06/10/2011 11:14
85-year-old Duchess of Alba married a civil servant
One of Europe's wealthiest aristocrats, the 85-year-old Duchess of Alba, wedded a civil servant 24 years her junior in a Seville palace on Wednesday after overcoming opposition from her children and Spain's royal family, the Reuters reports.
Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, who has more titles than Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, wore a salmon-colored dress with a moss-green sash by Andalusian designers Victorio & Lucchino.
The twice-widowed duchess, known for her love of flamenco dancing and bull-fighting, ventured outside the palace to greet well-wishers after the ceremony. She threw her bouquet of flowers into the crowd and danced flamenco in front of a forest of TV cameras.
The duchess's six children had been openly opposed to the marriage with 61-year-old Alfonso Diez, with whom she started to step out in 2008, but have softened to the idea following the matriarch's move to divide her fortune between them in July.