85 yr Spanish Duchess marries

[sadie1263]

SEVILLE, Spain — Shrugging off her children's qualms and opposition from Spain's royal family, a wealthy, 85-year-old Spanish duchess considered the world's most title-laden noble married a civil servant 25 years her junior on Wednesday, and celebrated by kicking off her shoes and dancing a bit of flamenco.

Waving fans against the hot Andalusian sun, a crowd of several hundred clapped and roared its approval as the Duchess of Alba waved and dance on a red carpet after her wedding to Alfonso Diez at Palacio de las Duenas, her 15th-century residence in the cobblestoned old quarter of Seville.

Known for her cloud of frizzy white hair, squeaky voice and wildly colorful clothes, the duchess is among Spain's most famous people and a mainstay of the nation's gossip magazines. Only a few dozen family members and close friends were invited to the ceremony.

The twice-widowed duchess, a fan of bull-fighting and flamenco, wore a pale pink knee-length dress with a moss-green sash by Spanish designers Victorio and Lucchino. After the ceremony she ventured outside the palace to throw her bouquet of flowers into the crowd and dance in front of a forest of TV cameras.

Her full name — take a deep breath — is Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva. She goes by simply Cayetana, and is a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.

She and Diez, a social security administration employee, are old acquaintances through her second husband, who was a former priest, and Diez's brother. They bumped into each other about three years ago outside a movie theater in Madrid and eventually started dating.

The duchess's six children had been openly opposed to the marriage with 61-year-old Alfonso Diez, with whom she started to step out in 2008, but have softened to the idea following the matriach's move to divide her fortune between them in July.

The wedding plans even met with disapproval from Spain's royal family, although King Juan Carlos has since given his blessing to the couple, the duchess said in a recent interview with news agency EFE.

The duchess's fortune includes ancient palaces throughout Spain, paintings by Spanish masters Velazquez and Goya, and huge stretches of land. Estimates of he wealth range from $800 million to $4.7 billion.

The third woman to hold the title of Duchess of Alba in her own right, the duchess married her first husband in 1947. They were married for 25 years until he died of leukemia.

She walked up the aisle with her second husband, a former Jesuit priest, in 1978. He died after 23 years of marriage. "I am a practicing Roman Catholic; that's why I'm marrying for a third time. Unfortunately my two previous husbands died," she has said.
Alfonso Diez will leave his civil service job following the wedding to live in a 16th century palace in Seville alongside his new wife.

Two of the children did not attend the wedding. The duchess's only daughter, Eugenia, was reported to hospitalized in Madrid with chicken pox, while one of her sons, named Jacobo and reportedly unhappy with his slice of the family fortune, was said to be traveling outside Spain.

[sadie1263]

I think it is very sad that her family was opposed to the whole thing. It seems like there is enough money to go around......and if it makes her happy....why the heck not......it's not like she's bound to have more kids.....lol

But this story made me ask.........(let's take the wads of money out of the deal).......would you approve of one of your parents getting married at that age?

[toby]

Sadie posted.:-But this story made me ask.........(let's take the wads of money out of the deal).......would you approve of one of your parents getting married at that age?


Toby comments.:- I would have no problems with either of my Parents re-marrying at a ripe old age.
I reckon the Lady was lonely and if she is happier getting married, then good luck to her.

[alanseago]

Sadie, Parents do not need their children's consent to marry.

[sadie1263]

I know they don't have to approve or give their consent.....

It just seems that I have run into a few people that were very upset when their parent started new relationships after the death of the other parent.......some were extremely hostile about it......

I fully admit I have both my parents......but I don't believe I would want them to be lonely.......there are certainly things that their family and children can't provide.....so of course they would look elsewhere for that.

[Deleted]

I've heard an awful lot of sad stories about people who marry late in life and die after a short time, leaving all their estate to their surviving spouse. Breaking promises to their late beloved, they then go on to leave the lot to their own kids - as of course they are entitled.

Only the very rich can afford to set up trusts to ensure this doesn't happen.

A man at work was very upset when his step-mother's natural son flew over from Australia for the last few weeks of her life. He and the other step-children had looked after her throughout her second marriage and widowhood and of course they hadn't done this for the money. But when she changed her will to leave the lot to her own son (whom she hadn't seen for years) it hurt.

[sadie1263]

Definitely a lot of stories about people fighting over the assets (even minor ones)......it becomes like vultures circling sometimes........

So is that why so many people take it hard when their elder parents remarry.......or do those feelings just come later?

[Deleted]

With the families I've known it has been less about assets than a sense of betrayal.

Your dad marries late and tells his wife he wants to leave her all his money and that he expects her to pass it on to his children when she dies. She leaves the lot to her own child. She's legally entitled to do it, but morally?

[sadie1263]

Oh....I think that is a huge problem. It should definitely be spelled out in a will. Even if it is just minor assets and keepsakes.

I guess I am just talking more about an older parent becoming involved with another person and the feelings of that.

I think it is very easy for older people to be preyed upon. Some are lonely.....or just still trying to grasp on to something.........so it's always easy to look upon these situations skeptically.........I wonder if it would have been as big of news if the guy was older than her instead?

[Deleted]

I guess it's their own business if they want to get married, but maybe a pre-nup of some kind should be signed first? Would it be legally binding though, in any other place than California? I'm not sure...