Orient Express Train, wealth, royalty, violence and sex - 1889

Fr­ancisco Maria de Borbón, Duke de Marchena, died 1923

Wikidata

Duchess of Marchena, Maria del Pilar de Muguiro, died 1926

Geneanet

By the late C19th, most European countries were connected by rail, yet train travel was often dirty, unreliable and with tricky border cross­ings. It was Belgian Georges Nagel-mackers who fell in love with the popular Pullman sleeper cars in the USA: clean, comfortable, hotel-like passenger cars designed for long trips. With the Belle Epoque starting to bloom, Nagelmackers saw an untapped demand for a new kind of travel, one that would combine glamour and luxury. So using the Pullman model, Pullman set about designing a sumptuous sleeper train in Europe.

By 1873 Nagelmackers formed his own company, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. His huge vision was one that would sweep pass­en­gers from Paris to Constantinople in luxurious sleeper cars, without having to stop at 8 national borders. But the vision required a powerful patron, and King Leopold II of Belgium was that man. The CIWL soon provided top quality catering and accom­modation in the form of sleeper carriages, saloon carriages and dining cars. The lavish menu was matched with Bordeaux and Burgundy wines and quality French champagne. And the crystal glasses and silver cutlery impressed even the wealthy.

The Orient Express was revolutionary for the Belle Epoque cosmopolitans. A trip on the Orient Express quickly became a must for monarchs, millionaires and anyone who wanted to be part of Eur­opean high soc­iety. This was the train’s golden age! Convenient in­tercontinental transport, yes, but important for royalty, diplomacy, lux­ury and romance. Royals eg Prince of Wales and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, were reg­ulars. As were Kings Leopold II of Belgium & Ferd­in­and I of Bulgaria. Then mon­archs and aristocrats were joined by polit­icians, ad­venturers like Law­rence of Arabia, and famous figures from the arts. Elegance was mandat­ory, with a rigid protocol observed aboard in dress & behaviour.  

Orient Express saloon car

shared by all the guests on board, 1889

National Geographic History

Orient Express Dining Car with Lalique Inlay
Pinterest

Orient Express arrived every day at the fine Budapest’s Keleti Station. And when they chose Constantinople as the last stop in 1880s, the train left to continue on the journey eastward several times a week. Constantinople began to attract a new crowd: the ennobled and the monied classes of Europe. At first there were no hotels in the city that could meet the high standards of these Orient Express passengers. So Compagnie Inter­nationale de Wagon Lits bought Pera Palace Hotel. The Compagnie picked guests up from the train terminus in Istanbul and got them accom­modated in this, the classiest hotel. It was the first building to have electric­ity, elev­at­ors, and bathrooms with the only running hot water in the city. Tall spacious rooms were lit by magnificent chandeliers.

Agatha Christie made train-based crimes very well known & very pop­ular. This was not a problem as she based her fiction on real events; spies really did travel by Orient Express and some actual murders really did take place on board!

What I did not know of was a case involving the Spanish Duchess of Marchena, Maria del Pilar de Muguiro (1889-1981). She had married Fr­ancisco Maria de Borbón, Duke de Marchena (1861-1923) and cousin of King Alfonso XII, in 1886 in Madrid. Francisco was mentally unstable and violent, but owing to his royal status, divorce was impossible.

The Duchess, reputed to be one of the richest women in Spain, was tra­velling on the Orient Express in 1889. After leaving Paris, she app­ear­ed in the saloon with a swollen face, having been assaulted by her own husband. Another passenger, Basil Zaharoff, came to her aid and had the authorities arrest the violent Duke.

This Basil Zaharoff turned out to be a VERY wealthy, leading Greek arms dealer and a close col­league of world leaders like British Prime Min­ist­er David Lloyd George, Greek Prime Minister Ven­izelos and Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Zaharoff had a very dodgy reputation, selling inadequate equipment to both sides of each war, at the same time. But he was rarely charged in court with bribery etc.

Duchess of Marchena married Sir Basil Zah­aroff in in 1924

 a second marriage for each of them.

Historians all agree the Duchess was married in 1924 to Sir Basil Zah­aroff, but there is no agreement on how close their friendship had been since the 1889 violent attack on the train. One view was that they had met briefly at the initial meeting, and only slowly had a love story developed, eventually ending in marriage when the Duke of Marchena died in a psychiatric as­ylum in 1923.

The other view was that the dealer and his lover had quickly been estab­lished in a Paris palace, after the Duke was firmly locked up. The Duchess had three daughters, all born in Paris and all after the entry of the Duke in the asylum. The title of Duchess of Marchena would pass to the eldest of her daughters, as promised by King of Spain Alfonso XIII before her remarriage. In any case Zaharoff acknowledged they were his daughters and always treated them as his own, so the best of both worlds for the daughters.