queen consort (1879–85) of Alfonso XII of Spain whose tact and wisdom as queen regent (1885–1902) for her son Alfonso XIII were instrumental in giving Spain a degree of peace and political stability.

María Cristina began her regency, the longest in Spain's history, by entrusting the government to the liberal leader Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (Sagasta, Práxedes Mateo) and by granting freedom of the press and a generous amnesty to political prisoners. Under her regency the exercise of power was rotated between the conservative Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio) and the liberal Sagasta. She witnessed the end of the Spanish empire with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in the disastrous Spanish-American War (1898). On May 17, 1902, Alfonso XIII was declared of age, and María Cristina resigned the regency and devoted the rest of her life to social and charitable work.