How the most titled aristocrat in the world bought the right to marry her own children: Duchess of Alba:

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the last years of the life of the 18th Duchess of Alba, it was difficult to recognize in this woman one of the first beauties of Spain. She was the most titled aristocrat in the world and even the Queen of Great Britain, with whom Cayetana Alba was friendly, let the duchess into the elevator first. Despite a serious illness that disfigured her face over the years, Cayetana Alba continued to shine in the light, loved to pose for photographers and enjoyed life. And at the age of 85, she enthusiastically danced flamenco at her own wedding.

Parenting

She was born in March 1926 in Madrid and became the first and only child of the 17th Duke of Alba and his wife Maria. Less than a month later, the entire flower of the Spanish aristocracy gathered for the christening of the baby. The godparents of Caetana were the Spanish king Alfonso XIII and his wife Queen Victoria Eugenia.

At the age of six, she first learned what real grief is: Cayetana's mother died, to whom the girl had not even been able to approach for several months, since the baby was not allowed to see her because of the threat of infection with tuberculosis. After the death of his wife, the Duke of Alba did not marry a second time, but devoted himself entirely to the upbringing of the heiress.

He instilled in his daughter a love of sports. Since childhood, Cayetana Alba has been skiing and horseback riding, playing tennis and dancing flamenco. By the way, she was also taught to dance by her father, whom she adored and considered an absolutely outstanding and very brave person. On the day of the debut of the young Cayetana Alba on April 28, 1943, she was beautiful in a white dress with frills. And the day before, Tanuki's father (that's what her dad called her) rejected General Franco's request. He asked the Duke of Alba to combine the debut of Caetana with the debut of his own daughter Carmencita, but was awarded only a short answer: "She is no match for us!"

Caetana Alba was well educated. She was versed in art and spoke several foreign languages. In addition to her father, the maternal grandmother and the governess were involved in the upbringing of the young duchess. But only her father was allowed to give her advice and guidance, to which she always listened. When Caetana, at the age of 16, first fell in love with the handsome bullfighter Pepe Luis Vasquez, her father immediately sent her to London, believing that her daughter was still too young, amorous and impulsive.

However, in Great Britain, young Caetana literally bathed in male attention. She had crazy success, but she firmly learned the lesson given by her father and married only in 1947 to the aristocrat Luis Martinez de Irujo, whose candidacy his father approved.

Three marriages and the ransom for happiness

In the marriage of Caetana, Alba was happy and gave birth to her husband six children, five sons and a daughter. Baby Eugenia Martinez was born when the Duchess was already 42 years old. In 1972, the Duchess of Alba was widowed.

And six years later she got married again. Her second marriage caused a real scandal in society. Jesús Aguirre, a former Jesuit priest and director of the music department of the Ministry of Culture, was 9 years younger than his wife and wrote admiring poetry to his beloved. The Duchess's children were against this union, the elders even suspected the mother's second husband of selfish interests. Society reacted to this marriage with great disapproval, and not a single invitee came to the wedding reception.

But Cayetana Alba was again in love and happy, and could afford not to pay any attention to public opinion. This marriage lasted 23 years, until the last day of the life of Jesus Aguirre, who died of cancer.

Many years later, a biography novel about the second wife of the Duchess was published, and she was extremely outraged by the lies that literally permeated the work. Duchess Alba confessed: Jesus Aguirre occupied a very important place in her life and was an intelligent and very educated person. He won her heart with his nobility, intelligence and inimitable sense of humor. At one time, he refused to take the post of ambassador in Bonn due to the fact that the Duchess's children were still too young to move. Cayetana Alba even wrote an angry letter to the publishing house that published the book, and decided for herself: the author of the novel was driven exclusively by envy.

Ten years after the death of Jesús Aguirre, the Duchess of Alba was married for the third time. Her husband was a simple social security official Alfonso Diez Carabantes. She first appeared in society in 2008. And even then she, along with six children, had to go to see the Queen of Spain Sophia.

Cayetana Alba wanted to marry Alfonso, the children were categorically against not only the mother's marriage, but in general her relationship with Alfonso. Then the queen managed to dissuade the duchess from getting married, but three years later Alba still went down the aisle with her lover, who was 24 years younger than the newlywed.

The groom was not at all embarrassed by Caetana's appearance. The face of the once the first beauty of Spain has changed a lot due to the disease - Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome, which disfigured the face. For some time, the Duchess tried to restore beauty through plastic surgery, and then she made a choice in favor of naturalness. Taking an oath of loyalty to her third husband, Cayetana Alba hoped to live next to her beloved one for many more years.

Her payment for happiness was the complete refusal of the Duchess of Alba from her titles, property and jewelry in favor of her children. In turn, the marriage contract signed by Caetana Alba and Alfonso Diez Carabantes stated that he would never claim the Duchess's inheritance. At the wedding, she again flew on the wings of love and showed others all her strength and passion, which she reflected in her favorite dance - flamenco.

The Duchess's husband admitted: he feels older than his wife. While he calmly sunbathes in a sun lounger by the pool, Caetana all the time makes him get up, run somewhere and do something. She loved life, knew how to get pleasure from every moment and admitted: "I have a very nasty character."

However, this did not prevent her from remaining the favorite of the Spaniards until the last day. "This is my life. And I want to live it as brightly as possible! " - Said Caetana Alba. On November 20, 2014, she was gone, but even seven years after the departure of the most titled woman in the world, it is impossible to forget this extraordinary woman.

Cayetana Alba was the heiress of the very Grand Duchess of Alba, who helped the artist Francisco Goya reach the pinnacle of his creative career. Her character and titles were as pretentious as her difficult relationship with the master.