Cheers for Alfonso as his daughter weds

January 14, 1935

Infanta Beatriz of Spain was married today to Prince Alessandro Torlonia, a member of the Italian nobility.  The wedding, as described by the Associated Press, "was the cause of an enthusiastic royalist demonstration" for the exiled Spanish king.

Twice, during the ceremony at the Jesuit Church of Jesus, "amid scenes of regal splendor, the throngs of royalists attending the wedding cheered vociferously for former King Alfonso."  Many threw kisses at the ex-ruler.
Beatriz's mother remained at her London hotel, and did not attend the wedding.  Unconfirmed rumors "have said that the two are estranged" and may seek a divorce.

More than 2500 Spaniards attended traveled a thousand miles to honor Alfonso and Infanta Beatriz with "a prolonged ovation time after time."
Infanta Beatriz's "simple, almost severe, white satin gown" was trimmed with white ermine, as was the long train.  She wore an orange blossom cornet in hair, the orange blossoms were brought fresh from Valencia, Spain.  The coronet was fastened to a tulle veil.   Beatriz's only piece of jewelry was a necklace of pearls that once belonged to her grandmother, the late Queen Maria Cristina.

The Roman Catholic service was conducted by Pedro Carindal Segura y Saenz, the exiled primate of Spain.  King Vittorio Emanuele and Queen Elena of Italy sat in the front row, along with other members of the Italian royal family.  Members of the Bavarian,  Orleans, Braganza, Greece and French royal families were in attendance, along with a "sprinkling of Habsburgs."

After the ceremony, Infanta Beatriz and Prince Alessandro were received by Pope Pius in "a twenty-minute audience."

The couple are spending their first night together at Frascati in the Alban Hills. Tomorrow they will leave by train for London to visit Beatriz's mother, Ena, before sailing to America for their honeymoon.  Prince Alessandro's mother, Elsie, is American.

King Alfonso's gift to the newlyweds was a "diadem, collar and pendant of black pearls" that once belonged to Empress Maria Theresia of Austria and  later to Alfonso's mother, Maria Cristina, who was born an Austrian archduchess. 

Another diadem, collar and bracelet, "set in aquamarine," was given to the bride by Queen Elena.   Princess Torlonia gave her her daughter-in-law a "jeweled spray."