Infante Alfonso of Spain

Early life

Alfonso was born in Rome, the youngest son of the Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona and of his wife, Princess Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His godfather was the Infante Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón; his godmother was his father's sister Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain. Within his own family he was called Alfonsito to distinguish him from other family members with the name Alfonso.

When Alfonso was still just a baby, his family moved to Lausanne in Switzerland where they lived in the Villa Les Rocailles. In February 1946 the family moved to Portugal.

In 1947 Alfonso visited Spain for the first time at the invitation of dictator Francisco Franco. In 1950 he and his brother Juan Carlos were sent to study in Spain. At first they lived in San Sebastián where a private school had been established in the Miramar Palace. In June 1954 they were received by General Franco at the Pardo Palace. Later Alfonso and Juan Carlos attended the military academy in Zaragoza.

Death and burial

On the evening of Maundy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Alfonso and Juan Carlos were at their parents' home Villa Giralda in Estoril, Portugal, for the Easter vacation, where Alfonso died in a gun accident. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal issued an official communiqué:

Whilst His Highness the Infante Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received Holy Communion.

Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier on the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. It is alleged that Juan Carlos began playing with a .22 caliber revolver that had apparently been given to Alfonso by General Franco. Rumors appeared in newspapers that the .22 caliber revolver had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.

As they were the only two in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that the pistol was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm causing him to fire the pistol.

It is alleged that Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the children's father had thrown the gun into the sea sometime after Alfonso's death.

The funeral liturgy for Alfonso was held on Holy Saturday and was presided by Monsignor Fernando Cento, Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal. He was buried at the municipal cemetery in Cascais, Portugal. In October 1992 he was re-buried in the Pantheon of the Princes of El Escorial near Madrid.