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Infanta Margarita
Duchess of Soria and Hernani
Margarita with her husband, Carlos, in 2010
Born	(1939-03-06) 6 March 1939 (age 85) Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Spouse	Carlos Zurita y Delgado ​ ​(m. 1972)​
Issue	Alfonso Zurita y Borbón María Zurita y Borbón
Names Margarita María de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón
House	Bourbons of Spain
Father	Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
Mother	Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Spanish royal family
HM. The King HM. The Queen Consort HRH.The Princess of Asturias Infanta Sofía King Juan Carlos I Queen Sofía Extended royal family The Duchess of Lugo Lord Felipe Lady Victoria Infanta Cristina Don Juan Valentín Don Pablo Nicolás Don Miguel Doña Irene Children of the late Duchess of Badajoz: Lady Simoneta Lord Bruno Lord Luis The Duchess of Soria and Hernani The Duke of Soria and Hernani Lord Alfonso Lady María The Dowager Duchess of Calabria
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Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria, 2nd Duchess of Hernani, Grandee of Spain (Margarita María de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón; born 6 March 1939), is the younger sister of King Juan Carlos and aunt of the reigning King Felipe VI of Spain.

Early life

Infanta Margarita was born at Hotel Firenze Anglo American in Rome as the younger daughter of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess Mercedes of the Two Sicilies. Margarita has been blind since birth.

Marriage

She married the physician and aristocrat Carlos Zurita y Delgado on 12 October 1972 in Estoril at St. Anthony's Church. They have two children:

• Don Alfonso Juan Carlos Zurita y de Borbón, Grandee of Spain, born on 9 August 1973 at Virgen de La Palomain Hospital in Madrid.
• María Sofía Emilia Carmen Zurita y de Borbón, Grandee of Spain, born on 16 September 1975 in Madrid. Queen Sofia of Spain was her godmother.

Activities

In 1989, alongside her husband, they created the Fundación Cultural Duques de Soria (The Duke and Duchess of Soria Cultural Foundation). She's also Honorary President of Madrid's delegation of UNICEF and of the Spanish Heart Foundation.

Succession and Grandeeship

Infanta Margarita renounced her right of succession to the Spanish throne upon marriage because it was not a dynastic wedding.

On 6 January 1979, the Infanta's cousin Manfredo de Borbón, 1st Duke of Hernani, died and willed his ducal title to be inherited by Margarita. The King granted this request, and on 27 May 1981, she became 2nd Duchess of Hernani with accompanying dignity Grandee of Spain. The peerage title refers to the town Hernani, Spain. The month after, on 23 June 1981, she was granted a higher dukedom for life by the king and also became Duchess of Soria (referring to the city Soria in Spain).

Honours

National

•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III
•  Spain: 1,192nd Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise

Foreign

• Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia
•  Italy
  • Two Sicilian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Two Sicilian Royal Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
•  Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Henry

Ancestors

References

1. Doña Margot. La Infanta más marchosa
2. "ABC MADRID 13-10-1972 página 35 - Archivo ABC". abc. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
3. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal; Coutant de Saisseval, Guy (2002). Le Petit Gotha. Paris: Laballery. pp. 419–420. ISBN 2-9507974-3-1.
4. Enache, Nicolas (1999). La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg, Reine de Hongrie et de Boheme. Paris: ICC. pp. 532–534. ISBN 2-908003-04-X.
5. (in Spanish) Universidad de Valladolid, Nota de Prensa 09-01-30 (accessed on 11 December 2009) Archived 24 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
6. (in Spanish) Royal Decree 483/2003 The Duchess of Soria and Hernani member of the Spanish Royal Order of Alfonso X. BOE, Spanish Official Journal. (accessed 2 November 2008)
7. Membership of the Constantinian Order Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
8. Portugal State visit to Spain

• 1939 births
• Living people
• House of Bourbon (Spain)
• Spanish infantas
• Blind royalty and nobility
• Spanish blind people
• Spanish royalty and nobility with disabilities
• Nobility from Rome
• Dukes of Hernani
• Dukes of Soria
• Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry
• Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise