Emmanuelle de Dampierre

Donna Victoire Jeanne Emmanuelle Joséphine Pierre Marie de Dampierre was born on 8 November 1913 at the Palazzo Ruspoli, her maternal family's palace on the Via del Corso in Rome. She was the eldest daughter of the French nobleman Roger de Dampierre, 2nd Duke of San Lorenzo Nuovo, Vicomte de Dampierre and his first wife, the Italian noblewoman and painter Princess Vittoria Ruspoli, a daughter of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa.^[5][6] Both her maternal and paternal families were part of the Papal nobility. Through her uncle, Mario Ruspoli, 2nd Prince of Poggio Suasa, she was also connected to the Italian actress Esmeralda Ruspoli.^[2]

Emmanuelle was a descendant, in feminine line, of Prince Emanuel of Liechtenstein through his daughter, Princess Cristina of Liechtenstein. Although being descendant of the monarchs of Liechtenstein, Emmanuelle was also the descendant, in feminine line, of Gustav Vasa, the first King of Sweden from the House of Vasa.

She spent much of her childhood moving between Paris and Rome, until her parents divorced in 1930.^[7] At which time she returned with her mother, brother and sister to the Palazzo Ruspoli to live with her grandmother Josephine, Dowager Princess of Poggio Suasa.

In her memoirs, Emmanuelle describes her fatherless childhood.^[7] Although she lived almost her entire childhood without a father, she grew up in a happy atmosphere, later recalling:

Ours was a fatherless childhood. His absence wasn't the best situation imaginable, but it wasn't a tragedy for us, nor, of course, the source of any later trauma. The reality is that at some point, we simply stopped seeing him. As I mentioned before, I was very young when this happened, and my siblings even younger, since I was the oldest of the three. You could say we didn't miss him. Our life was comfortable and pleasant; we felt protected by my grandmother and my mother. I don't recall ever having a sad atmosphere at home.

Emmanuelle attended the Assumption School in Paris, and later in Rome.^[7] After her schooling ending, she travelled wth her grandmother in London.^[7] Although she hated injuries, Emmanuelle became a Red Cross nurse on the recommendation of one of her friends. It was on this occasion that she acquired Italian nationality, because, being born French, she could not serve in the Italian Red Cross.^[7]

In 1934, Emmanuelle met Infante Jaime at a cocktail party. His father, King Alfonso XIII quickly presented his marriage proposal to Emmanuelle's mother, who accepted it, despite the fact than both of their children (Infante Jaime and Emmanuelle) didn’t like each others.^[8] It was at a dinner at Princess Radziwill's home that she met her future father-in-law.^[7] A few weeks later, their engagement was announced.^[9] They were married on 4 March 1935, during a great ceremony, at the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome.^[10] Although Jaime had to relinquish his rights to the Spanish throne,^[10] it was the second major royal wedding since that of Infanta Beatriz and Prince Alessandro Torlonia, 2 months earlier.^[9]

Life in the Spanish royal family

Jaime and Emmanuelle established their first home at the Great Hotel of Rome,^[11] close to King Alfonso XIII.^[7] Emmanuelle continued to work for the Italian Red Cross while the Infante continues to cheat on his wife. The couple bore the title of Duke and Duchess of Segovia as the Dukedom was granted by King Alfonso.^[5][10]

According to Emmanuelle, she was raped during their honeymoon^[7] before giving birth to their eldest son, in 1936. They finally had two sons :

• Prince Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (20 April 1936 – 20 January 1989)^[5]
• Prince Gonzalo, Duke of Aquitaine (5 June 1937 – 5 March 2000)^[5]

King Alfonso died in 1941, which deeply affected Emmanuelle, who greatly admired her father in law.^[7]

During the Second World War, Jaime and his sons found refuge in Lausanne, Switzerland, with Queen Victoria Eugenie and other members of the Spanish royal family.^[7] The Duchess continued to work for the Italian Red Cross until 1942, the year in which she also took refuge in Lausanne with her family.^[5] During this period, the relations between Jaime and Emmanuelle continued to deteriorate.^[10]

Titular Queen of France

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Styles of Emmanuelle, Duchess of Anjou
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At the end of the war, the family move to Rome and when her husband took up Duke of Anjou as a title of pretence on 28 March 1946, Emmanuelle became the Duchess of Anjou and was known simply as Madame.^[12] In 1947, Emanuelle and Infante Jaime divorced in Bucharest.^[10] She married a second time to Antonio Sozzani, a Milanese stockbroker, in Vienna.^[10] She and Sozzani divorced in 1967.^[10] While her first divorce was legally recognized in Italy, it was not recognized by the Catholic Church nor by the Spanish and French governments.^[10][5] From 1947 until her death in 2012, Emmanuelle was considered, both in Spain, in France and in many European courts, to be the true wife of the Infante.^[5]

The 1980s were a very difficult period for Emmanuelle. After three years of separation, her eldest son, Alfonso, and his wife divorced in 1982. Two years later, in 1984, a serious car accident claimed the life of the Duke's eldest son, François de Bourbon (1972-1984), while Alfonso and his second son were seriously injured. Finally, in 1989, Alfonso died of a serious neck injury in a skiing accident in the United States. Many years later, in 2000, Emmanuelle's youngest son, Gonzalo, died from leukemia.

In 2003, Emanuelle published a memoir titled Memorias: Esposa y madre de los Borbones que pudieron reinar en España.^[5][7] Emmanuelle, called Madame, was considered by Legitimists as the French Queen Mother, and after the death of her eldest son Alfonso, as the Queen Dowager.^[1]

In 1st June 2007, Emmanuelle was present to the christening of her great granddaughter Princess Eugenie of Bourbon, the eldest son of Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, and his wife María Margarita Vargas, Duke and Duchess of Anjou. The great ceremony took place in the Apostolic Nunciature to France and Eugenie was baptised by the Cardinal Fortunao Baldelli, Apostolic Nuncio to France from 1999 to 2009.^[13][14] Many guests were present, including Jean Foyer, former French Minister of Justice, the Duchess of Franco, the Duke of Bauffremont.^[14]

In 5 September 2010, the christening of Emmanuelle’s great grandsons, Prince Louis and Prince Alphonse of Bourbon took place in St. Peter's Basilica.^[15]

Emmanuelle died following a long-term illness at Palazzo Massimo di Pirro on 3 May 2012, aged 98 years.^[8][10] She was buried in the Dampierre family vault at the Passy Cemetery in Paris.^[5]