MELANIE DE GAUFRIDY DE DORTAN : THE FIRST MISTRESS OF ALFONSO XIII de BOURBON of SPAIN

BERTHE MARIE MELANIE DE GAUFRIDY de DORTAN

"MELANIE" 

(1876-1937)

Our Mistress of the Month, Melanie de Gaufridy de Dorton was born in 1876 as a French woman in a family entwined with French history.  According to the web site Anciennes familes de Provence, her family was so important that their records go back into the 1600's. Other genealogy sites suggest the families she sprung from were in place as aristocracy further back into Medieval times. Melanie's family is intermarried with others who appear in The Peerage and can be found in European countries other than France as members of the gentry. And so, like other Mistresses we have learned about, while not Royal, she came from a distinguished background and, as was expected, she made a marriage with a notable man.

Melanie married her husband, Philippe de Vilmorin, a famous Botanist and Horticulturist who collected rare plants and began two arboretums that still exist, one in France and another in Belgium, and they had four children. Then she had a son in 1905 who was fathered by the King Alfonso XIII, and she named that son Roger Leveque de Vilmorin. 

However, as the King married his wife on the 31st of May in 1906, he was unmarried at the time. It was she who was already married. Would he have considered marrying her if she were not? Another thing.  He was born in 1886 so this relationship was with an older woman. Older and married and no divorce for Catholics...

It would seem that the King was not one to be faithful to his wife, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg; You know that name and you know this ties the Spanish royal family into the British Royal family and to many Royal families in Europe.  She knew he already had this child when she married him.

There are rumors that other or more children born by Melanie were actually the King's. According to various sources which I can't judge for authenticity, the King was also known to have children with other women he could not marry. The other known Mistress, actress Carmen Ruiz Moragas had two children with him. He is also supposed to have fathered children with maids or nanny's. These children have been referred to in Spain and France as "Royal Bastards." Although that sounds like swearing, in fact this was the correct term for illegitimate children. So for him seven children with Princess Victoria Eugenie and one with Melanie and two with Carmen? Another one or two?

Was the King always a man on the prowl? Was he romantic? Seductive? Could a woman say no and make him go away? Did he feel he had the right as King to fool around? (Probably!)  One thing for sure is that these people lived long before media attention could out them for their personal decisions. Now if you're Royal it's most difficult to be discreet.

I don't have exact answers for you. Walls of silence were long ago put up around the King and Queen of Spain. Books about the King and the family that I was able to find don't mention Melanie. However, it would seem that his own father also had Mistresses and extramatrimonial children.

Roger was born in 1905 when Melanie was about twenty-nine years old. The King was barely out of his teens. It seems the birth falls into that Open Secret category. Since Melanie's parents were Roger de Gaufridy de Dorton and Adelaide de Veronnet ,the de implying ownership of the town, Melanie named her son with the King after her father. 

Did her husband know of the relationship between his wife and the King and that the child was not his? Well, they had another child after this, so they stayed married. All of this is just so Old School Aristocrat.  Affairs are tolerated, if not encouraged, because it's just too much to break up the financial agreements and family. (Divorce is just too modern.) After all it's rather an honor that the Royal himself is interested in your wife. And what about the children? They need their mother. As the mother of six, Melanie de Gaufridy de Dorton is one of the most fruitful Mistresses ever profiled here at Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot. Today she has many descendants - grandchildren and great grandchildren.

King Alfonso XIII was also quite fruitful. This is where the various genealogy sites are not in agreement. It would seem he totaled 10 children - or was that twelve? Did his wife suffer or did she go about her business thinking "it is what it is"? 

Your guess is as good as mine.

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Research for this months posts include items linked to and mentioned, as well as many genealogy sites,encyclopedias.,and articles, some of which were repetitive.