Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria

by Julia P. Gelardi

  As World War II raged, Ena returned to Lausanne. There, she was joined by her son, Don Juan, and his growing family. Besides Prince Juan Carlos (“Juanito”), Ena’s grandchildren from Juan included Pilar, Margarita, and Alfonso, who brightened their grandmother’s life. The Bourbon family and Queen Ena were very visible residents in Lausanne—the queen in an elegant suite at the Hotel Royal and the Bourbons at a nearby house. Together, they regularly attended eleven o’clock Mass at the Church of Sacré-Coeur in Ouchy each Sunday.

  The queen took a special interest in Margarita and Juan Carlos. Ena tried to help Margarita who was blind. Ena tried to teach her various ways of overcoming her handicap. Like any grandmother, Ena also loved to let her grandchildren get away with harmless infractions that helped endear her to them. Not surprisingly, Ena chose to be called “Gangan” as she herself had called Queen Victoria years before.

  As for Juan Carlos, Ena made a special point of teaching him how to pronounce the Spanish “r.” Recalling the embarrassments she suffered as a foreigner for being unable to speak Spanish with a pure accent, she tried to ensure Juanito would not be saddled with the same problems. In a curious twist, this very English Queen of Spain was instrumental in helping a future King of Spain speak the country’s native tongue. When Juanito studied as a boarder at Fribourg after his parents went to Portugal, the lonely prince was grateful for the weekends spent in the company of Queen Ena, who lived not far away. Years later, King Juan Carlos remembered how lonely he was, but “happily, my grandmother, Queen Victoria, was there to look after me, although I suspect that they told her not to spoil me too much.”14

  Another set of grandchildren on whom Ena doted were Alfonso and Gon-zalo, sons of Infante Jaime, who was divorced in 1947. These grandsons spent prolonged periods in Queen Ena’s company. Aldo Corbani, the queen’s major-domo during Ena’s years in exile, recalled that “these boys were very alone [in relation to their parents] and Victoria Eugenie had them almost always with her. She felt a real passion for them…the Queen lived for her grandchildren and the grandchildren adored her.” But when it came to Jaime’s sons, “more than loving them, she felt sorry for them and protected them.” Corbani served Ena loyally for years; he admired her for her humanity and ability to remain a dignified queen. Years later, Corbani noted that “the Queen was a great lady, a great lady.”15

  But however much Ena adored these grandchildren, there was always a void. Toward the end of her life, Ena permitted a glimpse of this inner agony when she admitted candidly: “The burdens of State, the difficulty of living with a King whose faults were as extreme as his duties were little compared with my grief in losing two sons, the eldest and the youngest. Love rarely dies a sudden death, especially when it is maternal love. And today I am obliged to close my eyes sometimes and try not to remember.” In expressing the greatest heartache that could befall a mother, Ena echoed tragedies shared with Sophie of Greece and Marie of Romania.

  In 1948, Ena purchased a small villa in Lausanne called Vieille Fontaine, roomy enough to house Ena and her small entourage of servants. The design both outside and inside was in keeping with her elegant taste. Visitors were greeted by double front doors decorated with two bronze fleurs-de-lys, symbol of the royal House of Bourbon. Inside, a splendid solid oak staircase dominated the hall. Two magnificent paintings hung as reminders of the two most influential persons in Queen Ena’s long life: in the foyer was a beautiful and detailed painting of her wedding to King Alfonso XIII; and in the library was a portrait of Queen Victoria, the beloved grandmother with whom Ena had spent her childhood years. Surprisingly, there were numerous reminders of Alfonso XIII, from photographs to paintings to miniatures, amounting to more than fifty items. Ena once referred to Alfonso affectionately in these years of exile with the words, “poor, poor King, Always such a gentleman and so good!”17 The passage of time seemed to dim the pain.

  Some of the items Ena had at Vieille Fontaine came back to her years after her exile, thanks to the laborious efforts of British officials in Spain. For it turned out that a mini-battle between Spanish and British officials had taken place, culminating in 1934. As Sir George Grahame, the British ambassador to Spain, admitted, “we have been making [efforts] for over two years to induce the Spanish Government to give up the personal belongings of Queen Victoria Eugenia.”18 So exasperated had Grahame become over the failure of Spanish authorities to act that he made some “astringent remarks” to one senior Spanish official, saying: “You and I are anxious that they should not think in London that, because there is a Republic in Spain, Spaniards have ceased to be ‘caballeros’ and you are running the risk that this impression should get abroad on account of a few chairs, a couple of clocks and a sofa or two.” Grahame admitted that “I showed a good deal of impatience and said that I was inclined to speak and complain of the delays to the President of the Republic.”19 Numerous items were eventually rescued, not just from the palace in Madrid but also from San-tander, thanks to the diligent efforts of Grahame and his staff. The queen wrote to Sir George, telling him of her “grateful thanks…I know only too well how difficult the negotiations must have been with the very trying people now in power.”20

  Ena was always attuned to the political machinations surrounding General Franco and Don Juan and eventually Juan Carlos over the touchy issue of restoration. A concerned Ena watched as Franco and Don Juan continued to remain wary of each other over the years. Both men did, however, agree to having Juan Carlos educated in Spain. The ten-year-old prince was duly shipped off.

  Juanito’s departure meant that his grandmother was deprived of the presence of her favorite grandson. His blond good looks and impish disposition endeared him to nearly all who came into contact with the prince, most of all his doting grandmother. When the time came for Juan Carlos to leave for a new life in Spain, she wrote: “Indeed, it makes me sad to be separated from this grandson who I love so much, but since the moment my son had taken the decision to send him to Spain, I accepted his will without reservation.”21

  Juanito was eventually joined in Spain by his younger brother, Alfonso. In an interesting link with the past, and with their grandmother, the two princes found themselves being schooled in the former palace at Miramar. These two grandsons wrote their Gangan with regularity, much to Ena’s joy. But on 29 March 1956, while on holiday at their parents’ home in Estoril, Portugal, eighteen-year-old Juan Carlos was playing with a revolver: it went off, killing the fourteen-year-old Alfonso. The official version had it that Alfonso accidentally shot himself while cleaning the revolver. Yet another tragedy in the long list that continued to haunt Ena.

  Time did not ease the long-standing fractious relationship between General Franco and the Count of Barcelona, which meant that the issue of the Spanish succession to the throne remained unresolved. Once Prince Juan Carlos came of marriageable age, it became more and more evident that this prince might well have an even greater chance at getting Franco’s nod to be his successor than Don Juan. Queen Victoria Eugenie certainly thought so. She had misgivings about her son, whom she felt “did not demonstrate the willpower necessary for the difficult task of the Restoration. Numerous signs made it seem probable that Doña Victoria Eugenia felt that her grandson Juan Carlos would end up having more possibilities to reign than her son Juan.”22

  In 1962, Juan Carlos married Princess Sofía of Greece. A daughter of King Paul I of the Hellenes, Sofía had been named after her grandmother, Queen Sophie. Victoria Eugenie was more than pleased with this granddaughter of Queen Sophie as Juan Carlos’s choice for a wife and possible future queen. She was full of advice for Sofía and full of stories of her days as Queen of Spain. “She told me,” recounted Queen Sofía years later, “in spite of the difficulties she had with the illnesses of her sons, and with such shifting and revolutionary politics, she had been very happy, very, very happy!, in Spain.”23

  As Ena entered her twilight years, the unending guessing game as to when Franco would name his successor was still
unresolved. Nor was anyone certain who that successor would be. There was Don Juan, and his son, Juan Carlos. There was also the very real possibility that Franco might even choose a Carlist to be the next king. When Ena’s second son, Jaime, suddenly reversed his decades-old renunciation of the throne in 1964, Ena was highly displeased by this development, which threatened to complicate the chances of Juan or Juan Carlos succeeding. She was aware that the crafty Franco might well use this latest turn of events to continue his games. The wily general kept his cards close to his chest and conceded nothing.

  During the 1960s, Ena continued to be generally in good health, despite a lifetime of smoking, a habit she had to let go of in old age. When she celebrated her eightieth birthday in October 1967, the elderly queen was still managing to look as regal as ever. In January 1968 came the exciting news that Princess Sofía had given birth to a baby boy, Felipe. Since Queen Ena was chosen as godmother, the question was, would Franco allow the queen to go to Madrid for the baptism? He did, provided it was to be a private visit. Ena received the news of Felipe’s birth while staying in Monte Carlo. She had become friends with Prince Rainier and particularly with Princess Grace, who sought out Ena for useful advice when she first married into the ranks of royalty. They remained good friends, and Ena often visited the Rainiers in Monaco to escape Switzerland’s cold winters. But on 7 February 1968, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain interrupted her stay on the Côte d’ Azur and headed for a special place. She was driven to Nice airport, where the eighty-year-old queen boarded an Air France jet to Spain to attend the baptism of the Infante Felipe.

  Don Juan wanted to accompany his mother on her historic arrival in Spain. But Ena, whose political antennae had sharpened through the years, thought this move much too political for her taste. She rejected her son’s suggestion, saying firmly, “If I go to Spain, I wish to go alone.”24

  Once on board the plane, Ena could hardly contain her excitement. She asked: “Are we flying yet over Spain?” The Duke of Alba told her they were still over France. Ena asked one of her ladies, “When do I visit the Red Cross?” On Friday, came the answer.25 As the plane flew over Barcelona, champagne was passed round and everyone toasted the moment, not least Queen Ena. When the plane landed at Madrid’s Barajas airport on a cold February day, Queen Ena stepped out to an amazing sight. Thousands of people had come to greet the queen who was stepping onto Spanish soil for the first time in thirty-seven long years of exile. The elderly queen, dressed in a fur coat and matching fur hat, smiled delightedly and waved, then gingerly stepped down the gangway to her awaiting son, Don Juan.

  The exit from the airport in a convoy of cars was reminiscent of her return in April 1931. The queen was mobbed by admiring Spaniards. Even the roof of the airport was brimming with people. Ena could not have anticipated a more rapturous welcome. In many parts of Madrid as she made her way around the capital, crowds of people greeted her. She was impressed by the many changes she saw in Madrid. She asked to travel along the same route that she took on her wedding day. At the Church of San Jerónimo, where she was married, the queen prayed for her husband, and then proceeded to relive that unforgettable day as she passed through Madrid’s streets, including the Calle Mayor where she nearly lost her life when the infamous Mateo Morral threw his bomb.

  Ena visited her beloved Red Cross in Madrid. There the queen saw a large portrait of her dressed as a nurse. People had not forgotten Victoria Eugenie’s significant contribution to the welfare of Spain, and they showed their appreciation by turning up to greet the queen in large numbers.

  The highlight of the visit was the baptism itself. Looking especially elegant in a gold dress, Ena arrived at Juan Carlos and Sofía’s home, the Zarzuela Palace, on the outskirts of the capital. Everyone was riveted by the sight of Queen Ena, who stood proudly carrying her great-grandson, Felipe, as he was baptized. Also present was General Franco. Felipe’s mother, Sofía, remembered how Ena impressed the Generalissimo: “Franco was emotional seeing Queen Victoria Eugenia: he was a sentimental [person]. I was very near him and I saw how his eyes shone.”2 After the ceremony, Queen Ena met with General Franco. Stories have circulated that Victoria Eugenie took the opportunity to confront Franco about the future of the dynasty and said: “You’ve got all three Borbóns in front of you. Decide!”27 But Franco refused to reply. During a particularly emotional cabinet meeting the next year, Franco insisted on naming a successor. Time, after all, was not on his side, as he was already seventy-seven years old. It would be far better for Spain’s future stability to forge on with the law of succession while he was still alive. “Additionally, he claimed that during her visit to Madrid the previous year, Victoria Eugenia had implicitly acknowledged the need to sacrifice Don Juan for the sake of the dynasty”28 This, of course, meant that Queen Ena was paving the way for her grandson, Juan Carlos, to ascend the throne.

  This was not the first time Victoria Eugenie acknowledged that the Count of Barcelona needed to be sacrificed in order to forward the monarchy’s cause. She was said to have passed on a message to Franco that stated: “Though for me the king is Don Juan, we are all old and no one knows what will happen if things are not resolved. The first is Spain, the second the Monarchy, the third the dynasty and the fourth the person. And the prince [Don Juan Carlos] is mature.”29

  Another version of Queen Ena and General Franco’s brief talk at the Zarzuela Palace after the Infante Felipe’s baptism has the two discussing the succession in slightly more detail, though the main points still centered on Ena urging Franco to make a decision soon, to which he reportedly replied: “The wishes of your majesty will be carried out.” This meeting between two historical figures of twentieth-century Spain illustrates that at the end of her life, Ena did not hesitate to intervene politically when it came to the nation’s future. One chronicler of Alfonso and Victoria Eugenie has concluded that “the intervention of the queen on the 8th of February 1968 was significant. Don Juan Carlos was king of Spain because of the steps taken by his grandmother with General Franco. She knew it and said after her visit: ‘Now I can die in peace.’ “30

  When the time came after her four-day visit for Victoria Eugenie to leave Madrid, she was accompanied to the airport by her son, the Count of Barcelona, Prince Juan Carlos, and Princess Sofía. Admiring Spaniards also flocked to the airport by the tens of thousands to say good-bye. It marked a fitting tribute to the woman who had endured so much as their queen. The emotion on Ena’s face the day she left Madrid was evident to all. Barely able to contain her tears, knowing that she would never set foot again in Spain, Ena bravely made her way on board the Iberia jet and left for Nice. It had been an emotional journey from exile to “Viva la Reina!”—a triumphant return at the end of Ena’s life.

  In the spring of 1969, the eighty-one-year-old queen’s health gave cause for concern. Her liver was failing her. Queen Sofía of Spain recalled those days: “My husband loved her madly. I did also. She was Gangan. She was a grandmother. We went frequently to Lausanne, to be near her in the last stage of her illness. She fell into a coma three times. And surprisingly recovered. Up to [the point when] she got up to attend Mass on the Sunday, the last week.”31

  On a spring evening in April 1969, Queen Ena lay dying in her pink and white bedroom at Vieille Fontaine, surrounded by her family. She had already been given the last rites by the priest assigned to the Spanish Mission in Lausanne. As he commended her soul to God, Ena died peacefully just before midnight. It was 15 April 1969, thirty-eight years to the day since Victoria Eugenie fled Spain. In a surprise move, General Franco ordered three days of national mourning and sent his minister of foreign affairs to the queen’s funeral. Three days after her death, Ena’s funeral took place at the Church of the Sacre Coeur at Ouchy where she had spent so many Sundays worshipping at Sunday Mass. Her body was buried at the cemetery of Boix-de-Vaux near Lausanne.

  Queen Ena’s death and funeral in Lausanne in 1969 marks the closing chapter in the stories of five very special granddaugh
ters of Queen Victoria, all of whom had reigned as consorts in the four corners of Europe. They embraced their new lives, adapted, and came to love their new countries and peoples. Condemned and praised, forgotten and famous, these five women can be seen as special legacies of Queen Victoria.

  Raised in an era where responsibility, commitment, sacrifice, and duty before self were elevated as the highest ideals and embodied admirably by their grandmother, Queen Victoria, these royal women approached their roles as consorts for the most part embodying those ideals. It was an ethos best articulated by the indefatigable Queen Marie of Romania, who once wrote: “We are hardly ever arbiters of our own Fate. We must move, do, live, according to our several duties and our own desires and wishes have to be fitted in with what we can do more often than what we desire to do—”32

  Maud of Norway, Sophie of Greece, Alexandra of Russia, Marie of Romania, and Victoria Eugenie of Spain may have been marked out by their illustrious positions and glittering marriages. But it is ultimately their dignity, devotion to duty, strong sense of responsibility, and steadfastness in the face of adversity that distinguishes them and makes their stories both compelling and timeless.

  EPILOGUE

  QUEEN VICTORIA EUGENIE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE HER DEAREST wish come true. But a mere three months after her death, General Franco proclaimed Prince Juan Carlos his successor, paving the way for the monarchy’s restoration. In an interesting twist, a link between Victoria Eugenie of Spain and Francisco Franco took place when Queen Ena’s grandson, Alfonso, elder son of the Infante Jaime, married Franco’s granddaughter, Maria del Carmen, in 1972. When Franco died in November 1975, Juan Carlos ascended the throne as King Juan Carlos I, just as his grandmother had surmised. Juan Carlos has generally been credited with helping to steer Spain successfully from decades of dictatorship under Franco to a democracy. Today, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía enjoy the respect and affection of the Spanish people. The remains of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie were returned to Spain in 1980 and 1985, respectively, and placed in the resting place of Spain’s kings, El Escorial.