Eulalia Spanish

Eulalia was born in the Royal Palace in Madrid and was the youngest child of Queen Isabella II of Spain and her husband, Francis de Bourbon . She was baptized on February 14, 1864 under the name of Maria Eulalia Francis de Asis Margarita Robert Isabella Francis de Paula Cristina Maria de la Piedad . Her godfather was the Duke of Parma, Robert I , and her godmother was his sister, Princess Margaret of Parma.

In 1868, Eulalia and her family were forced to leave Spain because of the revolution. They lived in Paris , where Eulalia received an education. She received her first communion in Rome by Pope Pius IX .

In 1874, the brother of Eulalia became the king of Spain Alfonso XII instead of their mother. Three years later, Eulalia returned to Spain. First she lived in Escorial with her mother, later moved to Alcazar in Seville, and then to Madrid .

On March 6, 1886, in Madrid, Eulalia married her cousin, Infante Antonio de Bourbon, son of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, and his wife, Infanta of Spain, Louise Fernanda . The ceremony was performed by Cardinal Zepherino González Díaz Tuñón, Archbishop of Seville. The wedding was postponed for several months due to the death of the brother of Eulalia, King Alfonso XII . Eulalia and Antonio spent their honeymoon in the Royal Palace in Aranjuez .

Eulalia and Antonio had two sons:

• Alfonso de Orleans and Bourbon (1886-1975)
• Luis Fernando de Orleans and Bourbon (1888–1945)

After the birth of her youngest son, Eulalia began to live separately from her husband. She lived in Spain and Paris, often visited England. In 1908, Eulalia found herself in the center of a scandal over a romance with the French Count Georges Maurice Zhametel, the morganatic spouse of Princess Victoria Maria Mecklenburg-Strelitz .

In May 1893, Eulalia visited the United States , becoming the first member of the Spanish royal family to visit Cuba. She also visited Washington , DC, where she was received by President Grover Cleveland at the White House . Then she visited New York .

Eulalia was the author of several works that were controversial in royal circles.

In 1912, under the pseudonym of the Countess de Avila Eulalia, wrote au fil de la vie, translated into English as The Thread of Life (New York: Duffield, 1912). The book expressed Eulalia's thoughts about education, women's independence, equality of classes, socialism, religion, marriage, prejudice and traditions. Her nephew, King Alfonso XIII, telegraphed her and demanded that she suspend publication of the book until he saw it himself. Eulalia refused to comply.

In May 1915, Eulalia wrote an article about the German Emperor Wilhelm II . The following month, she published Life from the Inside (London: Cassel, 1915; reprinted New York: Dodd, Mead, 1915).

In August 1925, Eulalia wrote “Courts and countries of the world after the war” (London: Hutchinson, 1925; reprinted New York: Dodd, Mead, 1925). In this work, she commented on the global political situation, and the fact that there can never be peace between France and Germany.

In 1935, Eulalia published her memoirs in French, “Memoirs of Infanta Eulalia (1868–1931)” (Paris: Prison, 1935). In July 1936 , they were published in English under the title “Memoirs of a Spanish Princess, Her Royal Highness Infanta Eulalia” (London: Hutchinson, 1936; reprinted New York: V. V. Norton, 1937)

On February 9, 1958, Eulalia suffered a heart attack at her home in Irun . She died there on March 8 and was buried in the Pantheon of Princes in Escorial .