Queen Isabella de Bourbon (1830-1903) succeeded her father, King Fernando VII. Her assumption to the throne at the age of three for a fact is a paradigm of a matinée movie. Her regent mother, Queen Cristina, reared her to become a steadfast and dignified aristocrat but in most cases the young Isabella was a lazy and spoiled brat.
Being a Queen was a difficult childhood for Isabella who at her tender age would rather prefer to be a Princess.
Her succession to the throne being the King's immediate heir was a result of the latter's lobby before the Spanish parliament to restore the traditional law of succession. Had the Salic Law been followed; Isabella's uncle- Don Carlos could have been King instead.
Ironically, the Salic law was introduced by her forefathers-the Bourbons in the early 18th century while her king father Fernando moved to re-establish the older succession law of Spain before his death.
Her Uncle Carlos made Isabella's life of a Queen miserable. In some accounts, the old man would secretly wring her arm whenever he wants Isabella to opt some important matters decided on his favor.
Isabella's reign was never politically stable as her uncle led his clan to revolt against her rule in what was known as the Carlist war.
Despite her fragile state, her mother and the General of the Army- Baldomero Espartero stood path her side to maintain her throne until she reached her teens. It was during her reign when she dissolved the influential religious orders and re-established the Constitutional Parliament that worked to rehabilitate Spain from financial losses.
Isabella never enjoyed the carefree teenage life specially when it comes to what she suppose to experience in her tender years of having a puppy love. This is though several handsome prince from as far as Austria, Britain and France were lined up for her personal choice to be her consort. Isabella's regents moved to arrange her marriage to Royal scions to secure her monarch. First, the guy should have to be a Catholic Prince, never mind his looks and wits.
It was an opportunity for her uncle Don Carlos, who surrendered his claim to the throne in favor of his namesake son; to propose the latter to Isabella and end the Carlista war as his leverage. Unfortunately, the young Carlos Luis was not her type as she rather have the war continued.
At age 16, Queen Isabela II was finally forced into a marriage with her cousin Francisco de Asis (1822–1902), the son of another uncle, Don Francisco de Paula of France. The union was favorable to the French who also insisted that Queen Isabel’s sister- Princess Luisa marry Antione, the son of the French King Louis Philippe. The double wedding was performed in 1846.
Isabella's marriage to Francisco did not ended to a fairy tale close of living “happily ever after.”
Though granted the title “King,” Francisco was a semblance of the Filipino “under de saya” image that in many instances demanded to be given a voice in the Government but was turned down by his wife. He got the ire of the Queen when in several instance- sided with the Carlistas in one negotiation.
The fight between husband and wife frequented the early headlines that eventually led to their parting ways though they remained simply friends to the rest of their lives.
Francisco was said to be homosexual while some authors labeled Isabella a frivolous nymphomaniac having indulged in strings of extramarital affairs which explains the disputable paternity of all her 12 children.
The Carlistas exposed that her son Alfonso XII who succeeded her to the throne as King was actually fathered by her bodyguard Miguel Puig.
Her unpopular political decisions overthrew her reign and exiled to France on September 1868. She was induced to abdicate in Paris on June 25, 1870 in favor of her son Alfonso XII upon restoration of the Monarch. She occasionally visited Spain though she lived the rest of her life in Paris. She died April 10, 1904.
