1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Usually, the 3 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:21,159 Speaker 1: Spanish Royal Guard played music during royal proceedings, but on 4 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: May seventeenth, eighteen eighty six, the Palace in Madrid was silent. 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: The guard had been dismissed early that day. Not only 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: was there no music, the royal family had actually ordered 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: that the streets next to the palace be sanded down 8 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: so that passing carriages wouldn't make too much noise. It 9 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: might seem like overkill to change city infrastructure for just 10 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: one day, but the Queen of Spain, Maria Christina of Bourbon, 11 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: wife of King Alphonso the twelfth, was going into labor 12 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: for the birth of her third child, and they didn't 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: want to take any chances. The Bourbons had been struggling 14 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: for more than half a century to produce a male 15 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: heir to the throne. Let's flash back fifty years before 16 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: this silent birth, back to Queen Isabella the Second, who 17 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: was born in eighteen thirty. She was the only daughter 18 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: of King Ferdinand the seventh, but since succession laws prevented 19 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: women from inheriting the throne. Isabella was never supposed to 20 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: rule Spain, but her father never had a son, and 21 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: so to ensure that their bloodline remained in control, the 22 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: king changed the laws at the last minute, making Isabella 23 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: the second the first and only queen regnant in the 24 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: history of Spain, back when she was just three years old. 25 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: As you might imagine, that was a controversial move. The 26 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: late king's brother, Don Carlos, wanted to rule instead of 27 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: his niece. He thought that Isabella's reign indicated that the 28 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: country was becoming too liberal, not just because her father 29 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: had abruptly changed the succession laws on her behalf, but 30 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: also because, as Isabella grew up, she supported Spain separating 31 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: from the Catholic Church and becoming a constitutional monarchy. In 32 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: this political context, Carlos, Isabella's uncle, represented a conservative traditional alternative. 33 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: His supporters, naming themselves Carlists, formed a militant far right 34 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: group that tried to violently overthrow Isabella three times over 35 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: the course of the nineteenth century. While the Carlists did 36 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: not succeed, a group of moderates, frustrated with Isabella waffling 37 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: between liberal and conservative policies, did eventually send Isabella into exile. 38 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: It's never a great sign when a moderate party spearheads 39 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: a coup. Under Isabella, Spain had been a disaster, with 40 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: a huge federal deficit, growing economic inequality, and near constant 41 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: peasant uprisings and civil war. The following king only lasted 42 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: three years before getting fed up by the constant crisses. Meanwhile, 43 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: progressives began wondering if Spain should have a monarchy at all. 44 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy three, after the king stepped down, the 45 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: legislature declared Spain a republic. The problem was that no 46 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: one could agree on how this republic would work. The 47 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: situation was so chaotic that the president left in the 48 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: middle of a workday to go for a walk in 49 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: the park, which turned into him boarding a train to 50 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: Paris and ghosting the Spanish government altogether. So Spain decided 51 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: to give the monarchy thing another try, and they installed 52 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: isabella the second son, Alfonso the twelfth, as king. And 53 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: so now we're caught up after a near century of 54 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: coups and crises and various existential threats to the Spanish monarchy. 55 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: Alfonso the twelfth was king, and he needed to produce 56 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: a male heir as quickly as possible. His first wife 57 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 1: died of typhoid almost immediately after their honeymoon, and he 58 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: proposed to his second wife, Maria Christina, just four months later. 59 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: He didn't seem thrilled about. He allegedly told his closest adviser, 60 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: pepe O Cossio, you don't like her, neither do I. 61 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: After they got married, Alfonso the twelfth and Maria Christina 62 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: had a daughter, much to the court's chagrin. A Frenchman 63 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: in the Royal court sent Maria Christina a letter advising 64 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: her on best practices to conceive a baby boy. He 65 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: included extremely graphic descriptions about what Alfonso and Maria Christina 66 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: should be doing with their genitalia, using a metaphor about 67 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: how the Grand Turk should enter Constantinople. We don't know 68 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: if she took his advice, but either way it didn't work. 69 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: She had another daughter in eighteen eighty two. Worse yet, 70 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: just three years later, Alfonso the twelfth was dying of tuberculosis, 71 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: so he was running out of time to produce a 72 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: male He was well aware of the dire political consequences 73 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: of his death. His alleged last words were the conflict 74 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: the conflict, but there was a glimmer of hope. Maria 75 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: Christina was pregnant six months after Alfonso the twelfth's death. 76 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 1: A cadre of political ministers waited in the palace while 77 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: Maria Christina was in labor. The streets outside the palace 78 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: sanded into silence. Now you understand why they were taking 79 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: no risks with this baby's birth. If Maria Christina had 80 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: a boy, she could keep the monarchy going for another generation. 81 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: If not, Spain might be thrust back into political turmoil 82 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: with no clear path out. Finally, while the nation waited, 83 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: a government official brought out the newborn on a literal 84 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: silver platter with a red velvet cushion. The official removed 85 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: a handkerchief which covered the infant's body and revealed that 86 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: this baby was a boy. Maria Christina named him Alfonso 87 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: the thirteenth, after his late father. With the knowledge that 88 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: this boy would become king, a telegram was sent out 89 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: throughout the nation proclaiming that quote tranquility has been completed 90 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: in all of Spain. This tranquility wouldn't last long. From 91 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: the moment he was born, Alfonso the thirteenth was expected 92 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: to bring together two opposing parties with opposing visions of 93 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: what Spain could be. On the one hand, far right 94 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: groups like the Carlists wanted Spain to remain a conservative, 95 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: Catholic imperial power with a strong monarchy. On the other hand, 96 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: progressives and anarchists wanted to form a more democratic, secular government. 97 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: If Alfonso succeeded in unifying the nation, he would allow 98 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: the Spanish monarchy to survive. Otherwise he would end up 99 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: like his grandmother Isabella the Second, reviled by both the 100 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: right and the left, and cast into exile. The stakes 101 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: were impossibly high for a baby king. I'm Danish sports 102 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. True to the volatile political moment, 103 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,119 Speaker 1: Alfonso the Thirteenth's upbringing at the end of the nineteenth 104 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: century was full of contradictions. He was raised to be 105 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: both spoiled and obedient, mercurial and thoughtful, liberal and conservative. 106 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: The French newspaper Le Figaro described the young king in 107 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty nine as the happiest and best loved of 108 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: all the rulers of the earth. As the future king 109 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: of Spain, he was doated on by the court, especially 110 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: by his aunt Isabel. She lived by the maxim you 111 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: have to do whatever the king orders, and made this 112 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: an official protocol for the court. According to the scholar 113 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: Xavier Cassal's, this culture made the little king a capricious 114 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: and spoiled person who cursed at his family members and 115 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: courtiers if they didn't do what he wanted. But spoiled 116 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: as he might have been, Alfonso was all already feeling 117 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: the pressure to live up to impossibly high expectations. Alfonso 118 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: was in his late father's shadows when he was just 119 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: two years old. The Spanish legislature expressed their desire for 120 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: the little king's upbringing to compensate for the quote immense 121 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: sorrow and anxiety that the nation has felt for the 122 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: death of his august father. So Alfonso's mother, Maria Christina, 123 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: tried to give little Alfonso the same intense military education 124 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 1: that his father had received when he was growing up. 125 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: Little Alfonso the thirteenth got up every morning at seven 126 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: point thirty, took classes, practiced horsemanship, and took bracing walks 127 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: in the mountains before turning to the palace for Tea. 128 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: In the afternoons, he took fencing classes and did military 129 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: training with other aristocrats. With many rifles that fit in 130 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: their small hands. As Alfonso got older, he started playing 131 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: polo against other politicians and ministers, most famously young Winston Churchill. 132 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: But for the most part, according to the politician and 133 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: writer for Nando Soldevilla, it was a highly reclusive life, 134 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: entirely cut off from the people that gave some politicians 135 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: and journalists pause. Alfonso's military education turned him into a 136 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: devout Catholic who loved uniforms and parades. He was becoming 137 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: a relic from the past rather than a progressive monarch, 138 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: all set for the new twentieth century. At the same time, 139 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: Alfonso was just teenager. People's politics evolve a lot over 140 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: the course of their young adulthood. Mine certainly did. I 141 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: thought I knew everything at twenty. Alfonso's mother and his 142 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 1: late father and grandmother were all committed to upholding a 143 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: relatively progressive monarchy, and there was no reason to think 144 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: that Alfonso would do anything much differently. In nineteen o two, 145 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: on his sixteenth birthday, Alfonso officially took the throne, swearing 146 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: to uphold a constitution which was only about a decade 147 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: older than he was. On that day, the streets of 148 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,079 Speaker 1: Madrid looked as though they were out of another era. 149 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: The center of the city had garlands, flags and palm 150 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: fronds flying from the balconies. At night, businesses, ministries and 151 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: wealthy residents paid for electrical lights to illuminate the city. 152 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: At the coronation, Alfonso gave a short, if unremarkable speech. 153 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: He later wrote in his diary, I did not think 154 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: I could take any chances. Now that he was officially king, 155 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: the pressure was on for him to marry and produce 156 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: a male heir of his own. In nineteen o four, 157 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: the Prime Minister of Spain, Antonio Maura, appointed himself Alfonso 158 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: the thirteenth marriage wingman. Even though a Spanish monarch hadn't 159 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,479 Speaker 1: set foot in England for three and a half centuries, 160 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: Maurra had decided that Alfonso's wife should be British, since 161 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: a royal wedding would be a great way to repair 162 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: the relationship between Spain and England. Moreover, England, with a 163 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: relatively able modern monarchy, would be a model for what 164 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: Spain's monarchy wanted to be. The French ambassador to Spain 165 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: said to Maurra, a young English princess would bring here 166 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: the ways of life and the independence of spirit that 167 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: would modify the moreys of a somewhat old fashioned court, 168 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: and so Mara reached out to a few English aristocrats, 169 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: collecting photos of their daughters to present to Alfonso. Mara's 170 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: top picks were Patricia and Victoria Eugenia of Brattenburg, as 171 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: they were quote prettier and more likable than the other candidates. 172 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: Upon visiting England, Alfonso was smitten with the younger Brattenburg 173 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: Victoria Eugenia. Victoria Eugenia, familiarly known as Ina, was blonde, 174 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: with blue eyes and a rosy completion. She was cheerful 175 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: and shy. She was also not quite as taken with 176 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: the young king as he was of her. She acknowledged 177 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: that he was quote very happy, very nice, but that 178 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: he was quote not handsome. She seemed to grow more 179 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: fond of Alfonso over time. In her postcards from nineteen 180 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: oh five to nineteen oh six, she shifts from identifying 181 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: herself as a friend to using the word love to 182 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: address him. Less than a year after they met, they 183 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: were engaged to be wed. There was no reason to 184 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: think that this royal wedding would be any different from 185 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: the coronation, which went off without a hitch. After the 186 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: ceremony at the Royal Monastery of San Geronimo, the royal 187 00:15:55,840 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: procession weaved through the streets of Madrid, with every balcony 188 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: draped with red and yellow cloth meant to represent the 189 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: national flag. But then, as the royal couple's royal carriage 190 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:18,239 Speaker 1: passed the Italian Embassy on Caye Major, a bomb detonated. 191 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: A news crew filming the procession caught the tragedy on film. 192 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: You can see the royal carriage rounding the corner before 193 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: a puff of smoke clouds the screen. The footage cuts 194 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: abruptly to the wreckage. The carriage toppled over the crowd 195 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: desperately trying to escape. The Light from the bomb momentarily 196 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: blinded the couple, but they emerged unscathed. The bomb had 197 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: gone off right between the last row of the carriage's horses, 198 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: between the horses and the carriage where the couple was sitting. 199 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 1: Had it been any closer, it probably would have killed them. 200 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: Not everyone was as fortunate as the royal couple. The 201 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: bomb injured over one hundred people and killed twenty four, 202 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 1: including the guardsman who had been riding right beside Ina. 203 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: Blood soaked the trim of her wedding dress. That's how 204 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: close he was. The couple was ushered into another carriage 205 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: to flee the carnage. They could hear the screams of 206 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: the crowd as they drove away toward the safety of 207 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: the palace. It turned out that this terrorist attack was 208 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: part of a growing anarchist anti monarchy movement centralized in Barcelona. 209 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: The man that threw the bomb was a gaunt cut 210 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: a Line anarchist named Matteo Morale. This wasn't the first 211 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: time he had been involved in an attempt to assassinate Alfonso. 212 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: Just one year earlier, Alfonso had stopped in Paris on 213 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: a diplomatic mission on the way to meet Ena in 214 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,679 Speaker 1: England for the first time. As Alfonso returned from a 215 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: night at the opera, a group of terrorists, which many 216 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: scholars think likely included Moral, detonated a bomb in a 217 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: park nearby, which injured twelve people but didn't hurt the king. 218 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: Right before the royal wedding, Morale had checked into a 219 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: hotel and Caye Mayor, requesting a room overlooking the street. 220 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: He concealed a bomb in a bouquet of flowers and 221 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: tossed it from his window on the third floor as 222 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: the royal carriage passed by. Moral took his own life 223 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: after fleeing the scene, so his exact intentions remain unclear, 224 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: but the terrorist attack seemed more like an expression of 225 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: a vague incoat desire for revolution than part of a 226 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: specific political strategy, and it failed. Alfonso and Enna survived 227 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 1: and would continue to rule over Spain well into the 228 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: twentieth century, but this event was an omen of what 229 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:33,159 Speaker 1: was to come. While Alfonso was taking fencing lessons and 230 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: sending postcards to his English fiance, he was mostly insulated 231 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: from Spain's continued political turmoil. The bombing on his wedding 232 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: day made one thing clear. Alfonso and the monarchy had 233 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: passionate enemies. He may have started out as the beloved 234 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: royal baby, but now he was king and king of 235 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: It's one of the most unstable countries in Europe, and 236 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: all of the fencing lessons in the world couldn't prepare 237 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: him for political chaos to come. The tragedy at Alfonso 238 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: and ENA's wedding became a grim omen for their relationship. 239 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: Under the harsh pressures of royal life, their marriage started 240 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: to sour. The first problem was that Ina didn't seem 241 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: to like Spain very much. She hadn't yet learned Spanish, 242 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: and she seemed baffled by the customs of the Spanish court. 243 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: There weren't any hotels in Madrid where her guests could stay, 244 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: so they had to stay in the houses of random 245 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: officials nearby. The palace had no central heating, which made 246 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: rooms often musty and cold, and Alfonso's secretary was in 247 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: the habit of spitting directly on the floor, which Ena 248 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: thought was disgusting. The second problem came when Ena and 249 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: Alfonso had their first child. Ena, a descendant of Queen Victoria, 250 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: was a carrier for hemophilia, a hereditary disease that can 251 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: cause profuse, sometimes spontaneous bleeding and can prevent blood from clotting. 252 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: Hemophilia generally expresses in men, but is carried by women, 253 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 1: creating potential issues in producing a healthy male air. Starting 254 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh seven, Ina had six children in seven years. 255 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: Her eldest and youngest sons were both hemophiliacs, and her 256 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: two daughters were carriers for the disease, but she had 257 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: two sons which were spared. Alfonso had been aware that 258 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: Ina could be a carrier when they got married, but 259 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: he decided to take the risk. Even so, Alfonso came 260 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: to resent his wife for ruining the clear line of 261 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: dynastic succession and making it harder to marry off their daughters. 262 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: Alfonso wrote in a diary quote, I am not resigned 263 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: to the fact that my heir has contracted a disease 264 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: that my wife's family has brought and not mine. I 265 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: know I'm unfair, I admit it, but I cannot feel otherwise. 266 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: End quote. As the years passed, the couple started to 267 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: see each other less and less. The queen took frequent 268 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,239 Speaker 1: trips to England alone, or left for Malaga with her 269 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: children and her mother and left Alfonso in Madrid. Meanwhile, 270 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: Alfonso's political career was off to a rocky start. His 271 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: new tra during World War One won him praise, especially 272 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: from his old polo buddy Winston Churchill. Because of his 273 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: humanitarian efforts during the First World War, Alfonso became the 274 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: first and only monarch to be nominated for a Nobel 275 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: Peace Prize. Domestically, though, things weren't going nearly as well. 276 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: Alfonso's relationship with Antonio Mara, the Prime minister who acted 277 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: as Alfonso's marital wingman back in nineteen o four, was strained. 278 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: Political unrest exploded in Barcelona as the result of an 279 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 1: anarchist pro republic movement similar to the group that fueled 280 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: the terrorist attack at Alfonso's wedding. After a general strike 281 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: and a series of anti clerical protests, Maurra sent in 282 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: troops who killed one hundred and five for civilians and 283 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:09,159 Speaker 1: imprisoned seventeen hundred. Then Maura executed the beloved anarchist leader 284 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: and educator Francisco ferreer Gardia for spearheading the riots, despite 285 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: having no evidence that actually proved he had spearheaded the riots. 286 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: Maurra lost so much goodwill as a result that he 287 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:32,479 Speaker 1: was forced to resign. With all of this chaos in 288 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: the legislature, Alfonso became a more and more powerful figure 289 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: in Spanish politics. He could dissolve parliament and appoint ministers 290 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: at will, allowing him to manipulate the government from behind 291 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: the scenes. And recall that time in eighteen seventy three 292 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: when Spain had gotten rid of the monarchy and then 293 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: reinstalled a king again. A year later, well when spain 294 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,480 Speaker 1: Yane brought the monarchy back. After that brief hiatus, the 295 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: government gave the king control over the army, so by 296 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: this point Alfonso had the legislature and the military under 297 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: his control, and he was completely rolling back the liberal 298 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: reforms that his grandmother Isabella had set into motion almost 299 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: a century ago. This was exactly what progressives had been 300 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: worried about when Alfonso was an eight year old, receiving 301 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 1: a Catholic military education and learning to use a child 302 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: sized musket. In keeping with his incredibly traditional upbringing, Alfonso 303 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: the thirteenth seemed more enamored with bringing Spain back to 304 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: the past than bringing it toward a better future. It 305 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: turns out the progressives were very, very right to worry. 306 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: When Alfonso had ascended the throne at age sixteen, Spain 307 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: was still thought of as a world power in spite 308 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: of the political turmoil. Domestically, Spain in the nineteenth century 309 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: had a vast empire with strongholds in the Americas, Africa, Asia, 310 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: and the Pacific. But just two years later, at the 311 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: end of the Spanish American War, Spain had lost almost 312 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: all of its colonies. Military leaders who had suffered crushing 313 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: defeats in the Spanish American War wanted to find opportunities 314 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 1: to expand colonial control and regain Spain's former glory. They 315 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: set their sights on Morocco, where Spain already had a 316 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: few military outposts. Conquering Morocco was unpopular among politicians and civilians, 317 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:03,360 Speaker 1: who thought such an invasion would be pointless, expensive and distracting, 318 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: but Alfonso the thirteenth sympathized with the desire to restore 319 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: Spain's imperial dominance. While Alfonso didn't introduce or spearhead the idea, 320 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: as leader of the military, he became the face of 321 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: the movement. The position majorly backfired. A few years into 322 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 1: the attempted conquest, a general had expressed some reservations to 323 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: Alfonso about continuing to advance up the Reef mountains in 324 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 1: northern Morocco. Alfonso assured the general that he shouldn't retreat, 325 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 1: sending him a telegram that said Hurrah for real men. 326 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: The battle that followed was the bloodiest yet, resulting in 327 00:27:53,720 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: the death of three thousand Spanish soldiers. Alfonso was reported 328 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: playing golf in the south of France when someone told 329 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 1: him about the crushing defeat. He allegedly responded goosebumps are expensive. 330 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,919 Speaker 1: That sounds a little awkward translated into English, but he 331 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: was basically calling the soldiers cowards and complaining about the 332 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: financial burden of them being cowardly soldiers, rather than expressing 333 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: concern for the many lives that were lost. This was 334 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: Alfonso the Thirteenth's let them Eat Cake moment, where the 335 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: public tore him to shreds for his callousness in the 336 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: face of tragedy and like, let them eat cake. There's 337 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: actually no proof that Alfonso actually said the phrase that 338 00:28:55,160 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: he became infamous for. According to a French ambassador, Alfonso 339 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: instead complained about being surrounded by chicken brains. But no 340 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 1: matter what he said, Alfonso and the war that he 341 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: came to represent had never been less popular. Parliament began 342 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: an investigation into the Battle of Annual to take the 343 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 1: military to task for the brutal loss. Fearing the consequences 344 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: of that investigation, a high ranking military official named Miguel 345 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: Primo de Rivera staged a coup to overthrow the Spanish 346 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: legislature and set up a dictatorship in nineteen twenty three. 347 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: Alfonso didn't spearhead the coup, but he didn't shut it 348 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: down either. As Primo de Rivera and his army invaded Barcelona, 349 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: Alfonso expressed his support for the new regime and sat 350 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: down with the dictator a few few days later to 351 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: discuss the division of their powers. With that Spain seemed 352 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: further than ever from being a democratic republic, Primo de 353 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,479 Speaker 1: Rivera struck down the constitution that Alfonso had sworn in 354 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: on and completely dissolved the legislature. Spanish politicians, both conservative 355 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: and progressive, had hoped for a day when the constant 356 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: coup that had defined the nineteenth century would finally come 357 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: to an end. Not only did these violent coups continue 358 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: during Alfonso's reign in the twentieth century, but now Alfonso 359 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,719 Speaker 1: was supporting them. That said, there was a way in 360 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: which Alfonso's rule succeeded in modernizing the Spanish government. On 361 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: a trip to Rome, Alfonso made a telling comment to 362 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: the King of Italy. He called Primo dere z Vera 363 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:06,719 Speaker 1: my Mussolini. The comparison was apt. A year before Primo 364 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: derri Vera took control of Spain, Mussolini had staged a 365 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 1: nearly identical coup in Italy, invading Rome with the Italian 366 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: King's blessing, Alfonso was not going to be the harbinger 367 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: of democracy. Instead, he was setting Spain up for a 368 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: different kind of twentieth century government, fascism. Like all attempts 369 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: at establishing a stable government in Spain in the early 370 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 1: twentieth century, Primo de Rivera's dictatorship failed. Primo derri Vera 371 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: promised to bring Spain back to normal, but the economy 372 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: had collapsed, and two unsuccessful coups later, the country was 373 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: still enshambled. Prima der Rivera retired in nineteen thirty and 374 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: Alfonso the thirteenth replaced him with another dictator, Damasco Berenger. 375 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: This time, Alfonso wanted to try to go back to 376 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: how things had been before Primo de Rivera took power 377 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty three. Alfonso aimed to reinstall the constitution, 378 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: set up parliament, and introduce elections back to Spain. Unfortunately 379 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: for Alfonso it wasn't that simple. His attempt to consolidate 380 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: political power over the course of his rule had blown 381 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 1: up in his face. Alfonso naively thought that by exerting 382 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: more and more control over the government, he would be 383 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: able to single handedly bring Spain to a place of 384 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,520 Speaker 1: stability and prosperity, after all, that was his birthright, what 385 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 1: he had been told his entire life that he was 386 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: expected to do. Instead, the more power he took, the 387 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: less institutional support he had for his rule. Without a constitution, legislature, 388 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: or strong centralized government, there were no structures through which 389 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: Alfonso could express or reinforce political power. All he had 390 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: to legitimize his reign. In other words, was the a 391 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: morphous idea that he was a king. As the monarchy's 392 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 1: power shriveled before their eyes, progressives wondered, like they had 393 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: back in eighteen seventy three, whether the monarchy was altogether irrelevant. 394 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: For the first time in fifty years, a republican government 395 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: seemed like a viable option. A coalition of socialists took 396 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 1: advantage of the opportunity and planned a municipal election in 397 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one, where the public would vote on whether 398 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: or not Spain should have a monarchy. After counting the 399 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: results of the referendum, they found that forty one out 400 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: of fifty provinces voted to install a republic, ending Alfonso's rule. 401 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 1: Alfonso fled the country That very night. Alfonso met up 402 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,799 Speaker 1: with his wife and seven children in Paris, where he 403 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: tried to make amends for having not quite been a 404 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 1: family man. But after just a few days of living together, 405 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:39,320 Speaker 1: Ena was fed up with Alfonso. Everything he did got 406 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: on her nerves, from his lack of interest in reading 407 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: or music to his bad breath. Finally, she told him, 408 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: I'm leaving. I don't want to see your ugly face anymore. 409 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,839 Speaker 1: Ena left for London, and the two would never live 410 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: in the same city again. So here he was, Alfonso 411 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 1: was alone, stripped of his power and unwelcome in the 412 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: country he had devoted his life to. In a twisted way, 413 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: Alfonso succeeded in bringing about a constitutional democracy by running 414 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,800 Speaker 1: the monarchy into the ground. That said, while the monarchy 415 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:25,799 Speaker 1: itself had dissolved, the symbolic role that Alfonso had been 416 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 1: expected to play didn't. In the nineteen thirties, many people 417 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: still longed for a military hero that would save the country. 418 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 1: It was the same thing the nation had longed for 419 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: when Alfonso was born, a symbol of the greatness of 420 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:47,880 Speaker 1: their nation incarnate in a single person. But this time 421 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:57,320 Speaker 1: that figure wouldn't be a king. He would be a fascist. 422 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,479 Speaker 1: After three year years of civil war, Francisco Franco came 423 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: into power in nineteen thirty nine, officially establishing fascism in Spain. 424 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: Franco and Alfonso the thirteenth were politically aligned. Franco started 425 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,880 Speaker 1: out his military career fighting to conquer Morocco in the 426 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, one of Alfonso's pet projects. Franco became the 427 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:29,520 Speaker 1: youngest officer to be promoted to general, and he credited 428 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:35,280 Speaker 1: that war with his political awakening, But in practice, Franco 429 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:41,240 Speaker 1: and Alfonso were, if you forgive the term, frenemies. Franco 430 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: called himself a royalist and aligned himself with conservatives who 431 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,839 Speaker 1: believed in the divine right of kings. Franco had a 432 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 1: long cordial correspondence with Alfonso the thirteenth, who was in exile, 433 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: where Franco assured him that he would restore the monarchy eventually, 434 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 1: but behind Alfonso's back, Franco talked about Alfonso as a 435 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: relic of yesteryear and a political liability. After a few 436 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:17,000 Speaker 1: years of Franco stringing him along, Alfonso realized that Franco 437 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: was never going to restore his power. He officially abdicated 438 00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:28,120 Speaker 1: the throne in nineteen forty one, while Franco called himself 439 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:32,600 Speaker 1: a royalist. He had one issue with the monarchy. It 440 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: prevented him from achieving absolute power, so he stripped the 441 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: monarchy for parts and reconstructed it to justify his dictatorship. 442 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,560 Speaker 1: He moved into the Royal Palace and wore the captain 443 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: general's uniform, just like Alfonso had. He conducted official business 444 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: under a canopy, as if he were sitting on a throne. 445 00:37:56,080 --> 00:38:00,160 Speaker 1: He created coins with his face on them, embossed with 446 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:05,640 Speaker 1: a title usually reserved for kings. Francisco Franco Leader of 447 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: Spain by the grace of God. Like Alfonso, Franco did 448 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: not create a system of government that could survive him. 449 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: He kept his promise of reinstating the monarchy, albeit decades later. 450 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: Franco decided that after his death, Alfonso the thirteenth grandson, 451 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,440 Speaker 1: Juan Carlos the First, would be the king of Spain, 452 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: and Juan Carlos remains the king in Spain to this day. 453 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 1: Alfonso's legacy is a complicated one. While you could probably 454 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,240 Speaker 1: correctly argue that Alfonso opened the door for fascism in Spain, 455 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: what makes his legacy so complicated is that he didn't 456 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:56,920 Speaker 1: actually do that much. He had an ambiguous role in 457 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 1: the political crisises that defined his rule, like the war 458 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 1: in Morocco and the series of dictatorships that started with 459 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:08,840 Speaker 1: Prima der Rivera and ended with Franco, but it's hard 460 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:13,480 Speaker 1: to know exactly how much responsibility to ascribe to Alfonso. 461 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:18,920 Speaker 1: Alfonso did not unify Spain, but he also didn't destroy it. 462 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: Seeing this as a success or a failure reveals much 463 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: more about what we expect of monarchs, especially monarchs in 464 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:34,719 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, than anything specific about Alfonso or his decisions. 465 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:40,759 Speaker 1: Alfonso's story lays bare the power of these expectations for 466 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 1: the monarchy. Nostalgia for the old Spain, as well as 467 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: the hope that a single person might fix a whole 468 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:55,319 Speaker 1: country buoyed Alfonso's rule through decades of turmoil, but it 469 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,279 Speaker 1: also created such a high bar that he could never 470 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:03,040 Speaker 1: live up to it. Franco exploited those dreams of unification 471 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 1: in order to remake the monarchy in his own image, 472 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 1: and these romantic visions of history, of dynastic power and 473 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:18,480 Speaker 1: nationalism still keep monarchy alive in the twenty first century. 474 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:24,120 Speaker 1: Alfonso the thirteenth reminds us that monarchy is not inevitable. 475 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:28,279 Speaker 1: It needs us more than we need it, and being 476 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 1: a good king requires more than doing nothing, but letting 477 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,839 Speaker 1: people grow accustomed to the feeling of a single nationalist 478 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:49,040 Speaker 1: hero who takes care of everything. That's the story of 479 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:53,240 Speaker 1: Alfonso the Thirteenth. But stick around after a brief sponsor 480 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,319 Speaker 1: break to hear how Alfonso actually inspired a writer to 481 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,920 Speaker 1: create the Spanish tooth fairy. Oh, this is a left 482 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:08,120 Speaker 1: turn from fascism, but it's a great story. In eighteen 483 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,160 Speaker 1: ninety four, when Alfonso the thirteenth was just eight years old, 484 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,799 Speaker 1: he lost his first tooth. This may not seem like 485 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,719 Speaker 1: a big deal, but this is the boy king we're 486 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:25,280 Speaker 1: talking about. So to celebrate the occasion, Alfonso's mother, Maria Christina, 487 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:30,560 Speaker 1: commissioned the writer Luis Coloma to write a story. Colomba 488 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:35,000 Speaker 1: seemed like a slightly unusual choice for the role. He 489 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: was a Jesuit priest who at the time was most 490 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,759 Speaker 1: famous for writing and explosive novel that satirized the Spanish 491 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:48,200 Speaker 1: upper class. But Maria Cristina was familiar with him from 492 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: his time as a spiritual advisor to the crown, and 493 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 1: he had already tried his hand at writing a book 494 00:41:55,560 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 1: of children's stories, Coloma decided to base his story on 495 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:04,560 Speaker 1: a folk tale that had been circulating orally throughout Spain 496 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:09,280 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century about a clever mouse that leaves 497 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 1: a coin under a child's pillow in exchange for a 498 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:18,120 Speaker 1: lost tooth, just like the Tooth fairy. Coloma named his 499 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 1: mouse Rotancito Perez and set the story in Madrid, on 500 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 1: the streets surrounding the palace so the environment would feel 501 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:32,680 Speaker 1: familiar to the young Alfonso. Rottancito Perez lived with his 502 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: family in a cookie box from the famous Very Real 503 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:41,560 Speaker 1: Prost Confectionery, which was just a few blocks away from 504 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:46,200 Speaker 1: the palace and frequently supplied sweet treats to the young king. 505 00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:50,840 Speaker 1: The story tells of a boy king named King Bubby, 506 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:56,319 Speaker 1: Bubby being Maria Christina's nickname for Alfonso, who loses his 507 00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:00,400 Speaker 1: first tooth. While the court suggests that they the guild 508 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,960 Speaker 1: of the Tooth and save it in the royal treasury, 509 00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: the king's mother has Bubby write a letter to Rotencito 510 00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:12,400 Speaker 1: Perez just like any normal child would do. So he 511 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:16,319 Speaker 1: does just that and stays up late, hoping to meet 512 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:22,400 Speaker 1: the mouse himself. Sure enough, Rotencito Perez arrives wearing tiny 513 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:26,480 Speaker 1: gold glasses and a straw hat. The two become best 514 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: friends and go on an adventure, leaving coins for children 515 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:35,920 Speaker 1: across the city and avoiding Madrid's most notorious cats along 516 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:40,839 Speaker 1: the way. This is where Luis Colomba's sharp criticism of 517 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:47,560 Speaker 1: the Spanish bourgeoisie ultimately emerges. Rottencito Perez takes King Bobby 518 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:52,560 Speaker 1: to both rich and poor households, explaining to him that 519 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,880 Speaker 1: as king he must use his wealth and power to 520 00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:01,480 Speaker 1: improve the lives of those less fortunate than him. The 521 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:05,160 Speaker 1: tale was published in a collection of children's stories in 522 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:09,440 Speaker 1: nineteen o two, and the tradition of leaving a tooth 523 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:15,520 Speaker 1: under one's pillow for Rottencito Perez spread throughout Spain as 524 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:20,120 Speaker 1: well as Central and Latin America. There is a bronze 525 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:24,959 Speaker 1: plaque on Kye RNL in Madrid, marking the spot where 526 00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:30,000 Speaker 1: Rottencito Perez was said to live, the only time the 527 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:42,560 Speaker 1: Madrid City Council has officially recognized a fictional character. Noble 528 00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:47,040 Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild 529 00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:51,239 Speaker 1: from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is created and hosted by 530 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:57,719 Speaker 1: me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, 531 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:02,560 Speaker 1: Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is 532 00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima Il Kahali, 533 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:12,799 Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Manke, 534 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:18,160 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 535 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:23,200 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 536 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:24,280 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.