The Duc de Vendôme, Husband of Princess Henriette

Here is a photograph of Prince Emmanuel d'Orléans (1872-1931), Duc de Vendôme, beloved husband of Princess Henriette of Belgium and brother-in-law of King Albert I. Emmanuel was the son of Ferdinand Philippe d'Orléans, Duc d'Alençon and his wife, Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria. This made him a first cousin of Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, later Queen of the Belgians, as the consort of King Albert I . In 1897, Emmanuel's mother died in a fire at a charity bazaar in Paris, heroically trying to save others from the flames. This was not the only tragedy in Emmanuel's life. In 1928, he would lose a handicapped daughter, also named Sophie. In 1931, he himself died suddenly of heart failure, only 59 years old.