Princess Marie d'Orléans
(1865-1909)
daughter of the duc de Chartres

Volume 7, page 332, sitting number 9574.

Princesse Marie Amélie Françoise Hélène d’Orléans was born at Morgan House, Richmond, on 19 January 1865, the eldest child of Robert, duc de Chartres and his cousin, Françoise d’Orléans. She was thus the great-granddaughter of King Louis Philippe I through both her father and her mother.

On 20 October 1885 in Paris she married Prince Valdemar of Denmark (1858-1939), a son of Christian IX of Denmark, and brother of Princess Alexandra, the Princess of Wales.

She died in Copenhagen on 4 December 1909.

'The late Princess Valdemar of Denmark was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Chartres, and sister-in-law of Queen Alexandra. Princess Marie (as she was generally known) was truly beloved by high and low on account of her noble mind and good heart. She was the late King Christian's favourite daughter-in-law in his old age, his own beloved daughters being far away in other countries. She will be missed not only as the good mother she was to her own five chiildren, but also as the mother and friend of many poor people. A distinguished daughter of the house of Orleans, Princess Marie married in 1885 the youngest son of the late King of Denmark. Endowed with a charming personality, she quickly won the affection of the people, and strengthened her hold by the exercise of her great and varied abilities and accomplishments. To Princess Valdemar is ascribed a part in the Franco-Russian allliance, for her sympathies were strong with her native country, and her influence with her brother-in-law, the late Czar, was undoubtedly great' (Belfast Weekly News, 9 December 1909).