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Clmentine Of OrlansClmentine of Orlans, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (March 6, 1817 - February 16, 1907) was the daughter of King Louis-Philippe of France, the last King of France and his wife Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies. She was the mother of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. Born at the Chteau de Neuilly, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Clmentine became a princess following her father's ascension to the French throne in 1830. Never one to lack ambition, she sought a likely future king to marry and was directed towards Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony, whom she married on April 20, 1843 in Saint-Cloud. Her instincts proved to be incorrect in this case as Augustus would never become a king. They had four children: After fleeing France in 1848 following the end of her father's reign, she lived in Vienna, where her husband was an officer with the Austro-Hungarian army. Realising she would never be Queen, Clmentine turned her efforts to instilling in Ferdinand, her favorite child, that, as a direct descendent not only of Louis-Philippe but of the Sun King Louis XIV of France, he deserved to be a King. Of which country was not an important matter. As it turned out, that country was Bulgaria and Clmentine actively lobbied for Ferdinand's election as Prince of Bulgaria. Known for her "shrewd mind and a remarkable understanding of European politics and diplomacy", Clmentine was often sent by Ferdinand as his representative on diplomatic missions around Europe. Additionally, as an extremely wealthy woman, Clmentine made herself popular in her adopted homeland by showering money on Bulgaria, including a donation of four million francs towards the completion of a railway line linking Bulgaria to Europe's rail network. Increasingly deaf as she aged, Clmentine became dependent on an enormous ear trumpet and people shouting at her to hear and it became an occupational hazard of the Bulgarian court to be caught in long, shouted conversations with Clmentine that she was reluctant to end. She died in Vienna in 1907, aged 90. Her influence on Ferdinand was so well known that people began to predict his downfall. She was buried in Coburg, with an inscription on her memorial reading "King's daughter, no Queen herself, yet King's mother."
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