Spanish noble Duchess of Alba dies at age 88
Updated: 2014-11-21 10:54
(Xinhua)
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MADRID - The Duchess of Alba, a Spanish noble who is known for having more titles than anyone else on earth, died of pneumonia on Thursday at the age of 88.
Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart had asked to be taken to her home at the Las Duenas Palace in Seville on Tuesday night, according to local media reports.
She had a place in the Guinness Book of Records as having 49 inherited aristocratic titles, more than anyone else in the world, and was a distant relative of people such as King James II of England, Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Diana.
The Duchess of Alba was also extremely wealth, owning a large amount of property, as well as a massive art collection, which featured works by artists such as Spanish greats Francisco Goya and Diego Velazquez, as well as a first edition of Don Quixote and many priceless historic documents, including Columbus's first map of America.
A regular fixture in society magazines, in recent years she courted controversy over her decision to marry Alfonso Diaz, a civil servant 25 years her junior, a choice which was not welcomed by all of her family, although all six of her children and her husband, were at her bedside when she died.
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