María Cristina de Borbón–Dos Sicilias y su nieto el rey Alfonso XII

Abstract

María Cristina de Borbón–Dos Sicilias and her grandson, King of Spain Alfonso XII

The article presents the cordial relations between Maria Cristina de Borbón–Dos Sicilias and her grandson, since 1874 King of Spain, Alfonso XII. It focuses on the truth, forgotten by historians, about a human side of Reina Abuela. The main attention is centered on a specific game played by Maria Cristina with her grandson and members of his family, in which both an intention for the Bourbon restoration in the person of Alfonso XII and a consolidation of his rule played a special role. The authors also mention two visits to her grandson in Spain, especially we are interested in Maria Cristina’s arrival in Madrid in 1878, on the occasion of the wedding of Alfonso XII with his cousin Maria de las Mercedes, and the attitude of the former queen and regent to this controversial relationship.