Marie Marguerite, Duchess of Anjou


Marie Marguerite, Duchess of Anjou is a Venezuelan heiress and wife of Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, who is considered by Legitimists to be the head of the French Royal House, making Marie Marguerite the Legitimist titular Queen Consort of France and Navarre.

Early life

Marie Marguerite was born on 21 October 1983 in Caracas. Her father, Víctor José Vargas Irausquín, is the owner of Banco BOD or Banco Occidental de Descuento. Her mother is Carmen Leonor Santaella Tellería. She has a sister, María Victoria, who is married to Francisco Javier d'Agostino Casado. She also had a brother, Víctor José, who died young. She studied at the Colegio Merici de las Madres Ursulinas in Caracas and did her degree on pedagogy at the Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas.

Personal life

She married Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou in a civil ceremony in Caracas on 5 November 2004 and in a religious ceremony the following day at La Romana, Dominican Republic. The couple have a daughter, Princess Eugénie of Bourbon at Mount Sinai Hospital, Miami, Florida. She gave birth to twin boys, Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Prince Alphonse, Duke of Berry, on 28 May 2010. They currently live in Madrid, Spain. The couple had their fourth child, Prince Henri, Duke of Touraine, on 1 February 2019 in New York.

Heraldry

As the current titular Queen Consort of France and Navarre, Marie Marguerite had her arms remade by MM. Pinoteau and MM. d'Andeville in 2016.
Her arms include, as heraldic tradition expects, a parti of her husband's arms and her father's ; surmounted by the Royal Crown of France.