Spain's richest duchess dies aged 88
BBC
The Duchess of Alba, Spain's
richest woman and one its most eccentric figures, has died aged 88 in Seville.
Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart had more
titles than any other aristocrat and owned palaces and an extensive property
portfolio as well as paintings by Goya and Velazquez.
She died at home on Thursday after a short illness.
The duchess is survived by her husband of three years,
Alfonso Diez, who is 24 years her junior.
The Duchess of Alba was the head of one of Spain's
oldest noble families.
She was the world's most titled person, according to Guinness World Records. She was five times a duchess, 18 times a marchioness, 18 times a
countess, 14 times a Spanish grandee and once a viscountess.
The duchess was a regular in Spanish gossip magazines
and was famous for hosting Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy on their visits to
Spain.
In 1959, she turned her palace in Madrid over to French
designer Yves Saint Laurent for a Dior fashion show.
One of the more memorable images from her latter years
came when she flung off her shoes to perform an impromptu flamenco dance before
a crowd of photographers and guests at her third wedding in 2011.
"Together we have a wonderful time," her
husband Alfonso Diez said in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.
"It often seems that I'm the older of the
two," he said.
Her wealth, estimated at between €600m (£380; $753m)
and €3.5bn, is expected to be shared among her six children.