Maria Pia of Savoy

Dona Maria Pia (16 October 1847 – 5 July 1911) was by birth an Italian princess of the House of Savoy and was Queen of Portugal as spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon. She was the grand mistress of the Order of Saint Isabel. She was the third queen of the House of Savoy on the Portuguese throne, after Mafalda and Marie-Françoise of Savoy-Nemours. Early life Maria Pia was the youngest daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, by his wife Adelaide of Austria, a great-granddaughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Her sister Maria Clotilde was the "princesse Napoléon" as wife of Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, and her brothers were King Umberto I of Italy and King Amadeo of Spain. She had three younger brothers, but all died prematurely. Additionally, she had four paternal half-siblings born out of wedlock, who were never recognized as royalty despite their rich heritage. Maria Pia married King Luís I of Portugal on 6 October 1862 at the age of 14 in the São Domingos Church in Lisbon, therefore she instantly became Queen consort of Portugal. A proxy wedding took place about a week before on September 27, 1862 with her cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy taking the role of the groom. On the 29th, Maria boarded a ship at Genoa to visit her new homeland. The ship sailed into Lisbon on 5 October. Obviously Maria was smitten with Luis, as she later wrote ‘I like him more than his picture.’ One year after the wedding at age 15, Maria Pia gave birth to her first son and heir, Carlos, Duke of Braganza. Despite her young age she proved to be a wonderful mother. She wrote ‘my little Charles is good. Oh, it is such a great fortune to be a mother. My little one is white and pink with the large blue eyes of his father. It seems that he has already six months instead of a few weeks. He is always, always with me!’ In 1865 she had another son, Afonso, Duke of Porto. Soon after her second pregnancy she experienced postpartum depression. In 1866, she had another son, who was either miscarried or stillborn. Her dead son was christened Miguel. This added to her mental health struggles. She never had any more children and was most likely sterile due to the painful birth.