Infante
''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to ...
Gonzalo of Spain (Gonzalo Manuel Maria Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio de Borbón y Battenberg; 24 October 1914 – 13 August 1934) was the fourth surviving son and youngest child 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 Princess
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 Hessia ...
. He was the youngest grandson of
Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
Princess Beatrice (Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore; 14 April 1857 – 26 October 1944), later Princess Henry of Battenberg, was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Beatrice was also the last of Qu ...
.
Life
Gonzalo was born in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. He was baptized with the names ''Gonzalo Manuel María Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio''. He received his final name in honor of his uncle,
Prince Maurice of Battenberg
Prince Maurice of Battenberg , (Maurice Victor Donald; 3 October 1891 – 27 October 1914) was a member of the Hessian princely Battenberg family and the extended British Royal Family, and the youngest grandchild of Queen Victoria. He was kno ...
, who was killed in
World War I shortly before Gonzalo's baptism. The infante was educated privately. Because he
inherited the genetic disorder hemophilia
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 ...
from his mother's family (a fact not widely known in Spain during his life), he had some ill health, although he was an active sportsman. He held the rank of a private in the Engineering Corps of the
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century.
The ...
. In 1927 he was made the 1,166th
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 ...
of the Spanish branch 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 May 1924, nine-year-old Gonzalo inaugurated the
Estadio Chamartín, the new football stadium for
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, kicking the ball of honour and yelling "¡Hala Madrid!."
On 14 April 1931 Gonzalo accompanied his mother into exile. He studied engineering at the
Catholic University of Leuven, instead of at the
University of Madrid as originally planned for him.
In August 1934 Gonzalo was spending the summer holidays with his family at the villa of Count Ladislaus de Hoyos at
Pörtschach am Wörthersee in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populou ...
. On the evening of 11 August, Gonzalo and his sister
Infanta Beatriz were driving from
Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...
to Pörtschach. Near
Krumpendorf, Beatriz, who was driving, was forced to swerve to avoid a cyclist (the retired jockey Baron Neimans). The car crashed into a wall. Neither Gonzalo nor Beatriz appeared badly hurt, and so they returned to their villa. Several hours later it became clear that Gonzalo had severe abdominal bleeding. Because he had a weak heart, an operation was ruled out. He died two days later.
Gonzalo was buried in the graveyard at
Pörtschach. Later his body was moved to 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, up ...
.
Ancestry
Heraldry
File:Coat of Arms of Infante Gonzalo of Spain.svg, Arms of Infante Gonzalo of Spain
(1927–1931/''1934'')
References
Bibliography
* "Auto Crash Fatal to Spanish Prince", ''The New York Times'' (14 August 1934): 7.
* "Spain to Honor Infante", ''The New York Times'' (14 August 1934): 7.
* "Funeral Rites Today for Spanish Prince", ''The New York Times'' (15 August 1934): 17.
* "Don Gonzalo Buried in an Austrian Grave", ''The New York Times'' (16 August 1934): 17.
* "Spanish Prince Killed", ''The Times'' (14 August 1934): 12.
* "Regret in Madrid", ''The Times'' (14 August 1934): 12.
* "The Infante Gonzalo", ''The Times'' (14 August 1934): 13.
* "The Late Infante Don Gonzalo", ''The Times'' (16 August 1934): 9.
External links
Infante Gonzalo of Spain in Persianat Memarfa.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalo Of Spain, Infante
1914 births
1933 deaths
Haemophilia in European royalty
Spanish infantes
House of Bourbon (Spain)
Road incident deaths in Austria
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial
Royal reburials
Sons of kings