María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart was born on March 28, 1926, at Liria Palace in Madrid, the only child of the 17th Duke of Alba and his wife, Mara del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, 9th Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco. Cayetana, as she was known among her acquaintances, was one of only three women to claim the dukedom of Alba in her own right. When Cayetana's mother passed away when she was eight years old, she inherited the majority of her titles. Her upbringing was reported to be tough because her father relocated her to England to become the Spanish government's ambassador. Cayetana befriended the young Princess Margaret during her time in England.
Cayetana's first marriage, at the age of 21, to Pedro Luis Martnez de Irujo y Artacoz, in 1947, drew widespread attention throughout Europe, and the ceremony was the most sumptuous in the world at the time. Thousands of people filled the streets to watch the Duchess, who donned a pearl and diamond crown and arrived in a horse-drawn chariot at Seville Cathedral.
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| Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, wearing a ballgown and tiara, circa 1947 |
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| Cayetana with her husband, Don Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artázcoz, and their first child, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Huéscar, 1948 |
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| Cayetana in the “Palacio de Liria,” Madrid, Spain, 1966 |
On her visits to Spain, the Duchess was a huge hit on the global social scene, even hosting celebrities like Audrey Hepburn. In 1959, she persuaded Yves Saint Laurent, a French fashion designer, to hold a Dior fashion show from her Madrid mansion. When Jackie Kennedy visited the country, she spent time with the Duchess.
Cayetana's marriage was a huge success, with six children as a result. Pedro, however, died abruptly in 1972, leaving the Duchess distraught. Six years after her first husband died, she married Jesus Aguirre y Ortiz de Zarate, a man 11 years her junior. Friends and family of the Duchess frowned upon her husband, a scholar and former Catholic priest, as their marriage shook Spanish aristocracy.
The Duchess maintained an extremely active social life. She was a fan of flamenco, a traditional Spanish dance, and bullfighting, frequently occupying front row seats at bullfights in her hometown of Seville. There had even been rumors that the Duchess was "more than pals" with a number of attractive matadors throughout the years. Her life, however, took a devastating turn when her husband, Jesus, died in 2001, leaving her widowed for the second time. The majority of people assumed her second marriage would be her final one.
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| Close up of Jackie Kennedy and her hostess, the Duchess of Alba, during Mrs. Kennedy's stay in Spain |
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| Cayetana with her daughter Eugenia in Vila Cañas, Marebella, Malaga, Spain, 1971 |
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| Cayetana in her summer residence in Marbella, 1973 |
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| The Duchess of Alba with Jesus Aguirre, 1973 |
It was widely assumed that the Duchess would spend the remainder of her life alone after her second husband died. All six of the Duchess' children were shocked when she married her third husband, government employee Alfonso Diez Carabantes. Because Alfonso was 25 years her junior, King Juan Carlos openly labeled him a gold digger, wanting to gain access to Cayetana's vast fortune. Hundreds of people gathered outside Cayetana's home to celebrate the new couple, despite the fact that the wedding in Seville was a tiny affair. The Duchess afterwards performed a flamenco dance for her friends outside her palace. The couple was believed to have had a great marriage, despite the fact that the Duchess was no longer the "mover and shaker" of her heyday due to her worsening condition.
Cayetana possessed more titles than anyone else in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records: she was a duchess seven times, a countess 22 times, and a marquesa 24 times. All of Cayetana's Alba titles were passed down to her eldest son, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 14th Duke of Huéscar.
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| The duchess in the garden of the Palace of Liria, 1980 |
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| Cayetana at her daughter Eugenia's wedding in Seville, 1998 |
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| Cayetana and her children Cayetano Martinez de Irujo and Eugenia Martinez de Irujo are photographed in the inner courtyard of the Palacio de Duenas for Vogue Espana on March 15, 2010 in Seville, Spain |
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