Spain’s Duchess of Alba, the holder of more nobility titles than anyone in the world and one of Europe’s wealthiest aristocrats, has died. She was 88. She died today at the Duenas Palace in Seville, Spain, a family spokesman confirmed by telephone. The duchess was admitted to Seville’s Quiron Sagrado Corazon hospital with pneumonia on Nov. 16, according to the hospital. As the 18th holder of the Spanish dukedom that dates back to the 15th century, the duchess was 14 times a Spanish grandee, five times a duchess, once a countess-duchess, 18 times a marchioness, 18 times a countess and once a viscountess, according to the Guinness Book of Records, now known as Guinness World Records. While she was given “eight or nine” names by her parents, Cayetana was the one she preferred to use, according to her 2011 autobiography. With her titles, estates and palaces in Madrid and Seville, the duchess represented an ancestral Spain that survived the social upheavals of the last century. She was baptized at a font reserved for Spanish monarchs, and her godparents were King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia, a granddaughter of the U.K.’s Queen Victoria. In December 2013, the newspaper El Mundo estimated the family’s wealth at about 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion). The second woman to lead the Alba dynasty in 600 years, she courted modernity as a socialite who entertained movie stars such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn as well as former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. ‘Immensely Popular’ “What she really loved most was bullfighters and flamenco dancers, and the Spanish people loved her as a result,” said Tom Burns Maranon, a Madrid-based writer whose grandfather, Gregorio Maranon, was a family friend. “She was immensely popular.” In her later years, her personal life became a staple of Spanish gossip magazines and television shows, particularly after her third marriage, in 2011, to Alfonso Diez, a civil servant 24 years her junior. The couple marked the occasion by posing for a photo spread in Vanity Fair magazine. The Alba inheritance includes a 1605 first edition of “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes; a sketch by Christopher Columbus of his boat, along with the roll of mariners that accompanied him on his first voyage; and the last will and testament of King Ferdinand the Catholic. Among its treasures, the House of Alba owns paintings by El Greco, Goya and Rubens, as well as bulls and missives from almost every pope since the 15th century, according to her book and the family foundation’s website. On 12 October 1947, the Duchess married Don Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz (1919–1972), son of the Duke of Sotomayor.[3] The wedding was considered the last great feudal wedding in Spain and attracted the attention of the international media. The New York Times called it the most expensive wedding of the world.[4] Rumor has it that 20 million pesetas were spent at that time.[verification needed] Six children were born of this marriage, all of whom have received titles of nobility with that of Grandee of Spain from their mother. Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 14th Duke of Huéscar (born 2 October 1948, Madrid). In 1988, he married Matilde Solís-Beaumont y Martínez-Campos, but they later divorced. Together they have two children: Fernando Juan Fitz-James Stuart y Solís (born 14 September 1990 in Madrid) Carlos Arturo José María Fitz-James Stuart y Solís (born 29 November 1991 in Madrid) Alfonso Martínez de Irujo y Fitz-James Stuart, 16th Duke of Aliaga (born 22 October 1950, Madrid). On 4 July 1977 he married Princess María de la Santísima Trinidad of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born 8 April 1957), whom he later divorced. Together they have two children: Luis Martínez de Irujo y Hohenlohe (born 26 May 1978). Javier Martínez de Irujo y Hohenlohe (born 9 January 1981). He married sherry heiress Inés Domecq y Fernández-Govantes in 2008.[5] They have two children. Sol Martínez de Irujo y Domecq (born 2011).[6] Alfonso Martínez de Irujo y Domecq (born 2013).[7] Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Martínez de Irujo, 23rd Count of Siruela (born 15 July 1954, Madrid). On 1 November 1980, he married María Eugenia Fernández de Castro y Fernández-Shaw (born 15 October 1954), but they later divorced. He remarried journalist, editor and writer Inka Martí Kiemann in April 2004. Jacobo and María Eugenia have two children: Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Fernández de Castro (born 23 January 1981). He married Asela Pilar Pérez Becerril on 14 May 2011.[8] Co-owners of an art gallery. They had a daughter. Asela Fitz-James Stuart y Pérez (born 2012). Brianda Eugenia Fitz-James Stuart y Fernández de Castro (born 11 April 1984). Fernando Martínez de Irujo, 11th Marquis of San Vicente del Barco (born 11 July 1959). Cayetano Martínez de Irujo y Fitz-James Stuart, 13th Count of Salvatierra (born 4 April 1963, Madrid). In October 2005, after a five year relationship, he married Genoveva Casanova y González from Mexico (daughter of Kenneth Larry Casanova and his first wife Mariana González y Reimann). They separated in 2007, but have twin children: Luis Martínez de Irujo y Casanova (born 25 October 2001) Amina Martínez de Irujo y Casanova (born 25 October 2001) Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, 12th Duchess of Montoro, born 26 November 1968. On 23 October 1998, she married bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez of the Ordóñez bullfighting dynasty. The couple divorced in 2002. They have one child: Cayetana Rivera y Martínez de Irujo (born 16 October 1999) After becoming a widow, the Duchess remarried on 16 March 1978 to Jesús Aguirre y Ortiz de Zárate (1934–2001), a Doctor of Theology and a former Jesuit priest. The wedding caused shock; Aguirre was illegitimate, which was scandalous in 1970s Spain.[9] Eight years younger than the Duchess, he maintained a good relationship with her children. During their marriage he administered, with his stepson Carlos, the Alba estates.[10] Aguirre died in 2001. Details emerged in 2008 regarding the Duchesss intention to marry Alfonso Díez Carabantes, a civil servant who also runs a public relations business, 24 years her junior. It was reported that there were objections from her children and from King Juan Carlos, and the House of Alba that year issued a statement saying that the relationship was based on a long friendship and there are no plans to marry.[9][11] The duchess decided to proceed with the marriage, overcoming her childrens opposition by giving them their inheritance in advance. The duchesss fortune includes ancient palaces throughout Spain, paintings by old and modern masters (from Fra Angelico, Titian and Goya to Renoir and Marc Chagall), a first-edition copy of Cervantess Don Quixote, letters written by Christopher Columbus, and huge tracts of land; her wealth is estimated at between €600 million and €3.5 billion.[1] Díez has formally renounced any claim to her wealth.[9] They married on 5 October 2011 at the Palacio de las Dueñas in Seville.[12]
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:21:24 +0000
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