Infanta Pilar’s 78th Birthday

Infanta Pilar of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz, Grandee of Spain, Dowager Viscountess de la Torre turned 78 years old on July 30. The Infanta is the elder sister of King Juan Carlos of Spain, and also has a younger sister, Infanta Margarita. She is thus a paternal aunt of the current Spanish King, Felipe VI.

Infanta Pilar was born in Cannes, France in 1936 during the exile of the Spanish Royal Family. Her full name is María del Pilar Alfonsa Juana Victoria Luisa Ignacia y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias. Her godparents included her paternal grandfather, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and her maternal grandmother, Princess Louise of Orléans. The family later moved to Rome before settling at Estoril in Portugal.

There were many rumours that Infanta Pilar might marry King Baudouin of Belgium, but he married a Spanish noble, Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon, instead. Infanta Pilar was a bridesmaid at the 1962 wedding of her brother, Juan Carlos, to Princess Sophia of Greece in Athens.

In May 1967, Pilar married the Spanish noble Don Luis Gómez-Acebo, Viscount de la Torre and went onto have 5 children. Infanta Pilar renounced her rights of succession to the Spanish throne upon her marriage. In 1980, on behalf of the King, Infanta Pilar and her husband attended the investiture ceremony of Queen Beatrix in Amsterdam.

Her husband passed away in March 1991 following a long battle with cancer. From 1994 until 2005, the Infanta was President of the International Equestrian Federation and also a member of the International Olympic Committee for Spain from 1996 to 2006. The Infanta is also the Honorary President of the New Future Foundation.

Most recently, Infanta Pilar attended both the abdication ceremony of King Juan Carlos and the proclamation ceremony of King Felipe VI.

Filed under Spain
Tagged Biography, Birthday, Infanta Pilar Duchess of Badajoz.

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