A Royal Wedding and an Assassination Attempt

"The wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg" by Juan Comba Garcia

The lavish royal wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Ena of Battenberg should have been a grand and festive affair, but it was shattered by fear and death with the attempt to kill the Spanish king.

On May 31, 1906, King Alfonso XIII married Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg , the only daughter of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg. Their marriage was celebrated at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid, Spain.

 Victoria Eugenie first met her future husband King Alfonso XIII of Spain when he made an official visit to the United Kingdom in 1905. Though the Spanish monarch originally had his eyes on Princess Patricia of Connaught, but since the princess seemed not interested on the Spanish monarch, Alfonso, instead when he saw the Princess of Battenberg.

Queen Maria Cristina, Alfonso’s widowed mother, initially frowned upon the idea of Victoria Eugenie being her son’s choice of bride. First, she considered her as a non-royal due to her father’s morganatic lineage, and would rather have Alfonso marry within her family, specifically the Habsburgs of Austria. Second, Princess Eugenie had a 50% probability of being a hemophilia carrier as her mother was a carrier herself and one of her brothers had the dreaded disease, something by which Alfonso was never dissuaded (until later). Third, Victoria Eugenie was a Protestant. The queen, nonetheless, eventually assented to her son.

During the wedding day, the king’s cousin, Princess Pilar of Bavaria, described Madrid as a city that was "a blaze of colour." A host of royalty paraded to the Spanish capital and the wedding was one steeped with pomp, circumstance and deep royal Catholic traditions.

However, one event shattered what should have been a festive affair. After the ceremony, the opulent carriages carrying their royal and aristocratic passengers processed from the monastery to the Royal Palace. The slow pace of the procession meant that the the coach conveying the royal couple came to a standstill.  This is where the climax began. Infanta Pilar narrated:

"Upon the Queen asking why, the King said, 'Probably because of some delay caused by those alighting at the palace; in five minutes we shall be at home.' Almost as he spoe a large bouquet of flowers fell on the sone-paved roadway on the right of the carriage with a fearful noise, an explosion not unlike the discharge of a big gun took place, there was a nauseating smell, a flash of flame, and the royal carriage rocked and swayed in a cloud of black smoke so thick that the King could not see the Queen, who had thrown her head back and shut her eyes so taht for a moment the King thought that she was killed."

Infanta Pilar continued:

"The carriage, pulled by a rearing, maddened horses, plunged forward several yards, then stopped dead. The king, not yet knowing exactly what had happened,leaned out of the window on the left, desiring to allay the terrified confusion of the crow. Them the Count del Gover, and the Equerry  on the duty, Count de Fuenteblanca, both of whom had rushed forward, explained to the King to go on was impossible, as one horse was dead and others wounded. 'Open the door then;  bring the carriage of respect and tell the Queen Mother and Princess Beatrice that we are all right.' The King was perfectly calm and self-controlled, and as is his nature, instinctively took command in the emergency."

 The king immediately assisted Queen Victoria Eugenie, who was in a state of shock but managed to stay calm, out of the carriage, her train and shoes stained with blood. The king attempted to prevent his wife from seeing the ghastly scene of wounded and dead, innocent bystanders who became victims of the attempted regicide.

William Miller Collier, United State Ambassador to Spain, from 1905 until 1909, wrote that that "people cheered [the couple] more fervently than ever, and the young bride from time to time recognized their good wishes by waving her handkerchief." Guests at the reception who proceeded the royal party only knew about the incident when the couple had arrived. They nevertheless maintained calm faces  but the king was "plainly depressed by this blot upon the joyous beauty of his wedding procession."

Dubbed as the "Moral Affair," the attempt at the life of the Spanish king was instigated by Mateu Moral, who desired to foment a revolution. He was staying at a hotel facing the street where the king's carriage passed by and once the carriage stopped due to traffic, Moral threw the floral bouquet out from his hotel room window. The incident claimed the lives of 24 people and served as an introduction to the tumult and major problems that faced King Alfonso's reign.

To learn more about the wedding and assassination attempt on King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie, here are some articles and books that you could read:

• The Wedding of King Alfonso XIII of Spain via Royalty Magazine.
• At the Court of His Catholic Majesty by William Miller Collier. Chicago, A.C. McClurg & Co., 1912.
• Don Alfonso XIII: A Study of Monarchy by HRH Princess Pilar of Bavaria and Major Desmond Chapman-Huston. London, John Murray, 1931.
• Their Majesties as I knew them: Personal Reminiscences of Kings and Queens of Europe by Xavier Paoli and Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. New York, Sturgis and Walton.
• My Royal Clients, by Xavier Paoli and Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1911.
• Royal Romances of To-Day, by Kellogg Durland. New York, Duffield. 1911.