Infante Alfonso of Spain

Infante Alfonso
Infante of Spain
Born	(1941-10-03)3 October 1941 Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Died	Estoril, Portugal
Full name Alfonso Cristino Teresa Ángelo Francisco de Asís y Todos los Santos (et omnes sancti) de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias
House	Bourbon
Father	Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
Mother	Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Religion	Roman Catholicism

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, in Rome – 29 March 1956, in Estoril) was the younger brother of King Juan Carlos of Spain.

Early life

Alfonso was born in Rome, 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. 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. In February 1946 the family moved to Portugal.

In 1947 Alfonso visited Spain for the first time at the invitation of dictator Francisco Franco. In 1950 he and his brother Juan Carlos were sent to study in Spain. At first they lived in San Sebastián where a private school had been established in the Miramar Palace. In June 1954 they were received by General Franco at the Pardo Palace. Later Alfonso and Juan Carlos attended the military academy in Zaragoza.

Death and burial

File:Coat of Arms of Infante Alfonso of Spain.svg

Coat of arms of Infante Alfonso

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:

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. Rumors appeared in newspapers that the .22 caliber revolver had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.

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.

It is alleged that Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the children's father had thrown the gun into the sea sometime after Alfonso's death.

The funeral liturgy for Alfonso was held on Holy Saturday and was presided 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.

Bibliography

• 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".

Ancestry

Family of Infante Alfonso of Spain

16. Infante Francis of Spain, Duke of Cádiz               8. Alfonso XII of Spain                       17. Isabella II of Spain               4. Alfonso XIII of Spain                             18. Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria               9. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria                       19. Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria               2. Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona                                   20. Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine               10. Prince Henry of Battenberg                       21. Countess Julia von Hauke               5. Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg                             22. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha               11. Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom                       23. Victoria of the United Kingdom               1. Infante Alfonso of Spain                                         24. Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies               12. Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta                       25. Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria               6. Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies                             26. Prince Francis, Count of Trapani               13. Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies                       27. Archduchess Maria Isabella of Austria               3. Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies                                   28. Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans               14. Prince Philippe, Count of Paris                       29. Duchess Helena Luisa Elizabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               7. Princess Louise of Orléans                             30. Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier               15. Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans                       31. Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain