Princess Beatrice, Duchess of Galliera

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Today marks the Anniversary of the Death of Princess Beatrice, Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Galliera, who died on this day in 1966. Born Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh as the youngest child of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, only daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, she was the younger sister of Queen Marie of RomaniaGrand Duchess Victoria Melita of Russia, and the Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and was known as ‘Baby Bee’. Spending much of her childhood in Malta until 1893, when Prince Alfred succeeded his childless uncle as the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and she became a Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Edinburgh, residing in Coburg. After a failed romance with her first cousin, Grand Duke Michael of Russia, she married Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera, a first cousin of King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who was married to her first cousin, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, in 1909, though due to her being a Lutheran and him being a Roman Catholic, they weren’t allowed to live in Spain until 1912. The Duke and Duchess of Galliera had three sons, and resided in Spain until they were exiled, this time because she reportedly refused the advances of King Alfonso, going to England for a few years before they were allowed to return and had to flee again a few years later during the Spanish Civil War, when they lost their estate and their second son. Eventually, the Duke and Duchess of Galliera returned to Spain and retired at their El Botánico in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where she died in 1966.

Click HERE to learn about her Fringe Tiara!

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