Infanta María Cristina of Spain

Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain, Countess Marone-Cinzano (María Cristina Teresa Alejandra María de Guadalupe María de la Concepción Ildefonsa Victoria Eugenia de Borbón y Battenberg; 12 December 1911 – 23 December 1996) was the fourth surviving child and youngest daughter of Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and paternal aunt of King Juan Carlos I.

Infanta Maria Cristina

Countess Marone

Portrait by Philip de László, 1927

Born

12 December 1911
Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain

Died

23 December 1996 (aged 85)
Villa Giralda, Madrid, Spain

Burial

Marone-Cinzano Pantheon, Turin, Italy

Spouse

Enrico Marone-Cinzano, 1st Count Marone

(m. 1940; died 1968)

Issue

Donna Vittoria Álvarez de Toledo, Dowager Marchioness of Casa Loring
Donna Giovanna Sánchez-Merlo
Donna Maria Theresa Marone-Cinzano
Donna Anna Alessandra Schwartz

Names
Spanish: María Cristina Teresa Alejandra María de Guadalupe María de la Concepción Ildefonsa Victoria Eugenia de Borbón y Battenberg

House

Bourbon

Father

Alfonso XIII of Spain

Mother

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

Biography

Early life

Infanta Maria Cristina was born at the Palacio Real in Madrid, Spain. The Spanish royal family left the country in 1931, in the face of Republican demonstrations, settling in Paris, before moving to Fontainebleau.

By 1933 King Alfonso and his daughters, the Infantas Beatriz and Maria Cristina, had moved to Rome. Their father warned would-be suitors of the inherent dangers of hemophilia,^{[citation needed]} from which two of the king's sons, Alfonso and Gonzalo, suffered.^{[citation needed]}

Marriage and issue

She renounced her succession rights to the throne of the defunct Spanish crown and, on 10 June 1940, morganatically married Conte Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano (15 March 1895 Turin – 23 October 1968 Geneva) in Rome. He had been created 1st Count Marone-Cinzano on 13 May 1940 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. He was the son of Alberto Marone and his wife, Paola Cinzano. Maria Cristina had one step-son, from Enrico's previous marriage to Noemí Rosa de Alcorta y García-Mansilla (1907-1929):

Don Alberto, 2nd Count Marone-Cinzano (1929-1989); married Donna Cristina, dei Conti Camerana (b. 1935), great-granddaughter of Giovanni Agnelli. Had issue.

The marriage of Maria Cristina and Enrico Eugenio produced four daughters:

Donna Vittoria Eugenia Alfonsa Alberta del Pilar Enrica Paola dei Conti Marone-Cinzano (b. Turin, 5 March 1941) she married José Carlos Álvarez de Toledo y Gross, 6th Marquess of Casa Loring (1929–2000) on 12 January 1961. They have four children and five grandchildren
- Vittoria Eugenia Álvarez de Toledo y Marone-Cinzano, 7th Marchioness of Casa Loring (born 8 October 1961) she married Alfonso Codorniu y Aguilar (born 24 April 1954) on 29 September 1982.
  - Jaime Codorniu y Alvarez de Toledo (born 15 February 1985)
  - Anna Codorniu y Alvarez de Toledo (born 24 January 1987)
  - Carla Codorniu y Alvarez de Toledo (born 5 July 1990)
- Francisco de Borja Álvarez de Toledo y Marone-Cinzano, 9th Count of Villapaterna (born 26 March 1963) he married Jill Schlanger (born 30 April 1957) on 25 July 1993.
  - Daniel Álvarez de Toledo y Schlanger (born 1995)
  - Jacobo Álvarez de Toledo y Schlanger (born 1997)
- Marco Alfonso Álvarez de Toledo y Marone-Cinzano (born 23 January 1965)
- Gonzalo Álvarez de Toledo y Marone-Cinzano (born 1 October 1973)
Donna Giovanna Paola Gabriella dei Conti Marone-Cinzano (b. 31 January 1943) she married Jaime Galobart y Satrústegui (4 February 1935) on 24 July 1967 and they were divorced in 1980. They have one son and three grandsons. She remarried Luis Ángel Sánchez-Merlo y Ruiz (b. Valladolid, 10 October 1947) on 4 August 1989.
- Alfonso Alberto Galobert y Marone-Cinzano (born 12 April 1969)
Donna María Theresa Beatrice dei Conti Marone-Cinzano (b. Lausanne, 4 January 1945), married in Geneva on 22 April 1967 and divorced in 1989 José María Ruiz de Arana y Montalvo (Madrid, 27 April 1933 – Madrid, 30 April 2004), 17th Duke of Baena, 17th Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor, 15th Marquess of Villamanrique, 13th Marquess of Castromonte, 5th Marquess of Brenes, 11th Count of Sevilla La Nueva and 5th Viscount of Mamblas.
- María Cristina Ruiz de Arana y Marone-Cinzano (born 25 March 1968)
- Isabel Alfonsa Ruiz de Arana y Marone-Cinzano (born 17 May 1970)
- Ines Ruiz de Arana y Marone-Cinzano (born 27 December 1973)
Donna Anna Alessandra (Anna Sandra) dei Conti Marone-Cinzano (b. Turin, 21 December 1948) she married Gian Carlo Stavro Santarosa (born 25 May 1944) on 7 December 1968 and they were divorced in 1975. They have two daughters. She remarried Fernando Schwartz y Giron in 1985.
- Astrid Christina Antonia Santarosa (born 24 April 1972)
- Yara Christiane Santarosa (born 29 June 1974)

Death

Infanta Maria Cristina returned to Spain and spent periods of time there, but never lived there permanently. She died in Madrid of a heart attack on 23 December 1996 during a Christmas reunion of the royal family at the Villa Giralda, the residence of her cousin and sister-in-law, the Countess of Barcelona. A funeral service for the Infanta was held in the chapel of the Royal Palace of Madrid on 24 December and a burial service was held on 26 December in the Marone-Cinzano Pantheon in Turin.