Why Thrice-Married Spanish Duchess Of Alba With 57 Titles, Who Died When 88, Was Thought To Be Batty

On Thursday, the Duchess of Alba died at the age of 88. María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva -- she had a name that seemed to be almost as long as her list of 57 titles, a fortune that comprised almost half of Spain, and a colourful, thrice-married lifetime of 88 years.

Even as flags flew at half-mast in Seville, Thursday was officially declared "a day of mourning." All day, many across Spain sent tributes. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia called on her family to convey their condolences. On Sunday, she was admitted to the Seville hospital, diagnosed with "pneumonia and possible heart problems," having suffered a stomach virus some days before that, according to thelocal.com.

Earlier in the week, some reports had diagnosed her as "recovering" but on Tuesday, she went home in downtown Seville, Spain, to her graceful Palacio de Dueñas, to join her six children and 64-year-old husband Alfonso Díez. Her death was announced by the Seville Mayor, Juan Ignacio Zoido, on Thursday. Her body will lie in the Andalusian capital and the funeral will be on Friday afternoon, said the town hall sources to Spain's Europa Press news agency.

She was born in Madrid in 1926 and was the 18th Duchess and head of the house of Alba. Her list of 57 titles due to her complex global ancestry was the longest in the world, more than any other person of noble lineage, according to the Guinness World Records. Cayetana de Alba, as she called herself in the first of her two autobiographies, wrote that she had "half a dozen other names and a number of titles too." She acknowledged that they were more titles than any other noble. She was 14 times a Spanish grandee, five times a duchess, once a countess-duchess, 18 times a marchioness, 18 times a countess and once a viscountess, according to Daily Mail.com.She also claimed the title of Duchess of Berwick and was said to be distantly related to King James II, Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Spanish media have assessed that her fortunes are massive---between 600 million Euros and 3.5 billion Euros ($5.0 billion). Her wealth includes castles, palaces, country houses and land everywhere in Spain. The most famous of these is the Liria Palace in Madrid, the official seat of the House of Alba and also the place where she was born. A business paper Expansión recently said that her Liria Palace was adorned with 249 oil paintings by artists including El Greco, Goya, Rubens and Rembrandt, which must have cost her a mini fortune.

Everybody found her batty. Her last wedding at the age of 85, to a Civil Servant who was 24 years younger, caused outrage and anger among her children, who called her husband, Alfonzo Diezz a gold-digger, according to The Guardian. It was the third marriage for the "twice-widowed duchess." The first marriage in 1947, a union with Don Pedro Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artacoz, son of the Duke of Sotomayor, was a grand spectacle, called the "last great feudal wedding in Spain" by the U.K. Telegraph, even more interesting than the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II, which followed one month later. Don Pedro passed away, but Cayetana caused an uproar by marrying a defrocked Jesuit priest who died in 2001.

When she was 87, she released the second volume of her autobiography. She looked back on her life that "hadn't been easy" due to the World Wars and a Civil War. However, the most traumatising experience----which she called the "most difficult task"--- was rebuilding the Madrid family palace!

Interestingly, she had been sent a missive by Pablo Picasso from Malaga, who wanted her to be his "muse", but she just refused, a decision that she did not regret."Being a model is very dull, it's horrible," she said, while looking back at the offer in 2009.

The Duchess had always been a "staunch monarchist." In spite of facing "difficult times," she felt that the Spanish monarchy is fundamental to the continuity of Spain as a nation". She also felt that Juan Carlos was a "great king."

Source: YouTube/Mega Fraternity