Infanta Beatriz of Spain

Infobox Spanish Royalty|infanta
name = Infanta Beatriz of Spain
title = Princess of Civitella-Cesi
date of birth = birth date|1909|6|22
place of birth = Segovia, Spain
date of death = death date and age|2002|11|22|1909|6|22
place of death = Rome, Italy
spouse = Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi
issue = Doña Sandra (b.1936)
Don Marco (b.1937)
Don Marino (1939-1995)
Doña Olimpia (b.1943)
royal house = House of Bourbon
father = Alfonso XIII
mother = Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

The Infanta Beatriz of Spain ("Doña Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugenia Cristina Maria Teresa Bienvenida Ladislàa de Borbón y Battenberg") (22 June 1909 - 22 November 2002) was a daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and paternal aunt of the current King Juan Carlos I.

Infanta Beatriz was born at La Granja, San Idefonso near Segovia, Spain. The Spanish Royal Family left the country in 1931, in the face of Republican demonstrations, settling in Paris, before moving to Fontainebleau.

By 1933 King Alfonso and his daughters (Beatriz and Maria Cristina) had moved to Rome. Their father cautiously warned would-be suitors of the inherent dangers of haemophilia, that had infected two of the king's sons (Alfonso and Gonzalo). For this reason, Beatriz's engagement of 1931 to Prince Álvaro of Borbón-Orleans, the eldest son of Infante Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, was broken off.

On 14 January 1935, she married a member of Italian nobility, Don Alessandro Torlonia, Prince of Civitella-Cesi. Torlonia was the son of Don Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cessi and the American Mary Elsie Moore. By an unusual genealogical twist, Don Alessandro was to be the great-uncle of the actress Brooke Shields (granddaughter of Donna Marina Torlonia, Don Alessandro's sister). They were married in Rome, with Beatriz wearing a 20 ft train, a coronet of orange blossom holding her veil in place, in the presence of King Alfonso, the King and Queen of Italy and some 52 princes of the royal blood. After the ceremony, the young couple were received by Pope Pius XI. They had four children:
*Her Excellency Doña Sandra Vittoria Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (b. 14 February, 1936-) married Count Clemente Lequio di Assaba (9 December 1925-28 June 1971), had issue
*His Excellency Don Marco Alfonso Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (b. 2 July, 1937-), later 6th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, married (1) Orsetta Caracciolo di Castegneto (17 May 1940-10 March 1968), one son; (2) Philippa McDonald (b. 3 June 1942), one daughter; (3) Blazena Svitakova (b. 16 October 1940), one daughter, born before marriage
*His Excellency Don Marino Riccardo Francesco Giuseppe Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (b. 13 December, 1939-28 December, 1995) died unmarried and without issue
*Her Excellency Doña Olimpia Emmanuela Enrichetta Maria Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (b. 27 December, 1943-) married Paul-Annik Weiller (28 July 1933-2 November 1998), has six children (including Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg)

Beatriz lived in Rome for the rest of her life, and when her daughter Olimpia married the late Paul-Annik Weiller, his father secured the Palazzo Torlonia for the family.

It was said that the Infanta had charm, a sense of humour, and little of the austerity of her mother, but never lost her regal bearing, and took royal protocol seriously.

This caused her daughters some agony when they met the Duchess of Windsor. The Infanta forbade them to curtsey, and they were forced to make a subtle gesture somewhere between a curtsey and a nervous wriggle, in order to pass the gimlet scrutiny of both their mother and the Duke of Windsor.

She died at her home in Palazzo Torlonia, Rome on 22 November 2002 at 93 years 5 months.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Infanta Beatriz of Spain
2= 2. Alfonso XIII of Spain
3= 3. Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
4= 4. Alfonso XII of Spain
5= 5. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria
6= 6. Prince Henry of Battenberg
7= 7. Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom
8= 8. Francis of Spain
9= 9. Isabella II of Spain
10= 10. Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria
11= 11. Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria
12= 12. Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine
13= 13. Countess Julia von Hauke
14= 14. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
15= 15. Victoria of the United Kingdom
16= 16. Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain
17= 17. Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
18= 18. Ferdinand VII of Spain
19= 19. Princess Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
20= 20. Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
21= 21. Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg
22= 22. Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
23= 23. Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg
24= 24. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse
25= 25. Princess Wilhelmine of Baden
26= 26. Count John Maurice von Hauke
27= 27. Sophie la Fontaine
28= 28. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
29= 29. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
30= 30. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
31= 31. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld