Infante Alfonso of Spain (Don Alfonso Cristino Teresa Ángelo Francisco de Asís y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón Dos-Sicilias; 3 October 1941 – 29 March 1956) was the younger brother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. He was also the youngest son of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and the grandson of King Alfonso XIII. He died young at 14 from a shot by Juan Carlos' gun, but the circumstances of his death remain unclear to this day.
| Infante Alfonso | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_-_Fondo_Mar%C3%ADn-Kutxa_Fototeka_(cropped).jpg) Alfonso, aged 9 | |||||
| Born | 3 October 1941 Rome, Kingdom of Italy | ||||
| Died | 29 March 1956 (aged 14) Estoril, Portugal | ||||
| Burial |
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| House | Bourbon | ||||
| Father | Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona | ||||
| Mother | Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies | ||||
Early life
editAlfonso was born at Hotel NH Firenze Anglo American in Rome,[1] the youngest son of the Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona, and of his wife, Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His godfather was the Infante Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón; his godmother was his father's sister Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain.[2] Within his own family, he was called Alfonsito to distinguish him from other family members with the name Alfonso.
When Alfonso was still just a baby, his family moved to Lausanne in Switzerland where they lived in the Villa Les Rocailles.[3] In February 1946, the family moved to the Portuguese Riviera.[4]
In 1947, Alfonso visited Spain for the first time at the invitation of caudillo Francisco Franco. In 1950, he and his brother Juan Carlos were sent to study in Spain.[5] At first, they lived in San Sebastián where a private school had been established in the Miramar Palace.[6] In June 1954, they were received by General Franco at the Pardo Palace.[7] Later, Alfonso and Juan Carlos attended the military academy in Zaragoza.[8]
Death and burial
edit
On the evening of Maundy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Alfonso and Juan Carlos were at their parents' home Villa Giralda in Estoril, Portugal, for the Easter vacation, where Alfonso died in a gun accident. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal issued an official communiqué:[9]
- Whilst His Highness the Infante Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received Holy Communion.
Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier on the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. It is alleged that Juan Carlos began playing with a .22 caliber revolver that had apparently been given to Alfonso by General Franco.[10][11] Rumors appeared in newspapers that the .22 caliber revolver had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.[12]
As they were the only two in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that the pistol was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm causing him to fire the pistol.[13][14]
It is alleged that Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the children's father, threw the gun into the sea some time after Alfonso's death.[15]
The funeral liturgy for Alfonso was held on Holy Saturday and was presided over by Monsignor Fernando Cento, Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal. He was buried at the municipal cemetery in Cascais, Portugal. In October 1992, he was re-buried in the Pantheon of the Princes of El Escorial near Madrid.
Ancestors
edit| Ancestors of Infante Alfonso of Spain |
|---|
Notes
edit- ^ Preston, Paul (8 April 2011). Juan Carlos: Rey de un pueblo. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España. ISBN 9788499892160.
- ^ José María Zavala, Dos infantes y un destino (Barcelona: Planez & Janés, 1998), 101.
- ^ Zavala, 102.
- ^ Zavala, 111.
- ^ "Spanish Pretender's Sons", The Times ( 2 October 1950): 3. "General Franco and Don Juan", The Times ( 3 October 1950): 5.
- ^ Zavala, 165.
- ^ Zavala, 171.
- ^ "Prince to Return to Spain Tuesday", The New York Times ( 16 January 1955): 25.
- ^ Quoted in Paul Preston, Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy (New York: W.W. Norton, 2004), 101.
- ^ "Royal Foibles". Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- ^ "Juan Carlos lays to rest a haunting Spanish tragedy". Independent.co.uk. 15 October 1992. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- ^ Preston, Paul (2004). Juan Carlos: A People's King. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780002556323.
Pronto se revelaría que ese Jueves Santo, Juan Carlos había matado a su hermano Alfonso, de catorce años, de un disparo en la frente, con su revólver calibre 22 que le había regalado Francisco Franco. Para la fecha de la tragedia, el futuro rey de España contaba con dieciocho años de edad y un año de instrucción militar en la Academia General Militar de Zaragoza
- ^ Preston, 102.
- ^ A Royal Mystery at Snopes.com.
- ^ Román, Manuel (27 March 2016). "La muerte accidental de Alfonso de Borbón cuando Juan Carlos manejaba una pistola". Libertad Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
Bibliography
edit- Zavala, José M. Dos infantes y un destino. Barcelona: Plaza & Janés, 1998. ISBN 84-01-55006-8.
- "Son Born to Spanish Pretender". The New York Times ( 4 October 1941): 17.
- "Funeral of Infante Don Alfonso". The Times ( 2 April 1956): 8.
- "Don Juan's Son Is Killed in Spanish Gun Accident". The New York Times ( 30 March 1956): 3.
- Mikkelson, Barbara. "A Royal Mystery".