Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón (15 November 1866 – 28 April 1934) was a Spanish nobleman and a great-great-grandson of King Charles III of Spain. He is known for having had 88 forenames, recognised as a record for a historical royal person by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

''. Alfonso was a son of

Infante Sebastian of Portugal and Spain 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 the ...

and his second wife, Infanta Maria Christina. In 1929, he morganatically married Julia Méndez y Morales, losing all claims to the Spanish throne; the marriage remained childless and ended in divorce.

Biography

Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón was born on 15 November 1866 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. He was the fourth child of Infante Sebastián de Borbón y Braganza and Infanta María Cristina de Borbón y Borbón. Despite being born into the Spanish royal family through a marriage of equal rank, he was not granted the title of at birth, being a distant Prince of the blood of the Royal family of Spain. His early life was marked by political upheavals. In 1868, a revolution forced him and his family into exile, and they settled in the French town of

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

. They returned to Spain in 1875 following the restoration of his cousin King Alfonso XII.Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón
Real Academia de la Historia Due to the passing of his father in Biarritz a few months before their return, Alfonso and his siblings were placed under the guardianship of King Alfonso XII. They were sent to receive their education at the prestigious

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; ) is a private Boarding school, boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early history (1614–1 ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. After completing his education and returning to Spain, Alfonso declined a ducal title offered by the Regent Queen, as he believed it would diminish the significance of his noble lineage as the child of two Spanish infantes and would overshadow the prominence of the Borbón name. Alfonso de Borbón was initiated as a novice knight in the

Order of Alcántara The Order of Alcántara ( Leonese: ''Orde de Alcántara'', ), also called the Knights of St. Julian, was originally a military order of León, founded in 1166 and confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1177. Alcántara Alcántara is a town on the T ...

, and was also a knight of the Portuguese Order of Christ and Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz. He served as the president of the

Spanish Red Cross The Spanish Red Cross is the national affiliate of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and a nonprofit humanitarian institution in Spain. It was founded by Royal Order by Isabel II in the wake of the Third Carlist War. Referen ...

. In 1929, Alfonso married Julia Méndez Morales in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, but the marriage ended in divorce with the advent of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

. In 1933, he received the title Prince of Borbón and was granted the style of (Highness) by the Carlist pretender Alfonso Carlos I. Alfonso de Borbón died in Madrid on 28 April 1934 without issue. He was laid to rest in the San Isidro Cemetery.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borbon y Borbon, Alfonso de 1866 births 1934 deaths Spanish royalty Knights of the Order of Alcántara