When her elder sister Isabella II of Spain succeeded to the throne, Infanta Luisa Fernanda was heir presumptive to the crown between 1833 and 1851, when Isabella's oldest surviving daughter was born.
Luisa Fernanda, only 14 years old, and Antoine, 22, had their nuptials on 10 October 1846 as a double wedding with Isabella and Francis, and young Antoine was elevated to the rank of an Infante of Spain. The couple moved to Paris and later to Sevilla. The relationship between Isabella and her sister was tense, due to Antoine's conspiracies against the queen.[1]
Antoine's father was deposed in 1848. The same year, the then 16-year-old Luisa Fernanda gave birth to their first child, Maria Isabel. After Isabella was deposed, the family went into exile. Luisa returned to Sevilla years later, already widowed, where she died.[1] She is buried at Escorial.
Infanta Maria Cristina (1852–1879); after her younger sister Mercedes died, she was engaged to King Alfonso XII (1857–1885), five years her junior, but she died before the wedding.
Of all her children, only Marie Isabelle and Antonio survived to adulthood. Through Antonio, the now non-royal line of dukes of Galliera continues. Alfonso's grandchildren lost royal status due to non-dynastic marriages. The current Duke of Galliera is Alfonso's great-grandson, Don Alfonso Francesco de Orléans-Borbón y Ferarra-Pignatelli.[3]
^Secreta, Sevilla (20 October 2020). "La trágica historia de María Luisa, la mujer que da nombre al parque". Sevilla Secreta (in European Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
^ a b"HRH Infanta Doña Luisa Fernanda and her descendants". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ a bOrtúzar Castañer, Trinidad. "María Cristina de Borbón dos Sicilias". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.
^ a bGenealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 9.
^ a bGenealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 96.
^ a bNavarrete Martínez, Esperanza. "María de la O Isabel de Borbón". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2019.