Saturday, August 27, 2011

Cayetana

Still hunkering down for the hurricane.  To completely change the subject, let's talk about Spanish royal the Duchess of Alba, more colloquially known as Cayetana.  She is one of Spain's most famous and most wealthy aristrocrats, has more titles than any noble on Earth, according to the Guinness Book of Records, and has more estates than the Queen of England.  She is the current head of the 539-year-old House of Alba.  She is also 85 years old and in October will be married to a man 24 years her junior, 61-year-old Alfonso Diez Carabantes.  Her groom comes from much humbler background - he is a civil servant.  

Cayetana has had a colorful life.  Her full name is Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva.  She is descended from King James II of England.  She has outlived two husbands, and has six children.  According to reports, some of her children were vehemently opposed to her current marriage until she decided to split up her vast wealth in advance, and Alfonso Diez had also formally renounced any claim to her wealth.  

She is apparently quite a fixture in Spanish and European noble and social scenes, and had recently had plastic surgery.  You can see some pictures and read more stuff about her here:




Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)