Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias
Encyclopedia
Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (Alfonso Pío Cristino Eduardo Francisco Guillermo Carlos Enrique Eugenio Fernando Antonio Venancio Borbón y Battenberg (Madrid
, 10 May 1907 – Miami, Miami-Dade County
, Florida
, 6 September 1938), was an Infante of Spain and the heir-apparent of the throne of Spain from 1907 to 1931.
and his wife Victoria Eugenie. He inherited the genetic disorder
haemophilia
from his maternal line. He was a matrilineal great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. He and his youngest brother Gonzalo
were kept in specially-tailored jackets to prevent bloody accidents.
He was the 1,120th Knight
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
in Spain
in 1907.
His father the King faced increasing political problems that led Spain to become a Republic
in 1931 when the monarch was deposed. The family moved into exile.
, in Ouchy
on 21 June 1933, after which Alfonso took the courtesy title Count of Covadonga
. (This was required by the regulations for the succession set by the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III
.) The couple divorced 8 May 1937, with Edemlira keeping the title Countess of Covadonga.
in Havana
on 3 July 1937. They divorced on 8 January 1938. He had no issue by either of his wives. By María Mercedes Flores de Apodaca, of Spanish family, he had a child born out of wedlock in 1932, Alphonse de Bourbon.
led to his early death in 1938, at the age of 31. He crashed into a telephone booth
and appeared to have minor injuries but his haemophilia
led to fatal internal bleeding
. He was initially entombed at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum
) in Miami but in 1985 he was re-entombed in the Pantheon of the Princes in El Escorial
. His first wife, who had been allowed to retain the title Countess of Covadonga, was present when he was re-entombed.
, who died three years before his birth; in practice, Alfonso's predecessor as first heir to Spain was his first cousin, Mercedes's son, the Infante Alfonso of the Two Sicilies
.
His successor technically was his next brother, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia
, who did not receive the Asturias title. Jaime's own renunciation took place soon after. In practice (but not titularly) the next heir-apparent of claims to Spanish throne was Alfonso's younger brother Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona. Generalissimo Francisco Franco
gave Juan's son Infante Juan Carlos
ranted the official title 'Prince of Spain' when he chose the Infante as heir to the throne; therefore the next member of the Spanish royal family to be officially invested with the title Principe de Asturias was Juan Carlos I's son Infante Felipe
, Alfonso's grandnephew, in 1977.
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Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 10 May 1907 – Miami, Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, 6 September 1938), was an Infante of Spain and the heir-apparent of the throne of Spain from 1907 to 1931.
Early life
Alfonso was the eldest child of the then-reigning king Alfonso XIII of SpainAlfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...
and his wife Victoria Eugenie. He inherited the genetic disorder
Haemophilia in European royalty
Haemophilia figured prominently in the history of European royalty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Britain's Queen Victoria, through two of her five daughters , passed the mutation to various royal houses across the continent, including the royal families of Spain, Germany and Russia. Victoria's...
haemophilia
Haemophilia
Haemophilia is a group of hereditary genetic disorders that impair the body's ability to control blood clotting or coagulation, which is used to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is broken. Haemophilia A is the most common form of the disorder, present in about 1 in 5,000–10,000 male births...
from his maternal line. He was a matrilineal great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. He and his youngest brother Gonzalo
Infante Gonzalo of Spain
Infante Gonzalo of Spain was the fourth surviving son and youngest child of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg....
were kept in specially-tailored jackets to prevent bloody accidents.
He was the 1,120th Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1907.
His father the King faced increasing political problems that led Spain to become a Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in 1931 when the monarch was deposed. The family moved into exile.
Renunciation and first marriage
There had been plans of young Alfonso's deposition from succession, but ultimately he himself renounced his rights to the then-defunct throne to marry a commoner, Edelmira Ignacia Adriana Sampedro-RobatoEdelmira Sampedro y Robato
Edelmira Ignacia Adriana de Sampedro-Ocejo y Robato was known as Countess of Covadonga after her marriage to Alfonso, Prince of Asturias in 1933....
, in Ouchy
Ouchy
Ouchy is a commune, port, and popular lakeside resort located south of the city of Lausanne in Switzerland at the edge of the Lake Léman ....
on 21 June 1933, after which Alfonso took the courtesy title Count of Covadonga
Covadonga
Covadonga is a village and one of 11 parishes in Cangas de Onís, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northwestern Spain...
. (This was required by the regulations for the succession set by the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
.) The couple divorced 8 May 1937, with Edemlira keeping the title Countess of Covadonga.
Second marriage
He married Marta Ester Rocafort-AltazarraMarta Ester Rocafort-Altazarra
Marta Esther Rocafort y Altuzarra, later hyphenated Rocafort-Altuzarra was the second wife of the Count of Covadonga ....
in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
on 3 July 1937. They divorced on 8 January 1938. He had no issue by either of his wives. By María Mercedes Flores de Apodaca, of Spanish family, he had a child born out of wedlock in 1932, Alphonse de Bourbon.
Death
A car accidentCar accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
led to his early death in 1938, at the age of 31. He crashed into a telephone booth
Telephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
and appeared to have minor injuries but his haemophilia
Haemophilia
Haemophilia is a group of hereditary genetic disorders that impair the body's ability to control blood clotting or coagulation, which is used to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is broken. Haemophilia A is the most common form of the disorder, present in about 1 in 5,000–10,000 male births...
led to fatal internal bleeding
Internal bleeding
Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. It can be a serious medical emergency depending on where it occurs , and can potentially cause death and cardiac arrest if proper medical treatment is not received quickly....
. He was initially entombed at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum
Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum
Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum is one of the oldest cemeteries in Miami, Florida.In 1913, Thomas O. Wilson, William N. Urmey and Clifton D. Benson established Woodlawn Park Cemetery...
) in Miami but in 1985 he was re-entombed in the Pantheon of the Princes in El Escorial
El Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
. His first wife, who had been allowed to retain the title Countess of Covadonga, was present when he was re-entombed.
Succession
The last person to be titled Prince of Asturias before Alfonso's birth was his aunt Infanta MercedesMercedes, Princess of Asturias
Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain , Princess of the Asturias, for all 24 years of her life the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Spain, was the eldest daughter of King Alfonso XII of Spain and his second wife, Maria Christina of Austria.For a period from...
, who died three years before his birth; in practice, Alfonso's predecessor as first heir to Spain was his first cousin, Mercedes's son, the Infante Alfonso of the Two Sicilies
Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria
Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria was one of two claimants to the title of the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies from 1960 until his death in 1964...
.
His successor technically was his next brother, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia
Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia
Infante Jaime of Spain, Duke of Segovia, Grandee of Spain , was the second son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg...
, who did not receive the Asturias title. Jaime's own renunciation took place soon after. In practice (but not titularly) the next heir-apparent of claims to Spanish throne was Alfonso's younger brother Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona. Generalissimo Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
gave Juan's son Infante Juan Carlos
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...
ranted the official title 'Prince of Spain' when he chose the Infante as heir to the throne; therefore the next member of the Spanish royal family to be officially invested with the title Principe de Asturias was Juan Carlos I's son Infante Felipe
Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Felipe, Prince of Asturias de Borbón y de Grecia; born 30 January 1968), is the third child and only son of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain....
, Alfonso's grandnephew, in 1977.
Ancestry
Sources
- TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, 12 June 1933 - El Nuevo Herald, 23 May 2004
- El Mundo, 2 July 1994
External links
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