Tens of thousands of mourners packed Seville’s Gothic cathedral and lined nearby streets on Friday for the funeral of Spain’s flamboyant Duchess of Alba, the world’s most-titled aristocrat.
People from all walks of life applauded as her casket draped with the red-and-yellow Spanish flag and the coat of arms of the House of Alba made its way through the streets of the southern city to the cathedral.
“She was a generous person, who helped the needy, noble of heritage and noble of heart,” Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, the Archbishop of Seville, told the congregation.
Photo: EPA
Known for her frizzy hair and bohemian dress style, the duchess — whose full name was Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva — died at her Duenas Palace in Seville on Thursday at the age of 88 after being hospitalized with pneumonia.
She last came to international attention in 2011, when the twice-widowed noble danced flamenco at her wedding to her third husband, Alfonso Diez, a civil servant 25 years her junior, who she married despite objections from her six children.
Tales of her antics and levity amid the confines of high society filled the pages of gossip magazines and endeared her to Spaniards, who dubbed her the “rebel noble.”
“I do not know whether I was able to tell you how much I love you, loved you and will always love you,” read a message by her husband on a wreath of roses that adorned the iconic aristocrat’s coffin.
Her widower and six children were joined by King Felipe VI’s sister Princess Elena and Minister of Defense Pedro Morenes at the funeral service, which was broadcast live on television.
The aristocrat’s casket was put on display on Thursday in Seville’s town hall and more than 70,000 relatives, public officials and ordinary Spaniards filed past, city officials said.
The duchess’ remains were cremated and her ashes placed in one of the cathedral’s side altars, dedicated to Cristo de los Gitanos, or Christ of the Gypsies — a patron saint of flamenco dance.
Her principle title was Duchess of Alba de Tormes, but she had more than 40 others due to a complex series of marriages by her ancestors, which made her the noble with the most officially recognized titles in the world, according to Guinness World Records.
Her eldest son, Carlos Martinez de Irujo, Duke of Huescar, now becomes head of the five-centuries-old House of Alba, one of Europe’s oldest noble families, with her other titles divided up among her heirs.
Just before her third wedding, the aristocrat divided up much of her estate — reputedly worth between 600 million and 3.5 billion euros (US$743 million and US$4.3 billion) — among her five sons and one daughter.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of