Technically, Alfonso was king before he was born. His twenty-nine year old father, Alfonso XII had died six months previous to his son’s birth. Although his mother, Queen Maria Christina, was pregnant at the time, the sex of the unborn child was unknown. Her daughter, Maria de las Mercedes, was named titular queen until Alfonso’s birth on May 17, 1886.
Infant King of Spain
The infant king was born in the Spanish capital of Madrid and baptized with the formidable name of Alfonso Leon Fernando Maria Jaime Isidoro Pascual Antonio. When his profile appeared on postage stamps for Spain and her colonies in 1889 he became the youngest reigning monarch ever to be portrayed on a contemporary stamp. (See Image 2). His early years were marred by the Spanish-American War with the United States and the resulting loss of the Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Queen Maria, formerly an Austrian Archduchess, was appointed regent until Alfonso’s sixteenth birthday and he assumed control on that date in 1902.
Assassination Attempt
In May 1906, the king married Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenburg a niece of Britain’s King Edward VII. Following the ceremony, as the newlywed’s procession wound through the streets of Madrid, an attempt was made to assassinate the young couple. A bomb exploded narrowly missing the king and his bride but killing or injuring a number of spectators and members of the royal party.
A year later, a successor was born. Named Alfonso Pio Cristino of Spain, Count of Cavadonga, he was followed in rapid succession by five more royal children, two of whom were girls – Jaime, Beatriz, Maria, Juan and Gonzalo – the last being born in 1914.
Miguel de Rivera
Though Alfonso was king, the real power in Spain was in the hands of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Marques de Estella, a military dictator who had served in Spain’s colonial wars. He had risen to power in September 1923 as the result of a military coup.
Rivera had promised to remain in power for only 90 days to give him time to regenerate Spain’s economy and eliminate corruption in high places. He suspended the constitution and established martial law, the conveniently forgot his promise to step down and continued in power.
His efforts to reduce unemployment led to higher taxes on the wealthy and public loans that caused rapid inflation. Nationwide unrest and student protests erupted with the depression. Many wanted to replace the king with a republic.
Rivera was forced to resign in January 1930 when the army announced it would no longer support him. He fled the country and died two months later in Paris.
Alfonso remained on the throne, but Spain’s economy continued to decline. A provisional government was established and elections slated for April 1931. Desperate for change, the Spanish voters gave the republicans a clear majority in the new government to be known as the Second Spanish Republic. King Alfonso lost little time leaving the country. He fled to Rome without issuing a formal abdication.
Spanish Civil War
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Alfonso soon made it plain that his sympathy lay with the Nationalists of Francisco Franco against the Popular Front government. Franco, however, declared that the Nationalists would never support the return of Alfonso. Regardless, the exiled king sent his son, Juan de Borbon, to Spain to assist in the rebellion. He was stopped at the French border, arrested and sent back to France.
Alfonso remained in Rome until his death in February 1941. He did not abdicate until two months before his death, when he left his succession rights to his son. His wife, Queen Victoria, called Ena, died in Lausanne, France in 1969.
Bibliography
Great Contemporaries - Winston Churchill, T. Butterworth, London - 1937
Ena: Spain's English Queen - Gerard Noel, Constable, London - 1985
King Alfonso XIII and His Age - Charles Petrie, Chapman & Hall, London - 1963
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