Beatriz de Borbón y Battenberg | |||||
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Infanta of Spain; Princess di Civitella-Cesi | |||||
Born |
Segovia, Spain |
22 June 1909||||
Died | 22 November 2002 Rome, Italy |
(aged 93)||||
Spouse | Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi (m. 1935) | ||||
Issue |
Donna Sandra, Countess Lequio di Assaba Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince di Civitella-Cesi Don Marino Torlonia Donna Olimpia, Mrs. Weiller |
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House | Bourbon | ||||
Father | Alfonso XIII | ||||
Mother | Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Full name | |
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Spanish: Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugenia Cristina |
Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Princess di Civitella-Cesi (Doña Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugénie Cristina Maria Teresia 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, wife of Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi. She was a paternal aunt of King Juan Carlos I.
Born at the royal palace of La Granja, San Ildefonso near Segovia, Spain on 22 June 1909, Infanta Beatriz was the third child among the six surviving children of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. She was named Beatriz after her maternal grandmother, Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria; Isabel for her great-aunt, Infanta Isabel; Federica for Princess Frederica of Hanover in whose house her parents had become engaged; Alfonsa after her father; Eugenia for Empress Eugénie of the French, her mother's godmother, and Cristina for her paternal grandmother.
Infanta Beatriz was educated within the walls of the Palacio de Oriente by English nannies. She learned English and French along with Spanish. The children spoke in English to their mother and Spanish to their father. Infanta Beatriz and her sister Maria Cristina, two years her junior, yearned to go to private schools like the daughters of the nobility who frequented the palace as their playmates, but, following Spanish tradition, they were educated by governesses and privates tutors. They studied languages, history, religion and took piano and dancing lessons. Their parents placed great importance on outdoor exercise and Infanta Beatriz became fond of sports. She was a very good swimmer, played tennis and golf and loved horseback riding. While in Madrid she played in the palace gardens and made excursions on horseback. In summer the royal family moved to Palacio de la Magdalena, near Santander, where they practiced water sports. The two sisters also made some visits to England to stay with their maternal grandmother at Kensington Palace.