Infante Gonzalo of Spain

Infante Gonzalo of Spain (Gonzalo Manuel Maria Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio de Borbón y Battenberg) (24 October 1914 – 13 August 1934) was the fourth surviving son and youngest child of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. He was the youngest grandson of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom.

Infante Gonzalo
Infante Gonzalo (the boy in the middle) with his mother and surviving siblings in 1918.
Born(1914-10-24)24 October 1914
Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain
Died13 August 1934(1934-08-13) (aged 19)
Krumpendorf, Austria
Burial
El Escorial
HouseBourbon
FatherAlfonso XIII of Spain
MotherVictoria Eugenie of Battenberg
ReligionRoman Catholic

Gonzalo was born in Madrid. He was baptized with the names Gonzalo Manuel María Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio. He received his final name in honor of his uncle, Prince Maurice of Battenberg, who was killed in World War I shortly before Gonzalo's baptism. The infante was educated privately. Because he inherited the genetic disorder hemophilia from his mother's family (a fact not widely known in Spain during his life), he suffered some ill health, although he was an active sportsman. He held the rank of a private in the Engineering Corps of the Spanish Army. In 1927 he was made the 1,166th Knight of the Spanish branch of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

In May 1924, nine-year-old Gonzalo inaugurated the Estadio Chamartín, the new football stadium for Real Madrid C.F., kicking the ball of honour and announcing "¡Hala Madrid!."[1]

On 14 April 1931 Gonzalo accompanied his mother into exile. He studied Engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven, instead of at the University of Madrid as originally planned for him.

In August 1934 Gonzalo was spending the summer holidays with his family at the villa of Count Ladislaus de Hoyos at Pörtschach am Wörthersee in Austria. On the evening of 11 August, Gonzalo and his sister Infanta Beatriz were driving from Klagenfurt to Pörtschach. Near Krumpendorf, Beatriz, who was driving, was forced to swerve to avoid a cyclist (the retired jockey Baron Neimans). The car crashed into a wall. Neither Gonzalo nor Beatriz appeared badly hurt, and so they returned to their villa. Several hours later it became clear that Gonzalo had severe abdominal bleeding. Because he had a weak heart, an operation was ruled out. He died two days later. He was the king and queen's second child to die.

Gonzalo was buried in the graveyard at Pörtschach. Later his body was moved to the Pantheon of the Princes in El Escorial.

Ancestry

Heraldry
In uniform of the Guardia Real by Philip de László, 1927
  • Heraldry of Infante Gonzalo of Spain
  • Arms of Infante Gonzalo of Spain
    (1927–1931/1934)

Bibliography
  • "Auto Crash Fatal to Spanish Prince", The New York Times ( 14 August 1934): 7.
  • "Spain to Honor Infante", The New York Times ( 14 August 1934): 7.
  • "Funeral Rites Today for Spanish Prince", The New York Times ( 15 August 1934): 17.
  • "Don Gonzalo Buried in an Austrian Grave", The New York Times ( 16 August 1934): 17.
  • "Spanish Prince Killed", The Times ( 14 August 1934): 12.
  • "Regret in Madrid", The Times ( 14 August 1934): 12.
  • "The Infante Gonzalo", The Times ( 14 August 1934): 13.
  • "The Late Infante Don Gonzalo", The Times ( 16 August 1934): 9.

References
  1. Burns, Jimmy (2012). "11". La Roja: How Soccer Conquered Spain and How Spanish Soccer Conquered the World. Nation Books. p. 86.
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