Philomena, Countess of Paris


Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart is an aristocrat of Hispanic-Austrian descent. Philomena, who uses the courtesy title of "Countess of Paris", is the wife of Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris, Orléanist claimant to the defunct throne of France and head of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon.

Early life and ancestry

Philomena is the elder daughter and eldest child of Don Alfonso de Tornos y Zubiría, of Basque noble ancestry, and his wife, Maria Antonia Anna Zdenka, Edle von Steinhart, of Austrian noble ancestry. Philomena has two younger siblings: a sister named Maria Magdalena, Countess d'Andlau de Cleron d'Haussonville and a brother, David de Tornos y Steinhart.
Her paternal grandparents are Don Juan de Tornos y Espelíus and his wife, Doña María del Carmen Zubiría y Calbetón, daughter of Don Luis de Zubiria y Urizar, 2nd Marquis de Yanduri, members of the Spanish nobility.
Her maternal grandparents were Dr. Ferdinand, Edler von Steinhart and his wife Gabriele Felicitas Murad von Werner, paternal granddaughter of Murad Effendi, Ottoman diplomat who was born as Franz Xaver Karl Georg Arthur von Werner, members of the Austrian nobility.

Life and education

She spent part of her youth in the Auvergne and studied at the Lycée Maritime in Ciboure. Philomena, her husband Jean and their children lived at their family estate in Dreux, France, but in 2020 they moved to live in Montréal de l'Aude.

Marriage and children

Philomena married Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme in a civil service on 19 March 2009 in Paris, conducted by Mayor Rachida Dati. The religious wedding was held on 2 May 2009 at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame at Senlis, with a reception at the Château de Chantilly. The bride wore a gown by Christian Lacroix and a jacket embroidered by Maison Lesage.
The pair are distantly related, as both are descendants of Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice by his first wife, Baroness Maria Eusebia von Sternberg, members of an ancient Bohemian nobility.
The couple have six children:

Dynastic honours