HRH Infanta Doña Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz has died at the age of 83. The older sister of former King Juan Carlos & oldest member of Spanish Royal family had been hospitalized with severe bronhitis on January 5 (her brother's 82nd birthday) before her condition deteriorated. The princess succumbed to the illness at ~14:00 of January 8, 2020, with her immune system weakened by colon cancer she was treated for in past year; her surviving siblings, brother & sister (Infanta Margarita) visited her in the last hours.
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| Former Queen Sofia visits Infanta Pilar hours before her death |
Doña María del Pilar Alfonsa Juana Victoria Luisa Ignacia y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón was born on 30 July 1936 in Cannes, France. Her parents, former Spanish Infante Juan (1913-1993), Count of Barcelona (third son & heir of exiled King Alfonso XIII) & Princess Maria de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1910-2000), had married in 1935. She had three younger siblings: Juan Carlos (b. 1938), Margarita (b. 1939) & Alfonso (1942-1956).
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Infanta Pilar (far right) with her future husband (far left) &
The Sovereign Princely Couple of Monaco between them |
Pilar grew up in exile in Italy, Switzerland & Portugal, under the strong guidance of her father, who wanted his children to restore monarchy in Spain. She attended school at Estoril (Portugal) & took courses at a nursing school in Lisbon. Receiving a proper aristocratic education for the time, she was involved in music, sports, charities, & spoke four more languages apart her native Spanish. Her parents wished to arrange a dynastical marriage for her eldest child with one of Europe's monarchs - like King Baudouin of Belgium, who married Fabiola de Mora y Aragón in 1960.
Doña Pilar met her future husband, Luis Gómez Acebo - Duke of Estrada, 2nd Viscount of La Torre - in ~1965 at the home of their joint cousins, former Tsar (King) Simeon II of Bulgaria & 'Tsaritsa' Doña Margarita (nee Gómez-Acebo). She married him on 5 May 1967 at Jerónimos Monastery in Portugal. This marriage (to a non-royal) was considered as morganatic, and thus Pilar renounced her potential rights of succession should monarchy be restored (that actually happened in 1975, with her brother succeeding dictator Francisco Franco as King Juan Carlos I). Louis & Pilar had five children, born between 1968 & 1974. He died of lymphatic cancer in 1991. Pilar lived to see 11 grandchildren from all her children.
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With her husband Don Luis (1934-1991) & their five children:
Simoneta (*1968), Juan (*1969), Bruno (*1971),
Beltrán (*1973) & Fernando (*1974) |
Pilar was granted the title of Infanta (used to determine the status of Spanish monarchs' legal children) in 1987, although her father gave up his claim in favor of Juan Carlos ten years earlier. A great admirer of sports & riding, she served as President of International Equestrian Federation from 1994 to 2006, being also a honorary IOC member for Spain (1996-2006). Dona Pilar also supported numerous charities related to children, sponsored to cultural heritage organisations & attended bullfights with great enthusiasm.
In her later years, the infanta became a loving epicentre of her family. She liked family gatherings & her 80th birthday in 2016 was celebrated with a large reunion of three generations of Bourbóns in Palma de Mallorca. Her Royal Highness was moreover known for her simplicity & down-to-the-earth approach of ordinary people & media. To the latter, she even didn't hesitate to respond directly about issues that concerned her (including claims of her nephew, current King Felipe VI being mistreated by them).
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| Attending bullfight with her brother Juan Carlos (2/06/2019) |
Infanta Pilar - the pillar of her family's union - continued her public appearances even after revealing her serious dicease last May - & despite some series of hospitalizations since then. She was last seen attending a bullfight by the side of her brother King Juan Carlos on 2 June 2019, the latter's last public engagement before retirement from public life, 5 years on day after he announced his abdication.
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| Pilar's brother & sisters-in-law visit her 'funeral home' 8/01/2020 - evening |
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| Tsar Simeon II & 'Tsaritsa' Margarita |
Her death at Madrid's Ruber International Hospital, though imminent, was met with deep outpouring of saddness from the entire Spanish Royal family. The same (Wednesday) evening, a wake for the deceased at her residence, was attended by her siblings, Sovereign nephew & nieces, their children & more close friends, with royalty & nobility included. Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha & 'Tsaritsa' Margarita (who recently had turned 85) joined them the next morning (January 9), when Pilar's flag-drapped coffin was moved to a funeral chapel for a short service, before it was cremated. Her ashes were laid to rest the a day later next to her husband in Saint Isidore cemetery, in absolute privacy.
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| King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia & Infanta Pilar's son Fernando (left) |
Usually members of Spanish Royal family are buried in a royal crypt at El Escorial. Here, a more noticed official funeral mass will take place in her memory within the next few weeks/month(s). It is expected that even more royals will be gathered than those who bade her last week's emotional farewell.
Pilar (1936-2020) inherited her husband's titles & was also known as (Dowager) Viscountess de la Torre. The Duchy of Badajoz was symbolically confered upon HRH before her wedding by her father.
A previous dedication to Pilar's younger sister's 80th birthday, last year:
& links with further, relative information:
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