Spain’s most well-known and richest aristocrat, the Duchess of Alba, has died at the age of 88 in Seville.
Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, who is said to be worth $3.8 billion, passed away on Thursday November 20, at her 15th century residence, Duenas Palace, after contracting pneumonia, according to reports.
Her third husband, Alfonso Diez Carabantes, a civil servant 24 years her junior whom she married in 2011 to the horror of her children, was by her bedside.
The day after her death, relatives, dignitaries and members of the public gathered at Town Hall to pay their respects to the flamboyant billionaire.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the duchess told The Olive Press that ‘She had suffered a stomach virus a few days earlier but had recovered from it. Now she has pneumonia. At her age, one thing leads to another.
Family, friends and the public gather to pay their respects to the Duchess of Alba.
“She is weak. We are worried because we love her very much.”
Meanwhile, the mayor of Seville, Juan Ignacio Zoido took to twitter to share a heartfelt message.
“Cayetana always had Seville in her heart and for this reason she will always remain in Seville’s heart. May she rest in peace,” he tweeted.
Famed for her free-spirited and eccentric lifestyle, the frizzy white-haired royal was laid held more than 40 noble titles in her time, including duchess seven times over, a countess 19 times and a marquesa 23 times.
The Duchess of Alba flemenco dances beside her husband after their wedding in 2011.
As Spain’s most famous figures and as head of the 530-year-old House of Alba, the much-loved grandee is a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth, but – it is said – she is more “noble.”
So much so, that according to protocol the duchess was not required to kneel before the Pope, and some genealogists even believed that the Queen must bow to her.
The twice-windowed Duchess leaves behind six children.
