Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon
Prince Ferdinand Philippe Marie d'Orléans, Duke of Alençon (12 July 1844 – 29 June 1910) was a French prince from the House of Orléans. He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the son of Louis, Duke of Nemours, and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a first cousin of Queen Victoria. His family included his older brother Gaston, who became the Brazilian emperor by marriage to Isabel, and his younger sister Marguerite Adélaïde. His paternal grandfather was King Louis Philippe, who abdicated in 1848.
On 28 September 1868, he married Sophie Charlotte Augustine, Duchess in Bavaria, at Possenhofen Castle. Sophie was the sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and of Queen Maria Sophie of the Two Sicilies, and she had been engaged to King Ludwig II of Bavaria before their marriage. The couple settled at Bushy House in the Teddington area near London and had two children: Louise, Princess Alfons of Bavaria, and Prince Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme. Sophie died in the Paris Bazar de la Charité fire on 4 May 1897. Ferdinand died in Wimbledon, London, on 29 June 1910 at age 65 and was buried at the Royal Chapel of Dreux, the Orléans family necropolis.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:09 (CET).