Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg

Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was one of the many women who held the position of Queen of Spain by becoming the wife of King Alfonso XIII. She was a princess of Hesse by birth, and belonged to the Battenberg family , a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt. In addition, she was also part of the British royal family as the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

What Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg did

Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was a woman who managed to get to occupy the position as Queen of Spain and during her reign, she dedicated herself to promoting a large number of charities . He defended the continuity of the dynasty and was characterized by loving fashion and jewelry.

Biography of Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg

Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was born in the United Kingdom , in Balmoral Castle located in Scotland , on October 24, 1887 . She was baptized in the Castle Drawing Room and her godparents were Julia de Hauke , Victoria who was the Princess Royal of the United Kingdom and Elena , as well as her uncle on her father’s side, Luis de Battenberg , her maternal uncle Alfredo the Duke of Edinburgh and Eugenia de Montijo .

The name they gave her had a special meaning, Victoria in honor of her maternal grandmother, Eugenia in honor of her godmother, Julia in honor of her paternal grandmother, and Ena because her parents liked Scottish names. His childhood was developed in the house of Queen Victoria , at Windsor Castle , Balmoral and Osborne . At age six, he had an accident that caused a concussion after falling off a pony.

Death

He died at his home located room in Lausanne one 15 April 1969 due to an illness in his liver that had no cure. After his death, he was buried in the chapel of the Sacre Coeur de Lausanne and 25 April 1985 , his remains were taken to Spain where they rest in the Monastery El Escorial .

Wedding

The ceremony took place in the Church of San Jerónimo el Real located in Madrid on May 31, 1906. It was presided over by Cardinal Ciriaco Sancha , who was the archbishop of the city of Toledo. His groomsmen were María Cristina and the infant Carlos de Borbón-Dos Sicilias . After the wedding, the couple went to the Royal Palace surrounded by thousands of people who had gathered in the streets.

While on the way, they were attacked with a bomb that had been hidden in a bouquet of flowers and that someone had thrown from a balcony. A total of 23 people died due to this fact however the kings were not injured. The attack was perpetuated by Mateo Morral Roca who was later arrested in Torrejón de Ardoz.

Jewels

She always had a special interest in fashion , especially jewelry . In fact, many of her wedding gifts were jewelry. In her travels, she always worried about buying many of them and her husband worried about ordering jewelry. One of her favorites was the fleur de lys tiara , she also had a choker containing a total of 30 diamonds and a chaton necklace .

Physical characteristics

During her heyday, Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was considered one of the most beautiful and coveted princesses in all of Europe , and she was constantly sought after by princes of different kingdoms. His hair was short brown in color, his skin white, his nose well shaped, and light brown eyes.

Personality

Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was characterized by having a regal , straight , elegant and somewhat haughty personality . She loved everything related to fashion and this made her truly happy .

Parents

His parents were Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Henry of Battenberg.

Relationships of Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg

In 1905 , he attended a party that had been organized by one of his uncles in honor of Alfonso XIII of Spain , in the place, the king began to flirt and pretend to the young woman. Alfonso’s mother was opposed to the relationship because she considered him to be of a lower rank and because of the hemophilia offspring in her family. However, they got married on May 31, 1906.

Sons

Together with her husband she had a total of seven children which were:

• Alfonso the prince of Asturias who decided to renounce his rights to the throne in 1933.
• Jaime infante from Spain, who became deaf due to surgery as a child.
• Beatriz infanta of Spain who later became the princess of Civitella Cesi.
• Fernando , who was born still.
• María Cristina infanta of Spain .
• Juan Infante of Spain and Count of Barcelona .
• Gonzalo Infante from Spain who suffered from hemophilia.

Successor

His successor was Sofia of Greece and Denmark who had married King Juan Carlos I and who later became the queen consort of Spain.

Which dynasty did he belong to

By marriage , Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg belonged to the House of Bourbon and by dynasty to the House of Battenberg .

Importance of Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg

Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg was a woman who had a transcendental importance in the formation and improvement of all health systems which were quite deficient when she became queen. It was thanks to her that many charities managed to get ahead and she also focused on helping in the work of various religious orders that dedicated their time to caring for the sick.

It was thanks to her that the Red Cross of Spain decided to found a corps of nurses, just as several countries in Europe had already done, in order to develop different health volunteer functions, that is how she founded the Corps of Ladies. Nurses

Phrases

There are no data on relevant phrases that have been mentioned by Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg.

Curiosities

Some curiosities of Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg were the following:

• Queen María Cristina , Alfonso’s widowed mother, did not see with good eyes that Victoria Eugenia was the bride chosen by her son , this because she considered that she was not royalty due to her father’s dark lineage.
• An assassination attempt , both against her and the king, took place right after the wedding ceremony.
• She was responsible for introducing hemophilia into the Spanish royal family .
• Despite the failure of her marriage and not being the favorite of the Spanish people, Victoria Eugenia continued with her duties as queen, caring for the poor and working in hospitals .
• She and her family were exiled during the Spanish Revolution.

Presence in popular culture

In popular culture, she is remembered as the queen who was also a nurse because she managed to spread the Red Cross throughout the country and created an institution that was very similar to those in other countries. Several books have been written to tell his story , some of them are:

• Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg , a betrayed love of José Infante.
• Ena , the novel by Pilar Eyre.
• Alfonso and Ena, the wedding of the century of Ricardo Mateos Sáinz.