MADRID: She rules over one of the world’s most breathtaking fortunes, but is giving up a large part of it for the sake of love.
Spaniards knew the 85-year-old Duchess of Alba was independent-minded, but her romance with a minor civil servant 25 years her junior has nevertheless taken the country by surprise.
The 18th Duchess of Alba heads an aristocratic dynasty the origins of which go back to the 12th century.
Known as Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, her full name is Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva. She is said to have more titles than Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, including 18 titles of marquess and 20 titles of countess.
The duchess is so wealthy she could cross Spain through her properties, the legend goes.
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart owns not only land, but also about a dozen palaces filled with priceless art works, jewellery and objects.
Cayetana, as she is often called, has six children from her first marriage to aristocrat Luis Martinez de Irujo, who died in 1972.
Six years later, she wed former Jesuit priest and intellectual Jesus Aguirre – an unconventional choice for a duchess at the time.
Aguirre died in 2001 and now, an even less orthodox type of man has entered Cayetana’s life. The Spanish public had never heard of social security official Alfonso Diez, 60, until he started appearing with the duchess in media images.
Pictures and footage taken in 2008 showed Diez pushing Cayetana in a wheelchair, at a time when there was concern about her health.
A member of an ordinary family from the northern city of Palencia, Diez – who refuses to give interviews – reportedly met the Alba family through his brother, who is an antiquities merchant.
He made friends with Cayetana and Jesus Aguirre, and reportedly loved the duchess in silence for 30 years.
Diez’s declarations of love did not convince the duchess’s children, who vehemently opposed her plans to marry the civil servant. Even King Juan Carlos allegedly intervened to prevent the marriage.
“(The children) do not want me to marry, but they change partners more often than I do,” Cayetana complained. Five of her six children are divorced.
Now, however, the duchess seems to have a found a way to tie the knot with Alfonso Diez.
She will give her five sons and one daughter their inheritance in advance – including palaces, land and housing for rent – in order to dissipate their concern that Diez is after her fortune.
The duchess’s eldest son Carlos, the Duke of Huescar, will get overall control of the family fortune after Cayetana passes away.
The exact value of the Alba fortune – partly managed by a foundation – is not known. Estimates put it at between e600 million and e3.5 billion (R6.13bn and R35.8bn).
Despite such details, the duchess believes Alfonso’s love is sincere. He even signed a document renouncing any claim to her wealth.
“All he wants is me,” Cayetana said. – Sapa-dpa