When Alfonso was still just a baby, his family moved to Lausanne in Switzerland where they lived in the Villa Les Rocailles.[3] In February 1946, the family moved to the Portuguese Riviera.[4]
In 1947, Alfonso visited Spain for the first time at the invitation of caudilloFrancisco Franco. In 1950, he and his brother Juan Carlos were sent to study in Spain.[5] At first, they lived in San Sebastián where a private school had been established in the Miramar Palace.[6] In June 1954, they were received by General Franco at the Pardo Palace.[7] Later, Alfonso and Juan Carlos attended the military academy in Zaragoza.[8]
Death and burial
Coat of arms of Infante Alfonso
On the evening of Maundy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Alfonso and Juan Carlos were at their parents' home Villa Giralda in Estoril, Portugal, for the Easter vacation, where Alfonso died in a gun accident. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal issued an official communiqué:[9]
Whilst His Highness the Infante Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received Holy Communion.
Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier on the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. It is alleged that Juan Carlos began playing with a .22 caliberrevolver that had apparently been given to Alfonso by General Franco.[10][11] Rumors appeared in newspapers that the .22 caliberrevolver had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.[12]
As they were the only two in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that the pistol was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm causing him to fire the pistol.[13][14]
The funeral liturgy for Alfonso was held on Holy Saturday and was presided over by Monsignor Fernando Cento, Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal. He was buried at the municipal cemetery in Cascais, Portugal. In October 1992, he was re-buried in the Pantheon of the Princes of El Escorial near Madrid.
^Preston, Paul (2004). Juan Carlos: A People's King. London: HarperCollins. ISBN9780002556323. Pronto se revelaría que ese Jueves Santo, Juan Carlos había matado a su hermano Alfonso, de catorce años, de un disparo en la frente, con su revólver calibre 22 que le había regalado Francisco Franco. Para la fecha de la tragedia, el futuro rey de España contaba con dieciocho años de edad y un año de instrucción militar en la Academia General Militar de Zaragoza
The generations indicate descent from Carlos I, under whom the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united, forming the Kingdom of Spain. Previously, the title Infante had been largely used in the different realms.
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