Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (María de las Mercedes Cristina Genara Isabel Luisa Carolina Victoria y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Orléans; 23 December 1910 – 2 January 2000) was a member of the Spanish royal family and the mother of King Juan Carlos I.

The daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Princess Louise of Orléans, she married Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, claimant to the Spanish throne.

María was born in Madrid, daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife, Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne.

She was granted, at birth, the rank and precedence of an infanta of Spain, although not the actual use of the title, her own being Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Her family moved to Seville, when her father was made Captain General of that province.

When the Second Spanish Republic forced them into exile, they lived in Cannes and later in Paris, where she studied art at the Louvre.

She was the 1,171st Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 4 March 1929.

She died of a heart attack in the Royal Residence of La Mareta, in Lanzarote, where the royal family had gathered to celebrate the New Year.

She was buried with the honors of a queen at the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid.

On 14 January 1935, she attended the wedding, in Rome, of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, daughter of King Alfonso XIII, to Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi.

There she met the brother of the bride, her third cousin and future husband, the Infante Juan, fourth son and designated heir of Alfonso XIII.

They married in Rome on 12 October 1935.

When her husband took up Count of Barcelona as a title of pretence on 8 March 1941, María became the Countess of Barcelona.

They had four children.

They lived in Cannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak of World War II, they moved to Lausanne to live with Queen Victoria Eugenie, the mother of Infante Juan.

Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera.

In 1953, the Countess represented the Spanish Royal Family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1976, one year after the monarchy was restored in Spain in the person of her son, Juan Carlos, they returned to Spain.

She mediated between her son and her husband, estranged since Juan Carlos had been designated heir by Franco.

In 1977, Juan renounced his rights in favour of their son, who officially allowed him to retain the title of Count of Barcelona.

She broke her hip in 1982 and the left femur in 1985, which forced her to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

She became a widow in 1993.

She was a fervid fan of bull fighting and of the Andalusian culture.

In 1995, her granddaughter Infanta Elena married in Seville in part because the Countess' love for the city.