Queen Isabel II and King Francisco I de Assis

[Marengo]

Maria Isabel II Luisa, Queen of Spain (Madrid 10 October 1830 - Paris, 9 April 1904); married in Madrid on 10 October 1846 Francisco de Asis, King-Consort of Spain (Aranjuez, 13 May 1822 - Epinay-sur-Seine, 13 April 1902)

Reign: 1833 - 1868 (From 1833-1843 under the regency of her mother, Queen Maria Cristina)

Dynasty: Bourbon

Predecessor: King Fernando VII of Spain

Succeeded by: King Amedeo I of Spain

Children*: Prince Fernando of Spain, Prince of Asturias, Princess Maria Isabel of the Two Sicilies, Princess Maria Cristina, King Alfonso XII, Princess Maria de la Conception, princess Maria del Pilar of Spain, Princess Maria de la Paz of Bavaria, Prince Francisco de Assis of Spain and Princess Eulalia of Spain & Orleans

Parents Isabel: King Fernando VII of Spain and Princess Maria Cristina of the Two Sicilies

Parents Francisco de Assis: Prince Francisco de Paula of Spain, Duke of Cadiz and Princess Luisa of the Two Sicilies

Sister Isabel: Princess Luise Fernanda of Orleans & Spain

Siblings Francisco de Assis: Prince Francisco de Assis of Spain, Duke of Cadiz; Princess Isabel, Countess Gurowski; Prince Enrique of Spain, Duke of Seville; Luisa, Duchess of Sessa; Prince Duarte of Spain; Princess Josefina of Spain, Mrs. Güell; Princess Teresa of Spain; Prince Fernando of Spain; Princess Maria Cristina of Spain & Portugal, Princess Amalia of Bavaria

* There is some serious doubt that King Francicso de Assis is actually the father of Queen Isabel's children.

[Marengo]

Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – April 10, 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was Queen regnant of Spain ("Queen of the Spains" officially from August 13, 1836, Isabella II the "queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon,...") She was Spain's first and so far only queen regnant, although in the counting of spanish kings the previous kings of Leon and Castile were counted as kings of Spain (and henceforth, the numeral second).
Isabella was born in Madrid in 1830 and was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand VII, king of Spain, and of his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina, a Neapolitan Bourbon and also the niece of Marie Antoinette. Maria became queen-regent on September 29, 1833, when her daughter Isabella, at the age of three years, was proclaimed queen on the death of the king.
Queen Isabella succeeded to the throne because Ferdinand VII induced the Cortes to assist him in setting aside the Salic law, which the Bourbons had introduced in the beginning of the 18th century, and to re-establish the older succession law of Spain. The brother of Ferdinand, Carlos, the first pretender, fought seven years, during the minority of Isabella, to dispute her title. Supporters of Carlos and his descendants were known as Carlists and the dispute over the succession was the subject of a number of Carlist Wars in the 19th century.
Isabella's rights were only maintained through the support of the army. The Cortes and the Liberals and Progressives, who at the same time established constitutional and parliamentary government, dissolved the religious orders, confiscated the property of the orders including the Jesuits, and attempted to restore order in finances. After the Carlist war the queen-regent, Christina, resigned to make way for Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, the most successful and most popular general of the Isabelline armies, who remained regent for only two years.
He was turned out in 1843 by a military and political pronunciamiento led by Generals O'Donnell and Narvaez, who formed a cabinet, presided over by Joaquin Maria Lopez, and this government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at thirteen. Three years later the Moderado party or Castilian Conservatives made their Queen marry, at sixteen, her cousin, Prince Fernando I Francisco de Asis de Bourbon-Cadige (1822–1902), on the same day (October 10, 1846) her younger sister married the duke of Montpensier.
These marriages suited the views of France and Louis Philippe, who nearly quarrelled in consequence with Britain; but both matches were anything but happy. In fact, persistent rumor had it that few if any of the Spanish Queen regnant's children were conceived by her king-consort, a homosexual. The heir to the throne, who would eventually become Alfonso XII, for instance, was widely believed to be Isabella's child by a captain of the guard, Enrique Puig y Moltó.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

[Marengo]

Francis of Spain (Spanish: Francisco de Asís de Borbón; 13 May 1822 - 17 April 1902) was king consort of Queen Isabella II of Spain, Duke of Cadiz in his own right, and titularly king, although Isabella was the ruler, queen regnant.

Francis was born at Aranjuez, Spain, the second son of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain, Duke of Cadiz, and of his wife, Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies. He was named after Francis of Assisi.
Francis' paternal grandparents were Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. His maternal grandparents were Francis I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Isabella of Spain. Maria Isabella was a daughter of Charles IV and Maria Luisa.

Francis married Isabella on 10 October 1846. It is documented that young Isabella would rather have wanted to espouse his younger brother, infante Enrique, Duke of Sevilla, and compained bitterly about her wedded husband's effeminate habits after their first night. Twelve children were born of the marriage, of whom only four reached adulthood.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

[Jason R Maier esq]

On a related note, I did read the wikipedia articles and it was noted that it was a rumor that Francisco was not the biological father of some of the children he and Isabel II had (particularly Alfonso XII).

Any truth to it?

[Marengo]

Well, in almost all books I have read about the matter it is assumed that Fransisco is the father of a very few -if any- of Isabels children. The rumours are very strong as Isabel had lovers (and wasn't overly secretive about it) and Fransisco was considered a homosexual. Still, Fransisco recognised all the children which is all that matters in the legal sense of course.

[PssMarie-Elisabeth]

A closeup of Queen Isabel II