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| Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, infant d'Espagne |
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| Mme William Ellis Corey (née Mabelle Gilman) ; presque une infante d'Espagne |
En avril 1929, Mme Mabelle Gilman Corey se convertit à la foi catholique romaine en prévision de son prochain mariage avec l'infant Luís Fernando d'Espagne. Luís Fernando (1888-1945) était le fils cadet de l'infant Antonio d'Espagne (1866-1930), duc de Galliera, et de son épouse l'infante Eulalia (1864-1958), fille de la reine Isabelle II d'Espagne.
Originaire de San Francisco, Mme Corey est née Mabelle Lavona Gilman le 4 décembre 1874, fille de Charles Henry Gilman (1845-1909) et de son épouse Jeannette Curtis (1854-1946). Mabelle Gilman a étudié au Mills College d'Oakland, en Californie. Mabelle est devenue actrice de théâtre, notamment dans des comédies musicales. Elle est apparue dans de nombreuses représentations aux États-Unis et en Europe.
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| M. William Ellis Corey |
En 1905, Mabelle Gilman rencontre pour la première fois William Ellis Corey (1866-1934) à Pittsburgh. William Corey est le président de la Carnegie Steel Company. Il a épousé Laura Cook (1866-1960) en 1883 ; le couple a un fils, Alan Lyle Corey (1889-1970). William Corey et Mabelle Gilman entament une relation qui conduit à la fin de l'union de Corey avec Laura. Lors de leur divorce en 1906 à Reno, Nevada, Laura Corey obtient la garde du fils du couple, Alan, ainsi qu'un dédommagement de 3 millions de dollars (environ 84 millions de dollars en termes actuels). Le 14 mai 1907, William Corey et Mabelle Gilman se marient à l'hôtel Gotham de New York. Corey achète à sa nouvelle épouse un château en France, lui offre des bijoux de valeur et lui offre un million de dollars en cadeau de mariage. Le divorce de Corey à Reno avec sa première femme Laura et son mariage ultérieur avec Mabelle ont contribué à faire de Reno une destination pour les divorces rapides.
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| Mme Mabelle Gilman Corey |
The marriage of William and Mabelle Corey ended in divorce at Paris in November 1923. In 1924, newspapers spread rumours that Mabelle was engaged to Luís Fernando of Spain, but these reports were denied. Five years later, the reality had changed. In April of 1929, it became public knowledge that Mabelle Gilman Corey was affianced to Infante Luís Fernando of Spain (1888-1945). Mabelle took the step on 20 April 1929 by converting to the Roman Catholic Church, to which her future husband and his dynasty belonged. Infanta Eulalia, Luís Fernando’s mother, was present for Mabelle’s first communion. Mabelle hoped that she and the infante would be wed within a few months at her French residence, the Château de Vilgenis.
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| Mabelle Gilman Corey and Infante Luís Fernando of Spain in 1929 |
The marriage plans came to naught. Luís Fernando and his lawyer kept trying to extract a higher and higher annual allowance from the wealthy Mabelle, who refused to budge beyond a certain point. By June 1929, Mabelle had decided that her engagement with Luís Fernando had run its course. She gave a rare interview in which she discussed the situation:
Everything is finished. I met Don Luis on my honeymoon. We have loved each other for twenty years or more. It’s hard to be broken off, but it is impossible to turn the sacrament of marriage into a bargain counter. I don’t know if I’ll ever love another man. For the present, I don’t care. I have always said that American men make the ideal husbands, although they lack the polish that many Europeans possess.
It was noted that her closest companion was her Great Dane. “There is an advantage in dogs over men,” Mabelle quipped. “They at least are faithful.”
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| Infanta Eulalia of Spain, Duchess of Galliera |
Infanta Eulalia, the mother of Luís, was also rather disappointed at the breakdown of her son’s engagement to the eligible (and rich) Mabelle. “I deeply regret the marriage will not occur because Mrs Corey took such a deep interest in my son, who needs a wife who is devoted but severe.”
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| Vittel Interment Camp |
Mabelle continued to reside in France after her terminated royal engagement. In October 1942, she was briefly interred at the Vittell Internment Camp in Vichy France. However, she was released from Vittel soon after her arrest, as the Nazis determined she posed no threat to their schemes.
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| Mabelle Gilman Corey’s 1921 application for a US passport: she chopped 12 years off of her age. |
Mrs Mabelle Lavona Gilman Corey died on 14 November 1960 at the Blessed Trinity Missionary Cenacle in Brooklyn, New York. Per her wishes, she was cremated, and her ashes were spread in the garden of Blessed Trinity. She was eighty-five years-old. Mabelle had never remarried after her engagement to Infante Luís Fernando of Spain, who she survived by fifteen years.
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