The Duchess of Alba's mother died very young but she left a strong mark on the heart of her daughter, who continues to remember her as a great figure in her life.
The Duchess of Alba of the 21st century is named after her, María del Rosario. It is a tribute that Sofía Palazuelo and Fernando Fitz-James Stuart wanted to pay to Cayetana's mother, María del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, who died when her daughter was still very young, at 33 years old. Her life was brief, but she left an indelible mark on those who knew her, especially on her daughter, Cayetana, whom she always tried to protect.
María del Rosario was born in Madrid in 1900, the only daughter of Alfonso de Silva y Fernández de Córdoba and María del Rosario Gurtubay y González de Castejón, Dukes of Híjar. She received the education of the noble girls of her time: in her house, with wet nurses and "nannies", who taught her languages, art, and music.
She was Dame of Queen Victoria Eugenia and Marquise of San Vicente del Barco, and a central figure in the high society of the time, who accompanied her husband, the Duke of Alba, on almost all of her trips. One of the most remembered of her was the one they made to the United States, in 1924, where they visited Chicago, New York, Washington, and Long Island, a visit that was reflected in "The New York Times".
The wedding of María del Rosario with the Duke of Alba
María del Rosario married Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Alba, on October 7, 1920. It was held at the Spanish embassy in London and the bride wore a mid-calf lace design and a large bouquet with a long veil.
She was barely 20 years old, he was 42 and after the wedding, the couple settled in Madrid, in the Palacio de Liria. Barely a year later, Zuloaga painted the portrait of Rosario, dressed in red, with a black mantilla, rosary, and fan. The image became a symbol of the values of the Spanish woman.
The birth of Cayetana
Six years after the wedding, in 1926, Cayetana, her only daughter, came into the world. The Duchess recalls in her memories that José Ortega y Gasset, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, and Gregorio Maranon were dining at Liria that night and that she was born when they were having liquor.
Then the husbands did not participate in the births. The butler had informed them that the labor had begun some time ago. And then he came back inside to announce that she had been a girl. Her father was glad, but her mother and the rest of her family would have preferred her to be a boy.
Cayetana and the few memories of her mother
However, Cayetana kept very few memories of her mother, many of them from other people and relatives who knew her and talked to her about her. In her memories, the Duchess of Alba remembered, for example, her constant smile on her lips, that she was very pretty, and that this was one of the reasons why the duke fell in love with her.
She was a brunette beauty, with curly hair, with a very cheerful character. I inherited the curls from her, she says. In her privacy, everyone called her Totó. My parents were twenty-two years apart and I have always thought that the joy and sympathy that everyone says my mother had been for him (the duke) was an injection of vitality. I have also inherited a large part of that vitality from her.
The couple had a close relationship with the royal family, which she visited on numerous occasions in exile, after the arrival of the republic. Victoria Eugenia and Alfonso XIII were chosen to be the godparents of Cayetana's baptism.
The portraits that made Rosario famous
Rosario's figure has, somehow, faded. She belongs to an already defunct society. But at the time she was one of the most beautiful and elegant women in Spain. She was photographed, in addition by Zuloaga, who also painted Cayetana as a child and the Duke of Alba, for a session for Vogue USA magazine by Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, one of the great photographers of the time, at the height of Cecil Beaton or Horst P. Horst.
Rosario appears with a lace dress by Coco Chanel, Cartier bracelets, and wavy hair in the water. The report was titled International Woman and was written by the French Duchess Solange d'Ayen. Rosario was one of the socialites of the moment and one of the most respected members of the European aristocracy. She certainly had it all: a happy marriage, a darling daughter, who she came after two miscarriages, and an interesting and rich life. But fate did not respect any of this.
The disease that took Rosario
In 1934, four years after the Vogue story was published, Rosario died of tuberculosis. She spent long periods in a clinic in Switzerland. It was on the way back from one of these trips when a fatal cold ended his life, even though he was fine at the time. Not even all the power of the Duke of Alba could stop the fatal outcome, at a time when infections could be fatal because penicillin was not yet used.
Young María del Rosario spent her last years in her bed and little Cayetana could not even visit her or be close to her, to avoid contagion, which could be sudden. So little she wrote him letters, which traveled from one floor to another in the palace.
"If I narrow my eyes, the first thing that comes to my mind is not very happy situations. My mother is lying in her room, on the bed. I can also catch a glimpse of her in the garden or in the field, but she is always lying down, says Cayetana with teary eyes.
She continues to recount a painful episode: I remember that, on one occasion, I entered her room, wanting to be with her, and suddenly, she took what I thought was a bag that she had on the bed, surely what she found closest to hand, he threw it at me and ordered me to leave his room immediately. Cayetana only understood that much later. After her death, in January 1934, she did not remember anything of her mother's funeral, nor tears in her house.
Death, war, and a girl who needed to be taken care of
Cayetana, just seven years old, lost her mother and two years later the Civil War began. The Palacio de Liria, the family residence, was bombed. The young heir to the Duchy of Alba grew up very close to her father, but she never forgot her mother's smile.
Cayetana was left in the care of her father and her maternal grandmother. Her mother left her several titles: Duchess of Aliaga, Duchess of Híjar, Countess of Palma del Río, Countess of Aranda, Countess of Salvatierra, Countess of Ribadeo, Marquise of San Vicente del Barco and Marquise of Almenara.
