In reading up on the unfortunate life of that bewitched king, I’ve come across some things concerning the oft-asked question of whether he had had an heir.
Firstly, in the 10 years of their marriage, I can’t seem to find a single cited contemporary source mentioning that Marie Louise d’Orléans was at any point pregnant, or rumoured to be with child. In fact, just the opposite seems to be true, she herself was convinced of the fact that she would never fall pregnant (whether because she knew of Carlos’ failings, or perhaps something else). I seem to recall her mentioning to the one ambassador that ‘she was really not a virgin anymore’ but knew that she would have no child.
On the other hand, Carlos II’s Neuburg wife, is mentioned to be rumoured to be pregnant on
at least three occasions, by her physician, Dr. van Gelen, on two of these occasions. True, these were most likely hysterical pregnancies, or that she simply suffered from irregular periods or something else that mimicked the symptoms of pregnancy – but unlike her French predecessor, some historians suspect that she may have at least been pregnant for a few months shortly after her marriage (and later miscarried).
The three occasions I’ve put together are as follows:
- In 1690/1691, shortly after the death of the queen’s father, the Elector Palatine, she was ill, started recovering, and then relapsed, and there were fears for her due to the fact that she was believed to be with child.
- The second is in 1696/1697, shortly after the death of the Queen Mother, Maria Anna of Austria. Here there is mention of her possibly being with child after following the same treatment as prescribed for the Condessa de Oropesa’s infertility (mineral water leeches placed in her womb (ugh!)), especially since the Countess fell pregnant shortly thereafter.
- The final mention is that she’s believed to be with child either shortly before/shortly after the fall of the Conde de Oropesa as valido in 1697/1698. There are no mentions given as to why it is believed that she is pregnant here, except that it is mentioned: perhaps to counteract the ditty being sung in the streets of Madrid that ‘we have three virgins in Madrid, Our Lady of Atocha, Our Lady of Almudena and Our Lady, the Queen’.
Either way, if any of these presumed pregnancies were in fact real, the child would require a regency from Carlos II’s death in 1700. How might Spain fare with a new lease of life being breathe into their house of Habsburg? And would Louis XIV try and swipe more Spanish European territory during the regency (under who? Mariana was hated in Spain IIRC) for the young [insert name of king here]?