Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Maria Cristina de Baviera y Mesia dead at 79

Maria Cristina de Baviera y Mesia, Countess of Odiel, died yesterday at her home in El Viso, Madrid.   She was 79 years old.

Crista was a second cousin of King Juan Carlos.  She was the eldest of four children of Prince José Eugenio of Bavaria, Infant of Spain, and Maria de la Asunción  Solange Mesia y de Lesseps.

Prince José Eugenio was the second son of Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain and Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria in 1906.    Maria Teresa was the second child of King Alfonso XII of Spain.

Following the marriage, Ferdinand was created an Infant of Spain.  He renounced his rights to the Bavarian throne in 1914.   Prince José Eugenio was a Spanish dynast until 1933 when he married Marisol Mesia y Lesseps, who was the Countess of Odiel.

Doña Maria Cristina Paz Teresa Alfonsa Eugenia Rita y Todos los Santos de Baviera y Mesia was born at Paris on February 6, 1935.  She married at Madrid on July 12, 1967 to Don Juan Manuel de Urquijo y de Morales (1937-2002).  The couple had no children.

Crista is survived by her sister, Doña Maria Teresa (Tessa), and several nieces and nephews.  Tessa was traveling in Turkey when she received word of her sister's death.

The funeral was held today at Madrid's Almudena Cathedral.  Infanta Elena, Infanta Pilar, and her daughter, Simoneta, and Infanta Margarita were among the mourners, along with Crista's sister, Tessa.

http://www.elmundo.es/loc/2014/07/07/53bae064268e3e4d288b459b.html

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