We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

In her native Spain, María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James-Stuart y de Silva, most commonly known as Cateyana, was an irreverent figure. A mainstay of gossip press, she dominated magazine covers throughout her long life due to her reputation as a ‘rebel princess’. When she was photographed topless by paparazzi in her mid 50s, she told Hola! magazine: “I am not a person who allows herself to be managed. I have my own ideas and I try to convert them into reality.”

Who was the Duchess of Alba?

Born in the Palacio de Liria in Madrid in 1926, Cateyana was linked to British royalty, being a descendent of King James II of England.

She spent much of her childhood in London when her father was ambassador to Britain.

While in the UK, she played with then Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, and dined with Winston Churchill.

The Duchess lived a remarkable life, capturing the hearts of Spanish people and providing constant entertainment value.

READ MORE

• Royal heartbreak: Spanish royal family struck with tragedy

She counted Princess Margaret, Wallis Simpson, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn and Yves Saint Laurent among her friends.

She held an astonishing 57 titles according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Cateyana was a Duchess seven times over, a Countess 22 times and a Marquesa 24 times.

Just some of her many titles included:

Duquesa de Arjona

Duquesa de Liria y Jérica

Duquesa de Montoro

Conde-Duquesa de Olivares

Marquesa del Carpio

Condesa de Lemos

Condesa de Lerín

Condestable de Navarra

DON’T MISS
Prince Edward son: Who is James, Viscount Severn?
Royal tribute: How 165,000 Danes will praise Queen Margrethe
Prince Harry shock: REAL reason Prince put US citizenship on hold

READ MORE

• Tory MP issues savage warning to King of Spain over Gibraltar

She was the only person supposedly not required to bow before the Pope and famously refused to pose for Pablo Picasso, saying in 2009: “I think he would have worn me out. Being a model is very dull, it’s horrible.”

Married three times, her first wedding was at the time the most expensive wedding in the world.

But it caused some controversy with its proximity to the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Between the first and third husband she married a defrocked Jesuit priest she met at confession, and finally a civil servant.

Her last marriage at the age of 85 was to Alfonso Diez, who was 24 years her junior.

Once again delighting the Spanish tabloids, a media frenzy ensued when her six children publicly decried the pair, saying he was just in it for the £3bn fortune.

Cateyana was forced to publish her will, which ruled Diez out of line and without any of her vast estate.

At her final wedding in 2011, she famously threw off her shoes and danced a flamenco step in front of guests and the media.

The Duchess died at 88-years-old on November 20, 2014, after a short illness, at her main property in Seville, the El Palacio de las Dueñas.

King Felipe of Spain reached out to the family and extended his condolences and sent two flower crowns to Seville.

Infanta Elena, the King’s sister, represented the Royal Family at her funeral.

Reportedly, one of the last statements she gave to the Spanish media was: ‘I confess I am thinking of keeping on living, although it’s only so I can enjoy the expression on people’s faces when I point at them and say “I’m going to bury you all”.’

Source: Read Full Article