Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (10 May 1907 – 6 September 1938), was

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the throne of Spain from birth until the abolition of the monarchy in 1931. He renounced his rights to the defunct throne in 1933. Alfonso was the eldest son of

King Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...

and his wife

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. A Hessian ...

. Alfonso's renunciation of his rights as heir to the Spanish throne in order to marry Cuban commoner Edelmira Sampedro caused controversy at the time. A similar situation would take place three years later in Britain with his second cousin

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

, who would abdicate as King of the United Kingdom to wed American divorcee

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused ...

. He died at the age of 31 as a result of a car crash. Though appearing to have sustained minor injuries, his

haemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

, inherited through his great-grandmother

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, led to fatal

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...

Early life

Alfonso was the eldest child of the then-reigning King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...

and his wife,

. He inherited the genetic disorder

from his maternal line, as did a number of his

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...

relatives. He and his youngest brother,

Gonzalo Gonzalo may refer to: * Gonzalo (name) * Gonzalo, Dominican Republic, a small town * Isla Gonzalo, a subantarctic island operated by the Chilean Navy * Hurricane Gonzalo, 2014 See also * Gonzalez (disambiguation) * Gonzales (disambiguation) * ...

, were kept in specially-tailored jackets to prevent injury from accidents. He was born on 10 May 1907 at the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...

. As decreed by custom, he was registered by the Marquis of Figueroa, Minister of Justice, in the Civil Registry of the Royal Family as Alfonso Pío Cristino Eduardo Francisco Guillermo Carlos Enrique Eugenio Fernando Antonio Venancio. Eight days after his birth, Alfonso was christened in the royal chapel of the Royal Palace of Madrid by the

Archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

. His godparents were his

grandmother Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetics, ge ...

Queen Maria Cristina Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria ( es, María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena; 21 July 1858 – 6 February 1929) was the second queen consort of Alfonso XII of Spain. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the ...

and

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

, who was represented by Cardinal Rinaldini. The

Duke of Connaught Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (german: Joachim Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Leopold; 14 November 1865 – 13 September 1931) was a son of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau, married in 1854. Family ...

Archduke Eugen of Austria Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen (21 May 1863 – 30 December 1954) was an Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Austria and a Prince of Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary and Bohemia. He was the last Grand Master of the Teu ...

and

Afonso, Duke of Porto Infante D. Afonso of Braganza, Duke of Porto (; 31 July 1865 in Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon – 21 February 1920 in Naples, Italy) was a Portuguese Infante of the House of Braganza,"While remaining patrilineal dynasts of the duchy of Saxe-Cobur ...

, were also present. After the ceremony, his father conferred upon him the collars of the orders of the

Golden Fleece In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece ( el, Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, ''Chrysómallon déras'') is the fleece of the golden-woolled,, ''Khrusómallos''. winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where P ...

and

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and the Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

. Alfonso's father faced increasing political problems that led Spain to become a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

in 1931 when the monarch was deposed. The family moved into exile.

Renunciation and marriages

There had been plans for young Alfonso's deposition from succession, but ultimately he himself renounced his rights to the then-defunct throne to marry a commoner, Edelmira Sampedro y Robato, religiously in

Ouchy Ouchy is a port and a popular lakeside resort south of the centre of Lausanne in Switzerland, at the edge of Lake Geneva (french: lac Léman). Facilities Very popular with tourists for the views of nearby France (Évian-les-Bains, Thonon), ...

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 Edelmira keeping the title Countess of Covadonga. In a civil ceremony on 3 July 1937 Alfonso married another commoner, Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. They divorced on 8 January 1938. He had no children by either of his wives. However, Alfonso de Bourbon, a resident of California, later claimed to be an illegitimate son of Alfonso. In 1938 Alfonso, then resident in the United States, publicly stated his readiness to accept the Spanish crown if called on to do so. Spain was at this date in the midst of

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. This action reversed Alfonso's renunciation of 1933 and led to his being disavowed by his father King Alfonso.

Death

A car crash led to Alfonso's early death in 1938, at the age of 31. He was being driven at night through Miami by an entertainer, Miss Mildred Gaydon, who swerved to avoid a truck. The car crashed into a

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

and Alfonso appeared to have only minor injuries but his

led to fatal

. He was entombed at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now

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. Woodlawn Park Cemetery-North was established in 1913 by three pioneers in Miami’s early history – Thomas O. Wilson, William N. Urme ...

) in Miami, and was re-entombed in 1985 at the Pantheon of the Princes in

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

. His first wife, who had been allowed to retain the title Countess of Covadonga, was asked by the royal family to attend the re-entombment but she declined. Alfonso was the 1,120th

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

in Spain and Knight with Collar of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

, inducted as both shortly after his birth in 1907.''Alfonso, Prince of Asturias inducted knight of the Golden Flecee, knight with collar of the Order of Charles III and Grand Cross Knight of the Order of Isabella the Catholic''
Gazeta: Colección Histórica.

BOE BOE, BoE or Boe may refer to: Abbreviations, acronyms or initialisms * Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom * Bank of English, a representative subset of the 4.5 billion words COBUILD corpus * Barrel of oil equivalent, a uni ...

. Retrieved 2012-11-01. ]

Gallery

Queen Victoria Eugenie with King Alfonso XIII of Spain and their newly-born child.jpg, Queen Victoria and King Alfonso XIII with newly born Alfonso, 1908. Alfonso de Borbón explorador 1918.jpg, Alfonso aged 11 wearing the Boy scout, Scout uniform of the Explorers of Spain, 1918. Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg.jpg, Photograph of Alfonso, 1922. The Count of Covadonga by Laszlo.png, Portrait of Alfonso, portrayed in hunting outfit, holding a side-by-side " Sarasqueta" gun, by

Philip de László Philip Alexius László de Lombos (born Fülöp Laub; hu, Fülöp Elek László; 30 April 1869 – 22 November 1937), known professionally as Philip de László, was an Anglo-Hungarian painter known particularly for his portraits of royal an ...

, 1927.

Ancestry

Bibliography

* Pedersen, Jørgen. ''Riddere af Elefantordenen 1559–2009'', Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2009.

Sources

* ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', 12 June 1933 * ''El Nuevo Herald'', 23 May 2004 * ''El Mundo'', 2 July 1994

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso of Asturas, Prince House of Bourbon (Spain) Spanish infantes 1907 births 1938 deaths Sons of kings Haemophilia in European royalty Princes of Asturias Heirs apparent who never acceded Road incident deaths in Florida Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Knights of Santiago Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Spanish expatriates in Cuba Royal reburials