Princess Marie - an orphan foundling who became a princess

[Kotroman]

Marie Fox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Has anyone heard of Marie Fox? Apparently, she was an foundling from France. Her mother left her and the identity of her father is an ongoing mystery. She was adopted by a British noble couple and eventually married Prince Louis of Liechtenstein. Judging by the Wikipedia photograph of her (bought by Queen Victoria and now owned by Queen Elizabeth II), she was rather pretty. Does anyone know more about her?

[Artemisia]

I can tell a bit more about her daughters. Three of the eldest (Sophie, Henriette and Julie) had no children but the youngest married Franz, Graf von Meran and had six children with him. Franz was the son of Franz Ludwig, Count von Meran who was the son of Archduke Johann Baptist of Austria, himself son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Maria Louisa (daughter of King Charles III of Spain). Their children were:

- Marie Henriette, Countess von Meran
- Therese, Countess von Meran
- Alois, Count von Meran
- Heinrich, Count von Meran
- Albrecht, Count von Meran
- Josef, Count von Meran

Three of those children and their descendants married into several European royal, princely and noble houses including Reuss, Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, von Loe, Auersperg, Hohenberg, and Baden.

[Kotroman]

Thank you, that is fascinating! I don't suppose any living monarch is descended from her, right?

I read somewhere that after a word got out that the Marquis de Montaign was her father, he wrote to the newspaper to publicly deny it. Reportedly, her mother died in childbirth and the Marquis resented the baby, so he left her in an orphanage. His denial of the rumour caused quite a stir back then.

[Artemisia]

As far as I know, there are no Monarch or Heads of a House among their descendants.

Incidentally, Marie and Prince Alois are also direct ancestors of the politician Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. His wife is Stephanie von Bismarck-Schonhausen, a great-great-granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck.