Dona Maria de las Mercedes de Baviera y de Borbon, Infanta d'España (Retrieved 4 June 2016)
7. María de las Mercedes de Baviera (Retrieved 4 June 2016)

External links

• "HA FALLECIDO LA INFANTA DOÑA MARIA MERCEDES DE BAVIERA" (abc.es, 12 September 1953)