by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2015
Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Galliera – source: Wikipedia
Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Galliera, was the husband of Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He was born Alfonso María Francisco Antonio Diego de Orleans y Borbón on November 12, 1886, in Madrid, to Infante Antonio of Spain, Duke of Galliera (a grandson of King Ferdinand VII of Spain) and Infanta Eulalia of Spain (a daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain). He had one younger brother.
- Luis Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain (1888 – 1945), married Marie Constance Charlotte Say, no children, in 1924 he was deprived of his privileges as an Infante of Spain
Along with his brother, he attended Beaumont College in England from 1899-1904, and then attended the Military Academy of Toledo in preparation for a lifetime career in the Spanish military. Several years later, he trained as a pilot and would become one of the most distinguished aviators in the Spanish forces.
Alfonso and Beatrice at the 1906 wedding of King Alfonso XIII. source: Wikipedia
In 1906, at the wedding of his first cousin King Alfonso XIII of Spain to Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Alfonso met the bride’s first cousin Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the youngest daughter of the late Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia.
Alfonso and Beatrice married in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany, on July 15, 1909. The civil ceremony was followed by both a Catholic and a Protestant ceremony, as the bride chose not to convert to Catholicism. The couple had three sons:
- Infante Alvaro, Duke of Galliera (1910-1997) – married, had issue
- Infante Alfonso (1912-1936) – unmarried, no issue
- Infante Ataúlfo (1913-1974) – unmarried, no issue
Alfonso with his eldest son, Alvaro, 1910. source: Wikipedia
For the first three years of their marriage, Alfonso and Beatrice lived in Coburg. Because Beatrice remained Lutheran, the Spanish government would not permit King Alfonso XIII to give consent to the marriage, and Alfonso was stripped of his Spanish honors and titles. However, in 1911, the King restored Alfonso to his rank in the military, and the following year, the family was able to return to Spain, with all of his honors and titles restored.
Alfonso served in several positions within the Spanish military, and in 1916, was sent on a ‘special mission’ to Switzerland. The reasoning for this may have been an excuse to get him and his wife out of the country. Rumors abounded that Beatrice had rebuffed the romantic advances of the King, and in retaliation, he exiled them from Spain. After some time in Switzerland, they moved to England where their sons were educated, before returning to Spain eight years later. In 1930, he succeeded his father as Duke of Galliera.
Alfonso was named Chief of Staff of the Spanish Air Force in early 1931, but less than two months later, the Second Spanish Republic was declared, and he was exiled to London. Upon his return in 1932, he was taken prisoner and held in Western Sahara. At the beginning of 1933, Alfonso and thirty other prisoners escaped by boat and traveled to Lisbon, Portugal.
In 1937, Alfonso returned to Spain and was made head of the aerial forces of General Franco. He was created General at the end of World War II, and later Brigadier General. In 1945, in support of demands to restore the monarchy, Alfonso resigned from the Spanish military.
Having lost their former properties, Alfonso and Beatrice settled at a new home El Botánico in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain. Unlike King Alfonso and Queen Victoria Eugenie, The Duke and Duchess of Galliera were able to remain in Spain for the rest of their lives.
Alfonso died on August 6, 1975 at El Botánico in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain. He is buried with his wife at the Convent of the Capuchin Fathers in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain.
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