Spanish aristocrat Fernando Fitz-James Stuart welcomes his first child with glamorous wife Sofía Palazuelo and names their daughter Rosario after his late grandmother Duchess of Alba, Spain's richest woman

UK Daily Mail ^ | September 10, 2020 | Stephanie Linning

[C19fan]

Spanish aristocrat Fernando Fitz-James Stuart has welcomed his first child with his wife Sofía Palazuelo two years after their lavish society wedding.

Fernando, 29, Duke of Huéscar and heir apparent of the dukedom of Alba, was by Sofía's side when she gave birth to their daughter Rosario at Madrid's Hospital Nuestra Señora del Rosario.

Further details of the birth, including the date, have not been made public.

The baby was named in honour of Fernando's grandmother, the late Duchess of Alba, María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, who was known as Spain's richest woman.

[C19fan]

The Fitz-James Stuarts are direct descendants of James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick. The 1st Duke of Berwick was the illegitimate son of James II and Arabella Churchill. He went into exile with his father and was a brilliant commander leading armies of Louis XIV during the War of Spanish Succession. He fought against his uncle John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough. There is the rather weird to modern sensibilities battle of Almanza where he an Catholic Englishman led the French Army and the opposing forces were led by a French Huguenot which included British troops.

[coon2000]

I wonder if Laz would hit the grandmother.

[EEGator]

LOL, why can’t people just get old?

[zek157]

Yikes

[certrtwngnut]

I really don’t care about Spanish aristocracy.

[devane617]

News I can use. This reminds me to go back an reread the Maegan Markle nail polish story.

[Chode]

slow news day?

[MichaelRDanger]

‘Seems like a Spanish Aristocrat could find a suitable mate who was less “mannish”?

[MinuteGal]

"I really don't care about Spanish aristocracy"

I do...because I'm a history buff, and history consists of lives of the rich and famous as well as the poor and downtrodden.

I have a friend whose antecedents came from Cuba via Spain...and she very much wants to read this posted tid-bit and thread on Spanish history.

The article's tie-in with painter Goya's "The Naked Maja", a world famous and priceless piece of art, was new to me. There was an affair between the subject of the painting, the 13th Duchess of Alba, and the artist Goya for whom she sat (or reclined, in this case).

This love affair was the subject of a 1958 movie "The Naked Maja" starring Ava Gardner and Anthony Franciosa.

Thanks for posting, C19fan. Some of us like a relief from politics, politics, politics every once in a while. The endless variety of subjects on Free Republic threads makes it the priceless "go-to" that it is.

Leni

[kalee]

She reminds me of Ali McGraw.

[entropy12]

European aristocracy is entrenched in many layers of society versus American society of neuvo rich.

Ava Gardner was the perfect selection to portray the duchess! Her first husband was shorty Mickey Rooney! I remember that because of the comment he had made about being so lucky to be the first man to “possess” Ava.

[entropy12]

May be but way more sex appeal for Ava Gardner.

[entropy12]

[Liz]

Wedding day.

[Bob Ireland]

***"I really don't care about Spanish aristocracy"
I do...***

Especially when they are building an armada! 🚣

[MinuteGal]

LOL !

Leni

[MinuteGal]

That is such a wonderfully-romantic photo.

Reminds me of the marvelous drawings in my childhood book of Grimm's Fairy Tales....and magical stories of the castle, the handsome prince, the beautiful princess, the ugly frog and the magic kiss.

Thanks for posting it. A nice change from looking at photos of such Democrat Political Princes as Upchucky Schumer and Adam Shifty.....not to forget the lovely Princess Nancy Pillosi.

Leni

[flaglady47]

I loved Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the pics in the book. Fond childhood reading memory.

[flaglady47]

Boy, those two brothers really look alike, and their wives look similar to one another too. I can’t help it, I own up to it, I love to read about the history, both current and past, of the royals and their aristocracies, and find it endlessly fun. An escape into the fantasy of the lives of the rich and famous.

Compared to many of their ancestors, today’s royalty is relatively scandal free, well sort of. Queen Elizabeth’s children have provided a lot of cannon fodder for the tabloids. Nowadays, with instant modern media, it’s harder to cover up one’s foibles like the aristocracy of yore who were more able to get away with stuff.

In this Country, our royalty is Hollywood. We act like we are so egalitarian and scorn royalty, as we fought a revolutionary war to get away from it. However, human nature being as it is, we just make up our own royalty, which for many is Hollywood, along with a few political dynasties.

So, some things stay the same as much as we protest against it being otherwise, and that is the human quality of following the lives of the rich and famous that so many of us indulge in, while wishing we could dip a toe into that lifestyle if to the manor we had been born.

In this Country, there still is an aristocracy; we just don’t call it that. The one difference being that if you are a rag to riches person, you can break into the higher echelons of society if you make it big easier than in less egalitarian societies. So we have that.

For years the Kennedy dynasty were snubbed by the East Coast society elite for being too shanty Irish, and they were not accepted into the upper rungs of the society they wished to run in. After all, old Joe Kennedy made much of his money off of “rum running”.

The hoity-toity looked down their aristocratic noses at such lowbrow shenanigans. The Kennedy’s are probably still snubbed in certain snobbish old family circles, I’ll bet. The Kennedy’s will forever have their noses pressed against highbrow society’s windows, looking in. Never quite good enough for aristocratic tastes.