Tragedy of the death of Juan Carlos' brother Alfonso

[rominet09]

And now Elena"s son is at hospital for shooting his foot.....

Originally Posted by JSP

There was never any shroud of doubt that it was anything but an accident.

I've never heard the theory that the CoB was thinking of passing his rights to Alfonsito as he feared that JC was being dominated by Franco.
Besides, the CoB could not jump the succession line as it pleased him.

It was indeed an unfortunate accident, and, on the first line, there is one person to blame:
The Countess of Barcelona.

The Count was a rigid man who had forbidden his sons to play with guns, namely inside the house.
The kids knew that he kept the gun in a locked cabinet and asked their mother the key.
With a certain reluctance, foolishly she agreed, and gave them the key.
While playing with the gun, JC accidentally fired it against Alfonsito.

The Countess was in deep shock when she heard the shot.

Don Juan ran to the room where the little Infant was already dead and made JC sware on the Bible that he hadn't done it on purpose (maybe that's the reason for the story told at the TV doc.).

In a rage, D.Juan left their house, Villa Giralda in Monte Estoril, sat on his car and drove to the cliffs in Cascais - Boca do Inferno "Hell's Mouth" - where he threw the gun to the ocean never to be found.

A couple of days after the funeral, he embarked with some portuguese friends on a yacht and cruised the Atlantic for some weeks.

Meanwhile the Countess was admitted in a psychiatric clinic in Germany as a result of a severe nervous breakdown.

I've often thought of the destiny of the two Infantas on those days, who were left alone, their father at sea, the mother in a psychiatric clinic, one brother dead and the other back in Spain to follow his studies...

José

[Baroness of Books]

What a terrible tragedy for all involved and I can only imagine the far-reaching ramifications of causing your sibling's death. I would think that firearms would be treated with a healthy respect in the SRF and certainly not given to a minor to be handled. And this child is near in age to the Infante Alfonso when the Infante's death occurred.

[An Ard Ri]

March 29th marked the anniversary of the tragic death of HRH Infante Alfonso of Spain in 1956.