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The Kings make their entrance in the basilica of El Escorial. EFE

Pilar de Borbón, the infanta born in exile shortly after the Civil War broke out

Pilar de Borbón and King Juan Carlos: a relationship beyond fraternity

On a cold and quite gray morning, almost coinciding with the 50 years of the transfer of the remains of his grandfather, Alfonso XIII, to the pantheon of kings of El Escorial, the funeral for the funeral of the Escorial monastery was held Infanta Pilar. The older sister of Don Juan Carlos, Duchess of Badajoz and Viscount widow of La Torre, died on January 8 at the age of 83 of a colon cancer that was detected in February 2019 and at her wish, her remains do not rest in the pantheon of infants of El Escorial, as it corresponds to his condition, but in the cemetery of San Isidro , in the mausoleum of the Marquises of La Deleitosa, next to her husband, Luis Gómez Acebo, died in 1991 also of cancer.

It was just a few minutes before 12 in the morning when Reyes Felipe and Letizia, he in a dark suit and black tie and she in a black short coat, according to protocol, arrived at the main door of the basilica to preside over the solemn funeral, which he had institutional character Officially, by the military archbishop, Juan del Río, the letter of St. Paul to the Romans has been read and has had music by Mozart and Tomás de Victoria performed by the monarchy of the Monastery. As anecdotal data, it has closed with the soundtrack of the movie The Mission , by Enio Morricone.

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia , after greeting Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands, who was among the attendees, and Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía, were placed in recliners at the main altar. On the other hand, the emeritus monarchs settled in a bank of the first row next to the children of Doña Pilar, while the infanta Elena and Cristina were placed in second row, next to Beatriz de Holanda.

Previously, since about 11.20 in the morning, around 200 attendees had been arriving at the temple, summoned by the head of the Royal House, Jaime Alfonsin. There were the five children of Doña Pilar, Simoneta , already restored from the pneumonia that forced her to enter the clinic La Zarzuela, Juan, Bruno, Beltrán and Fernando , in addition to her daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Also the Infanta Margarita , little sister of the Duchess of Badajoz, with her husband Carlos Zurita .

Outside the family, he highlighted the presence of Carmen Cervera , Baroness Thyssen, who arrived accompanied by former Justice Minister José María Michavila and also her son Borja and daughter-in-law Blanca Cuesta. The baroness had a close relationship with the Infanta Pilar, since Luis Gómez Acebo was one of the architects of the arrival of the Thyssen collection in Spain . The friendship was so close that Doña Pilar's husband was the godfather of Borja at his baptism , celebrated in the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York in 1983. In addition to the former Queen of Holland, Princess Beatriz, Luis Alfonso de Bourbon with Margarita Vargas, Carlos Fitz James, Duke of Alba, Eugenia Martínez de Irujo with her husband, Narcís Rebollo , Pedro de Orleans , Duke of Calabria and her sister, Cristina de Borbón Dos Sicilias , who accompanied her husband Pedro López Quesada , intimate of King Felipe, or Princess Kalina of Bulgaria with her husband, Quitín Muñoz among many others.

In the political sphere, the representation of the Government was headed by the vice president, Carmen Calvo , and the president of the Congress, Meritxel Batet , in addition to the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, and the president of the community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso .

This will not be the last goodbye to the Infanta Pilar, since this Friday, January 31, another funeral will take place in the cathedral of La Almudena organized by the children of the Duchess of Badajoz, open to family and intimates, which is expected to Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía and the infantas Elena and Cristina also attend although the presence of the kings Felipe and Letizia is not confirmed.

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