Infanta Beatriz of Spain


Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Princess of Civitella-Cesi was a daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, wife of Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi. She was a paternal aunt of King Juan Carlos I.

Childhood

Born at the royal palace of La Granja, San Ildefonso near Segovia, Spain on 22 June 1909, Infanta Beatriz was the third child among the six surviving children of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. She was named Beatriz after her maternal grandmother, Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria; Isabel for her great-aunt, Infanta Isabel; Federica for Princess Frederica of Hanover in whose house her parents had become engaged; Alfonsa after her father; Eugenia for Empress Eugénie of the French, her mother's godmother, Cristina and Maria for Maria Christina of Austria, her paternal grandmother, Teresia after Empress Maria Theresa and Ladislaa after Ladislaus the Posthumous.
Infanta Beatriz was educated within the walls of the Palacio de Oriente by English nannies. She learned English and French along with Spanish. The children spoke in English to their mother and Spanish to their father. Infanta Beatriz and her sister Maria Cristina, two years her junior, yearned to go to private schools like the daughters of the nobility who frequented the palace as their playmates, but, following Spanish tradition, they were educated by governesses and private tutors. They studied languages, history, religion and took piano and dancing lessons. Their parents placed great importance on outdoor exercise and Infanta Beatriz became fond of sports. She was a very good swimmer, played tennis and golf and loved horseback riding. While in Madrid she played in the palace gardens and made excursions on horseback. In summer the royal family moved to Palacio de la Magdalena, near Santander, where they practiced water sports. The two sisters also made some visits to England to stay with their maternal grandmother at Kensington Palace.

Early life

During the late 1920s, Infanta Beatriz and her sister Infanta Cristina presided at a number of official engagements while heading various institutions and sponsoring events. They were involved with, among other issues, animal protection. Beatriz and her sister took nursing classes, helping twice a week at the Red Cross in Madrid from 9 am to 1 pm and from 3 to 7 pm. Beatriz was president of the Red Cross in San Sebastián, working there during the royal family's summer vacation. The two infantas, always elegantly dressed, were of contrasting looks; one blonde one dark. Beatriz, who resembled her Spanish relatives, was a brunette, tall and lean like her father. Her official debut in society was celebrated in 1927 with a court ball at the royal palace. Among her friends were the Dukes of Alba, Fernán Núñez and Aveyro. The shadow of hemophilia marked her life: Her eldest and youngest brothers were hemophiliacs. Her second brother, Jaime, was deaf and only the third brother, Juan, was completely healthy.
In 1929, Infanta Beatriz turned twenty years old. She fell in love with Miguel Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, the youngest son of Miguel Primo de Rivera, who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to January 1930 with dictatorial powers. They were seen taking horse rides together, but a marriage between them was out of the question. When the dictator found out about their romance, he sent his son abroad. Because Beatriz and her sister could be carriers of hemophilia, like their mother, King Alphonso XIII was reluctant to follow the tradition of finding husbands for them among Catholic royal princes. The two sisters' constant companions were their cousins Alvaro, Alonso and Ataúlfo de Orleans y Borbón, the three sons of Infante Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón. It was expected that Infanta Beatriz would marry Alonso and Maria Cristina, Alvaro, but nothing came out of it as their companionship was interrupted when the turbulent political situation in Spain derailed their lives.

Exile

The support that Alfonso XIII gave to the unpopular dictatorship of Primo de Rivera discredited the king. Municipal elections, held on 12 April 1931, were unfavorable to the monarchy. The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed two days later. Lacking the backing of the military forces, King Alfonso felt obliged to leave the country the same day, but did not abdicate, hoping to be called back to the throne. Infanta Beatriz, her mother and her siblings, except for Infante Don Juan, who was away on assignment in the Spanish navy, were left behind in Madrid. Following the advice of her supporters, the queen and her five children left the Royal Palace by car to El Escorial, and from there, they took a train to France.
The royal family's first home in exile was the Hôtel Meurice in Paris. They soon moved to a private wing of the Savoy Hotel in Fontainebleau. Accompanied by their mother, the two infantas made visits to Paris twice a week by car or with a lady in waiting by train. While in Paris they spent time with horses at a riding school or playing tennis with friends. The marriage of their parents was unhappy and even in Spain the King and Queen led separate lives. Once in exile, the royal couple separated permanently. Queen Victoria Eugenie moved to London and later to Lausanne, Switzerland and the two infantas lived for a time with her. In 1933 the king moved to Rapallo and as life was too isolated for Beatriz and her sister in Lausanne, they moved with their father to Italy. At their daughters' insistence, King Alfonso moved to Rome and rented a house for them there. Infanta Beatriz and her sister became friends with the members of the Italian royal family and quickly adapted to life in Rome.
In 1934 tragedy struck. Beatriz, who was spending summer vacation in Pörtschach am Wörthersee in Austria, was driving a car with her brother Gonzalo as passenger. Trying to avoid a bicycle rider who had crossed their path, she slammed the car into a wall. The accident did not, at first, seem serious, but Infante Gonzalo, a hemophiliac, was bleeding internally and died in the early hours of the following day, 13 August 1934.

Marriage and issue

At the time of her brother's death, Infanta Beatriz was looking forward to her wedding. While visiting Ostia, she was introduced to an Italian aristocrat, Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi. Torlonia, who had inherited large estates from his father in 1933, was the son of Marino, 4th Prince di Civitella-Cesi and Mary Elsie Moore, an American heiress. His family had acquired a fortune in the 18th and 19th centuries by administering the finances of the Vatican, receiving the title of Prince of Civitella-Cesi in 1803 from Pope Pius VII. Although Don Alessandro was a prince, he did not belong to a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty, so Beatriz had to marry him morganatically, renouncing her rights of succession to the throne of Spain. Alfonso XIII, realizing that the combination of the threat of hemophilia and their situation in exile would make it difficult for his daughters to find royal husbands, gave his consent to this union.
The wedding took place on 14 January 1935 at the Church of the Gesù with Beatriz wearing a 20-foot train, a coronet of orange blossom holding her veil in place, in the presence of King Alfonso, the King and Queen of Italy and some 52 princes of the blood royal. Thousands of Spaniards traveled from Spain to give support to the deposed royal family in what became a political event. However, neither Queen Victoria Eugenie nor Beatriz's eldest brother, Alfonso, Count of Covadonga, who were on bad terms with the King, attended the wedding. After the ceremony, the young couple was received by Pope Pius XI.
Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Princess of Civitella-Cesi, and her husband had four children, eleven grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren:
  • Donna Sandra Torlonia, she married Count Clemente Lequio di Assaba on 20 June 1958. They had two children:
  • *Don Alessandro Lequio di Assaba he married Antonia Dell’Atte on 12 October 1987 and they were divorced in 1991. They have one son. He remarried María Palacios Milla on 15 November 2008. They have one daughter. He has also an illegitimate son with Ana Obregón.
  • **Don Clemente Lequio di Assaba
  • **Don Alejandro Lequio di Assaba
  • **Donna Ginevra Lequio di Assaba
  • *Donna Desideria Lequio di Assaba she married Count Oddone Tournon on 11 September 1986. They have two sons:
  • **Count Giovanni Tournon
  • **Count Giorgio Tournon
  • Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince of Civitella-Cesi he married Donna Orsetta Caracciolo dei principi di Castagneto on 16 September 1960. They had one son and two grandchildren. He remarried Philippa McDonald on 9 November 1968 and they were divorced in 1975. They had one daughter and three grandchildren. He remarried thirdly Blažena Svitáková on 11 November 1985. They had one daughter and two grandsons.
  • * Giovanni Torlonia, 7th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, who married Carla DeStefanis on 9 June 2001, with issue:
  • ** Prince Stanislao of Civitella-Cesi
  • ** Princess Olimpia of Civitella-Cesi
  • * Princess Vittoria Eugenia Carolina Honor Paola Alexandra Maria Torlonia, who married Kenneth Lindsay on 20 December 1997 and they were divorced. They have two children. She remarried to Stefano Colonna and they have one daughter:
  • ** Josephine Lindsay
  • ** Benedict Lindsay
  • ** Francesca Colonna
  • * Princess Catarina Agnes Torlonia, who married Stefano d’Albora on 28 July 2000, with issue:
  • ** Gianpaolo d’Albora
  • ** Gianmarco d’Albora
  • Don Marino Torlonia died unmarried and without issue.
  • Donna Olimpia Torlonia she married Paul-Annick Weiller on 16 June 1965. They have six children:
  • *Beatrice Aliki Victoria Weiller she married Brazilian Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago on 23 June 1990. They have four children:
  • **Paul-Annik Weiller Corrêa do Lago
  • **Helena Weiller Corrêa do Lago
  • **Antonio Weiller Corrêa do Lago
  • **Victoria Weiller Corrêa do Lago
  • *Sibilla Sandra Weiller she married Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg on 8 September 1994. They have four children:
  • **Prince Paul-Louis of Nassau
  • **Prince Léopold of Nassau
  • **Princess Charlotte of Nassau
  • **Prince Jean of Nassau
  • *Paul Alexandre Weiller he died at the age of four years old.
  • *Laura Daphne Lavinia Weiller she died at six years old.
  • *Cosima Marie Elizabeth Edmee Weiller
  • *Domitilla Louise Marie Weiller