Doña María Manuela Enriqueta Kirkpatrick de Closeburn y Grivegnée, Countess of Montijo (24 February 1794 – 22 November 1879), was a Spanish noble and courtier, the mother of Eugénie, Empress of the French. She served as Camarera mayor de Palacio to queen Isabella II of Spain in 1847-1848.
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Early life
She was born in Málaga, Spain, the daughter of an expatriate Scotsman, William Kirkpatrick, a wine merchant and consul of the United States of America, and his Liège-born wife, Marie Françoise de Grevignée, whose sister Catherine married the French diplomat Mathieu de Lesseps.
Personal life
María was brilliant, vivacious and talented. On 15 December 1817, she married Don Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero, Count de Teba (1785–1839), afterwards Count de Montijo, Marquis de Algava, and Duke of Granada, Duke of Peñaranda, a grandee of Spain, Bonapartist and veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. They had a son, Francisco "Paco", who died young, and two daughters:
María Francisca de Sales "Paca" de Palafox Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick (1825–1860), who inherited most of the family honours; she became Duchess of Alba by marriage to Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 15th Duke of Alba.
María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick (1826–1920), who married Napoleon III in 1853 and became Empress consort of the French.