Marriage and other family relations
On 6 February 1847, Juan married Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este, daughter of Francis IV, Duke of Modena and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. The couple had two sons:
Prince Carlos of Bourbon (1848–1909).
Prince Alfonso Carlos of Bourbon (1849–1936).
Juan and Beatrix lived first in Modena, but had to leave during the revolution of 1848. After a brief time in Austria, they settled in London where their younger son was born. In spite of the conservatism and religious piety of his own family and particularly that of his wife, Juan developed liberal tendencies. He separated from his wife who returned to Modena where she raised her two sons.
In the mid-1850s Juan established an intimate relationship with Ellen Sarah Carter (1837-1910), an English commoner; her father was a merchant dealing in flowers and plants. Though upon christening of their daughter they were referred in the Clapham parish registry as “John Monfort and Helena Monfort (née Carter), legally married” it is not clear whether they actually married; in this case Juan would have been a bigamist. The couple had two children:
Helen Mary Anne Joan Monfort (1859-1947)
John Monfort (1861-1929)
Juan and Ellen Carter lived together until Juan’s death. Afterwards their children Helen and John were paid a regular pension by their half-brothers, first by Carlos and after 1909 by Alfonso. Helen married and had no children. John did marry and had many children, all born after Juan’s death. In the early 21st century his descendants, numbering over 50, lived in the UK, Norway and Canada. Currently the most senior male descendant of Juan (and the most senior male descendant of the Spanish king Charles IV, and possibly the most genealogically senior head of the Capetian dynasty) is his great-great-grandson, Hugh Geoffrey Monfort.
