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| Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Queen consort of Spain | |||||
| Tenure | 31 May 1906 – 14 April 1931 | ||||
| Born | (1887-10-24)24 October 1887 Balmoral Castle, Scotland | ||||
| Died | 15 April 1969(1969-04-15) (aged 81) Lausanne, Switzerland | ||||
| Burial | 18 April 1969 | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | |||||
| |||||
| House | Battenberg | ||||
| Father | Prince Henry of Battenberg | ||||
| Mother | Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom | ||||
Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) wasQueen of Spain as the wife ofKing Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when theSpanish Second Republic was proclaimed. AHessian princess by birth, she was a member of theBattenberg family, amorganatic branch of theHouse of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the youngest granddaughter ofQueen Victoria andPrince Albert. Unlike other members of the Battenberg family, who were accorded the lower rank ofSerene Highness, Victoria Eugenie was born with the rank ofHighness due to a Royal Warrant issued in 1886 by Queen Victoria.
Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was born on 24 October 1887 atBalmoral Castle, inScotland. Her father wasPrince Henry of Battenberg, the fourth child and third son ofPrince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine andJulia, Princess of Battenberg, and her mother wasPrincess Beatrice, the fifth daughter ofQueen Victoria of the United Kingdom andPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.[citation needed] Her mother, as the youngest child of the lonely queen, was kept "at home" with the court, which happened to be at Balmoral when she went into labour. Victoria Eugenie was the last grandchild of a British monarch to be born in Scotland untilPrincess Margaret was born atGlamis Castle inAngus in August 1930.[1]
As Prince Henry was the product of amorganatic marriage, he took his style ofPrince of Battenberg from his mother, who had been created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. As such, Henry's children would normally have been born with the style "Serene Highness"; however, Queen Victoria had issued a Royal Warrant on 4 December 1886 granting the higher style of "Highness" to all sons and daughters of Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice, thus she was bornHer Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.[2] She was named for her maternal grandmother Victoria and for her godmother,Eugénie de Montijo, the Spanish-born French empress who lived in exile in the United Kingdom. To her family, and the British general public, she was known by a diminutive of the last of her names, asEna. She was born in the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign, so she was called "the Jubilee baby".[3]
She was baptised in the Drawing Room at Balmoral. Her godparents wereEmpress Eugénie (represented byPrincess Frederica of Hanover), theGerman Crown Princess (her maternal aunt; represented by theDuchess of Roxburghe), thePrincess of Battenberg (her paternal grandmother; represented by theMarchioness of Ely),Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (her maternal aunt; represented by theCountess of Erroll),Prince Louis of Battenberg (her paternal uncle; represented by theEarl of Hopetoun) and theDuke of Edinburgh (her maternal uncle; represented bySir Henry Ponsonby).[4]
Victoria Eugenie grew up in Queen Victoria's household, as the British monarch had reluctantly allowed Beatrice to marry on the condition that she remain her mother's full-time companion and personal secretary. Therefore, she spent her childhood atWindsor Castle, Balmoral, andOsborne House on theIsle of Wight. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, theDuke (later King George V) andDuchess of York on 6 July 1893.[5]
When she was six, Victoria Eugenie suffered a severeconcussion when she was thrown off her pony at Osborne and hit her head on the ground.[6]Queen Victoria's physicians noticed "dangerous symptoms", such as "evident signs of brain pressure, probably a haemorrhage". Her auntVictoria, Princess Royal, wrote, "it is so grievous that [Victoria Eugenie] cannot take notice or open her eyes".[6]
Victoria Eugenie was close to her grandmotherQueen Victoria. She reflected that "having been born and brought up in her home,Queen Victoria was like a second mother to us. She was very kind but very strict, with old fashioned ideas of how children must be brought up".[7] When Victoria Eugenie said, "I think it is time for us to go to bed", Queen Victoria corrected her. "Young woman, a princess should say, 'I think it is time for me to retire'.[6] Queen Victoria wrote that "I love these darling children so, almost as much as their own parent" and referred to Victoria Eugenie as "the little treasure".[6]Her father died while on active military service after contracting fever in Africa in 1896. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, her mother and her family moved out of Osborne House and took up residence inKensington Palace in London. Princess Beatrice inherited Osborne Cottage on the Isle of Wight from her mother.[8]
One of her closest friends wasLady Jean Cochrane.[9]
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In 1905, KingAlfonso XIII of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenie's maternal uncle,King Edward VII, hosted a dinner inBuckingham Palace in honour of the Spanish king. Alfonso was seated betweenQueen Alexandra andPrincess Helena, King Edward's sister.[citation needed] He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who the dinner guest with almost white hair was.[citation needed] Everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates wasPrincess Patricia of Connaught, another niece of King Edward.[citation needed] As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by the Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, and so the courtship began.[citation needed] When Alfonso returned to Spain he frequently sent postcards to Victoria Eugenie and spoke of her approvingly. His mother,Queen Maria Christina, did not like her son's choice, in part because she considered the Battenbergs non-royal because of the obscure origin of Prince Henry's mother, and in part because she wanted her son to marry within her own family.[10] Other obstacles to a marriage were religion (Alfonso was Roman Catholic, and Victoria Eugenie was Anglican); and, the potential problem ofhaemophilia, the disease that Queen Victoria had transmitted to some of her descendants.[citation needed] Victoria Eugenie's brother,Leopold, was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50% probability that she would be a carrier, although the degree of risk was not yet known. Still, if Alfonso married her, their issue could be affected by the disease. Nonetheless, Alfonso was not dissuaded.[citation needed]
After a year of rumours about which princess Alfonso would marry, his mother finally acceded to her son's selection in January 1906 and wrote a letter to Victoria Eugenie's mother, telling her about the love Alfonso felt for her daughter and seeking unofficial contact with the king. Some days later at Windsor, King Edward congratulated his niece on her future engagement.[citation needed]
Princess Beatrice and her daughter arrived inBiarritz on 22 January and stayed at the Villa Mauriscot where some days later King Alfonso met them. At the Villa Mauriscot, Alfonso and his future bride conducted a chaperoned, three-day romance. Then, Alfonso took Victoria Eugenie and her mother toSan Sebastián to meet Queen Maria Christina.[citation needed] On 3 February, the king left San Sebastian to go to Madrid and Victoria Eugenie and her mother went to Versailles where the Princess would be instructed in the Catholic faith: as the future Queen of Spain, she agreed to convert. The official reception of Victoria Eugenie into the Catholic faith took place on 5 March 1906 atMiramar Palace in San Sebastián.[citation needed]
The terms of the marriage were settled by two agreements, a public treaty and a private contractual arrangement. The treaty was executed between Spain and the United Kingdom in London on 7 May 1906 by their respectiveplenipotentiaries, the Spanish Ambassador to theCourt of St. James's, DonLuis Polo de Bernabé, and the British Foreign Secretary, SirEdward Grey, Bt.Ratifications were exchanged on 23 May following. Among other conditions, the treaty stipulated:[citation needed]
BE it known unto all men by these Presents that whereas His Catholic Majesty Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, has judged it proper to announce his intention of contracting a marriage with Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, niece of His Majesty Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and daughter of Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg)…
Article I. It is concluded and agreed that the marriage between His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII and Her said Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena shall be solemnized in person at Madrid as soon as the same may conveniently be done.
II. His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII engages to secure to Her said Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena from the date of her marriage with His Majesty, and for the whole period of the marriage, an annual grant of 450,000pesetas. His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII also engages, if, by the will of Divine Providence, the said Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena should become his widow, to secure to her, from the date of his death, an annual grant of 250,000pesetas, unless and until she contracts a second marriage, both these grants having already been voted by theCortes. The private settlements to be made on either side in regard to the said marriage will be agreed upon and expressed in a separate Contract, which shall, however, be deemed to form an integral part of the present Treaty…
III. The High Contracting Parties take note of the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, according to the due tenor of the law of England, forfeits for ever all hereditary rights of succession to the Crown and Government of Great Britain…[11]
The treaty's reference to the forfeiture of Victoria Eugénie's British succession rights reflected neither any British governmentcensure of the alliance nor anyrenunciation made by her. Rather, it was an explicit recognition of the fact that by marrying (and becoming) a Roman Catholic, Victoria Eugénie lost any right to inherit the British crown as a consequence of Britain'sAct of Settlement 1701.[citation needed] This exclusion was personal and limited: those among her descendants who do not become Roman Catholic remain in theline of succession to the British Throne.[citation needed]
Despite this treaty, concern about the reaction to the marriage and to Victoria Eugénie's conversion amongProtestants was accommodated by the British government's decision that King Edward need not grant official consent to the marriage in hisPrivy Council, despite the fact that his niece was a British subject.[citation needed] Although theRoyal Marriages Act 1772 requires that descendants of KingGeorge II obtain the British sovereign's prior permission to marry byOrder in Council, an exception exists for descendants of royal daughters who marry "into foreign families".[citation needed] Although thenaturalisation of Victoria Eugénie's father in the United Kingdom had been initiated in Parliament a week prior to his marriage to Princess Beatrice, the nuptials were completed before the naturalisation, thus the government was able to take the position that Victoria Eugénie was not bound by the Royal Marriages Act 1772, and therefore the British king had legal authority neither to authorise nor forbid her marriage.[citation needed]
The king did, however, issue aroyal warrant which read:
"Our Will and Pleasure is and we do hereby declare and ordain that from and after the date of this Warrant our Most Dear Niece Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, only daughter of Our Most Dear Sister Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg) shall be styled entitled and calledHer Royal Highness before her name and such Titles and Appellations which to her belong in all Deeds Records Instruments or Documents whatsoever wherein she may at any time hereafter be named or described. And We do hereby authorize and empower Our said Most Dear Niece henceforth at all times to assume and use and to be called and named by the Style, Title and Appellation ofHer Royal Highness accordingly. Given at Our Court of Saint James's, the Third day of April 1906: in the Sixth Year of Our Reign. By His Majesty's Command. M Gladstone"[12]
Notice of this warrant wasgazetted in theLondon Gazette which read:
"Whitehall 3 April 1906. The KING has been graciously pleased to declare and ordain that His Majesty's niece, Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, daughter of Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg), shall henceforth be styled and called 'Her Royal Highness'; And to command that the said Royal concession and declaration be registered in His Majesty's College of Arms."[13]
Princess Victoria Eugenie married King Alfonso XIII at theRoyal Monastery of San Jerónimo inMadrid on 31 May 1906. Present atthe ceremony were her widowed mother and brothers, as well as her cousins, thePrince andPrincess of Wales.
After the wedding ceremony, as the royal procession was heading back to theRoyal Palace, anassassination attempt was made on the King and Queen whenanarchist Mateu Morral threw a bomb from a balcony at the royal carriage; this incident would become known as theMorral affair. Victoria Eugenie's life was saved because, at the exact moment the bomb exploded, she turned her head in order to see St. Mary's Church, which Alfonso was showing her.[citation needed] She escaped injury, although her dress was spotted with the blood of a guard who was riding beside the carriage. A large statue in front of the Royal Monastery of San Jeronimo commemorates the victims of the bombing of 31 May 1906.[citation needed]
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After the inauspicious start to her tenure as Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie became isolated from the Spanish people and was unpopular in her new land. Her married life improved when she gave birth to a son and heir apparent to the kingdom,Alfonso, Prince of Asturias. However, while the baby prince was beingcircumcised, the doctors noted that he did not stop bleeding — the first sign that the infant heir hadhaemophilia.[citation needed] Victoria Eugenie was the obvious source of the condition, which was inherited by her eldest and youngest sons. Contrary to the response of EmperorNicholas II of Russia, whoseson and heir byanother granddaughter of Queen Victoria was similarly afflicted, Alfonso is alleged never to have forgiven Victoria Eugenie nor to have come to terms with what had happened. In all, King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Neither of their daughters is known to have been a carrier of haemophilia.[citation needed]
After the births of their children, Victoria Eugenie's relationship with Alfonso deteriorated, and he had numerous affairs. It has been said that he had a dalliance with the Queen's cousin,Beatrice, Duchess of Galliera, but this is disputed.[citation needed] Then members of the king's circle spread rumours that Beatrice had been expelled because of her bad behaviour, which was not true. All this situation was very painful for the Queen, who could do nothing to help her cousin.[citation needed]
Victoria Eugenie devoted herself to work for hospitals and services for the poor, as well as to education. She was also involved in the reorganization of the SpanishRed Cross. In 1929, the city of Barcelona erected a statue of her in a nurse's uniform in honour of her Red Cross work (the statue has since been destroyed).[citation needed]
Various Spanish landmarks have been named after Victoria Eugenie. For instance, in 1909, Madrid's stately neoclassical bridge crossing theManzanares River was named after her as the "Puente de la Reina Victoria".[citation needed] In 1912, the monumental opera house and theatre "Teatro Victoria Eugenia" inSan Sebastián, Spain, was named after her. In 1920, she launched the Spanish Navy cruiserReina Victoria Eugenia which was named after her.[citation needed]
She was the 976thDame of theRoyal Order of Queen Maria Luisa. In 1923,the Pope conferred upon her theGolden Rose which was the first time this honour had been awarded to a British princess since 1555 whenPope Julius III conferred one upon QueenMary I of England.[14] She was also granted theRoyal Order of Victoria and Albert by her grandmother, Queen Victoria. The Queen was also awarded the Spanish Red Cross Merit Order (First Class) and the jewelled breast star was paid for by a subscription undertaken by the Corps of Lady Nurses of the Spanish Red Cross.[citation needed]
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The Spanish royal family went into exile on 14 April 1931 aftermunicipal elections brought Republicans to power in most of the major cities, leading to the proclamation of theSecond Spanish Republic. Alfonso XIII had hoped that his voluntary exile might avert a civil war between the Republicans and the Monarchists. The family went to live in France and later Italy. Victoria Eugenie and Alfonso later separated, and she lived partly in the UK and in Switzerland. She purchased achateau, theVieille Fontaine, outsideLausanne.[citation needed]
In 1938, the whole family gathered in Rome for the baptism at thePalazzo Malta of Alfonso and Victoria Eugenie's son Juan's eldest son,Juan Carlos, by VaticanCardinal Secretary of StateEugenio Pacelli (who stood in for the dyingPope Pius XI and would himself becomePope Pius XII in a few months). On 15 January 1941, Alfonso, feeling his death was near, transferred his rights to the Spanish crown to his son, theCount of Barcelona.[15] On 12 February, Alfonso suffered a first heart attack and died on 28 February 1941.[15] In 1942, Victoria Eugenie was obliged to leave Italy, having becomepersona non grata to theItalian government, according toHarold H. Tittmann Jr., a U.S. representative at the Vatican at the time, for her "ill-disguised leanings to the Allied cause".[16]
Victoria Eugenie returned briefly to Spain in February 1968, to stand as godmother at the baptism of her great-grandson,Infante Felipe, the son of Infante Juan Carlos andPrincess Sophia of Greece and Denmark. Felipe became King of Spain after his father,King Juan Carlos I, abdicated in June 2014.[citation needed]
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Victoria Eugenie died in Lausanne on 15 April 1969, aged 81, exactly 38 years after she had left Spain for exile. She was the last surviving child ofPrincess Beatrice andPrince Henry of Battenberg. The funeral was held in the church ofSacré Coeur, she was buried in the nearby cemetery Bois-de-Vaux in Lausanne.[citation needed] On 25 April 1985, her remains were returned to Spain and re-interred in the Royal Vault in theEscorial, outside Madrid, next to the remains of her husband, Alfonso XIII, and not far from her sons, Infante Alfonso, Infante Jaime, and Infante Gonzalo.[citation needed]
After the death of Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco in 1975, the monarchy was restored and Victoria Eugenie's grandson,Juan Carlos I, became King of Spain; her great-grandson,Felipe VI, is the current king. Her godchildren included thePrince of Monaco,[17]Queen Fabiola of Belgium,[18] andCayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba.[19]
Victoria Eugenie left eight important pieces of jewellery written in her will that, following her instructions, would be transmitted privately to the head of the royal family successively to be worn by the following Queens of Spain. The jewellery collection, known as thejoyas de pasar, includes her Ansorenafleur-de-lis tiara [es] given to her by Alfonso XIII as a wedding gift in addition to other wedding gift jewellery from the King. She left her other jewels to be distributed between her daughters InfantaBeatriz and InfantaMaría Cristina –who received Victoria Eugenie'sCartiertiara of diamonds set with pearls (or alternatively with emeralds)–. This tiara and other family jewels were added to thejoyas de pasar collection later. The jewels in the collection are currently the most important of the royal family and are worn by the Queen of Spain on solemn occasions.[20]
A sapphire ring owned by Victoria Eugenie was sold atSotheby's in May 2012 for $50,000.[21]That same year, Sotheby's also sold at auction Victoria Eugenie's diamond and pink conch shell bracelet byCartier for the extraordinary price of $3.4 million.[22]
_-_ribbon_bar.png)
Dame and Sovereign of theOrder of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa (Spain, 1906).
Grand Cross of the Imperial AustrianOrder of Elizabeth (Austria, 1908).[23]
Dame of theOrder of the Starry Cross (Austria).[23]
Grand Cross of theOrder of Saint-Charles (Monaco, 19 April 1958).[24] |
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| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfonso, Prince of Asturias | 10 May 1907 | 6 September 1938(1938-09-06) (aged 31) | He renounced rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants (because of his intended unequal marriage) on 11 June 1933; m. 1st 1933 (div. 1937)Edelmira Ignacia Adriana Sampedro-Robato (5 March 1906 – 23 May 1994); m. 2nd 1937 (div. 1938)Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra (18 September 1913 – 4 February 1993). He died in a car crash in 1938. |
| Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia | 23 June 1908 | 20 March 1975(1975-03-20) (aged 66) | He renounced rights to the Spanish throne (because of his physical infirmities) on 21 June 1933. He marriedDonnaEmmanuelle de Dampierre on 4 March 1935 and they were divorced on 6 May 1947, and had issue. He remarriedCharlotte Tiedemann on 3 August 1949. |
| Infanta Beatriz of Spain | 22 June 1909 | 22 November 2002(2002-11-22) (aged 93) | She marriedAlessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi on 14 January 1935, and had issue. |
| Infante Fernando | 21 May 1910 | 21 May 1910(1910-05-21) (aged 0) | stillborn |
| Infanta María Cristina of Spain | 12 December 1911 | 23 December 1996(1996-12-23) (aged 85) | She married Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano, 1st Count Marone on 10 June 1940, and had issue. |
| Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona | 20 June 1913 | 1 April 1993(1993-04-01) (aged 79) | He was recognised asheir apparent to the Spanish throne and held the titlePrince of Asturias. He marriedPrincess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on 12 October 1935, and had issue (includingJuan Carlos I of Spain). |
| Infante Gonzalo | 24 October 1914 | 13 August 1934(1934-08-13) (aged 19) | also ahaemophiliac. He died in a car accident in Austria. |
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| Ancestors of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg |
|---|
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg Cadet branch of theHouse of Hesse-Darmstadt Born: 24 October 1887 Died: 15 April 1969 | ||
| Spanish royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Maria Christina of Austria | Queen consort of Spain 1906–1931 | Vacant Title next held by Sophia of Greece and Denmark |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Loss of title | — TITULAR — Queen consort of Spain 14 April 1931 – 15 January 1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Queen consort of France Legitimist 29 September 1936 – 28 February 1941 | Succeeded by |
Battenberg/Mountbatten family | ||
|---|---|---|
Generations are numbered by their descent fromPrince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine andJulia, Princess of Battenberg | ||
| 1st generation |  | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation |
| |
*Not Mountbatten or Battenberg by birth. Adopted the surname Mountbatten from his maternal line on abandoning his patrilineal Greek and Danish princely titles. | ||