On 7 October 1920 he married Maria del Rosario de Silva, 9th Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco (Madrid, 4 April 1900 – Madrid, 11 January 1934), lady of the bedchamber to Queen Victoria Eugenie and sole heiress to the enormous fortune and long list of titles of the house of Híjar as the only child of Alfonso de Silva, 16th Duke of Híjar and her mother María del Rosario Gurtubay, at the Spanish Embassy in London. The two had a single daughter, Cayetana, who inherited all of the family's titles and fortune.
Early years
He carried out his first studies under private tutors, but was later sent to England to study at Beaumont College, followed by Eton. After returning to Spain, he continued with his higher education enrolling in the Universidad Central de Madrid, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in Law.
Diplomatic career
Portrait by Maurice Fromkes, 1925
He served as Lord of the Bedchamber to the young King Alfonso XIII, who had acceded on his birth. In May 1902, royal visitors came to Madrid for the festivities to mark the King's birthday and enthronement. The Duke received the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) from the Duke of Connaught, who was present for the festivities.[9][10]
Between 2 February 1930 and 18 February 1931, Alba was Foreign Minister of Spain. During the Spanish Civil War, the Communists occupied his residence, the Palace of Liria, which his daughter later restored, and they murdered his younger brother Hernando Carlos María Teresa Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó (1882-1936).
Alba became General Franco's official representative in London and opened the new building at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, in June 1936, alongside Alban Goodier S.J., the former Archbishop of Bombay, and the Earl of Oxford.[11] He was still the ambassador there in 1939, when Neville Chamberlain's cabinet formally gave to Franco's Nationalists diplomatic recognition.
The master Soviet spy Kim Philby wrote in his memoir My Silent War that the Spanish diplomatic bag during the Second World War was regularly accessed, "and from it [we] learnt that Alba periodically sent to Madrid despatches on the British political scene of quite exceptional quality. As we had no doubt that the Spanish Foreign Ministry would make them available to the German allies, these despatches represented a really serious leakage. Yet there was nothing that could be done. There was no evidence that the Duke had obtained his information improperly. He simply moved with people in the know and reported what they said, with shrewd commentaries of his own." In fact, King George VI was warned of this possibility in October 1943, as his Private Secretary Sir Alan Lascelles reported in his diary, and advised not to say anything that he did not want to reach the enemy.[12]
^William A. Shaw, The Knights of England, page 425
^"Campion Hall Pages 339-340 A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3, the University of Oxford. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1954". British History Online.
^ Diary entry of 14 October 1943, page 201, "King's Counsellor - Abdication and War - the diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles, edited by Duff Hart-Davis, published 2006
^Royal Collection: Seating plan for the Ball Supper Room
jacobo, fitz, james, stuart, 17th, duke, alba, this, spanish, name, first, paternal, surname, fitz, james, stuart, second, maternal, family, name, falcó, jacobo, fitz, james, stuart, falcó, 17th, duke, alba, 10th, duke, berwick, october, 1878, september, 1953,. In this Spanish name the first or paternal surname is Fitz James Stuart and the second or maternal family name is Falco Jacobo Fitz James Stuart y Falco 17th Duke of Alba 10th Duke of Berwick GE 17 October 1878 24 September 1953 1 was a Spanish peer diplomat politician art collector and Olympic medalist A Jacobite he was the most senior surviving male line descendant of James II and despite having never made a claim he was considered by some as the legitimate heir to the throne of Scotland 2 3 4 5 He was one of the most important aristocrats of his time and held among other titles the dukedoms of Alba de Tormes and Berwick the Countship of Lemos Lerin Montijo and the Marquessate of Carpio He was granted the Order of the Golden Fleece of Spain in 1926 6 The Most ExcellentThe Duke of AlbaGEPhotographed in Real Maestranza de Sevilla uniform 1937Foreign Minister of SpainIn office 30 January 1930 18 February 1931MonarchAlfonso XIIIPrime MinisterMiguel Primo de RiveraPreceded byMiguel Primo de RiveraSucceeded byAlvaro de FigueroaPersonal detailsBornJacobo Fitz James Stuart y Falco17 October 1878Madrid SpainDied24 September 1953 1953 09 24 aged 74 Lausanne SwitzerlandSpouseMaria del Rosario de Silva Duchess of AlbaChildrenCayetana Fitz James Stuart 18th Duchess of AlbaResidenceLiria PalaceMedal recordMen s PoloRepresenting SpainOlympic Games1920 Antwerp Team competitionA close friend and relative of the British royal family he was one of the leading guests at the Wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in 1947 7 Contents 1 Family 2 Early years 3 Diplomatic career 4 Olympic career 5 Honours 6 Titles and styles 6 1 Titles 6 1 1 Dukedoms 6 1 2 Count Dukedoms 6 1 3 Marquessates 6 1 4 Countships 6 1 5 Viscountcies 6 1 6 Baronies 6 2 Styles 7 Coat of arms 8 References 9 External linksFamily EditThe Duke was born on 17 October 1878 in Palace of Liria in Madrid the first son of Carlos Maria Fitz James Stuart 16th Duke of Alba and Maria del Rosario Falco 21st Countess of Siruela Don Jacobo was baptised only a few days after with the name Santiago a variant of Jacobo His godparents were his paternal grandfather Jacobo Fitz James Stuart 15th Duke of Alba and his maternal grandmother Maria del Pilar Ossorio y Gutierrez de los Rios 3rd Duchess of Fernan Nunez 8 On 7 October 1920 he married Maria del Rosario de Silva 9th Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco Madrid 4 April 1900 Madrid 11 January 1934 lady of the bedchamber to Queen Victoria Eugenie and sole heiress to the enormous fortune and long list of titles of the house of Hijar as the only child of Alfonso de Silva 16th Duke of Hijar and her mother Maria del Rosario Gurtubay at the Spanish Embassy in London The two had a single daughter Cayetana who inherited all of the family s titles and fortune Early years EditHe carried out his first studies under private tutors but was later sent to England to study at Beaumont College followed by Eton After returning to Spain he continued with his higher education enrolling in the Universidad Central de Madrid where he obtained his bachelor s degree in Law Diplomatic career Edit Portrait by Maurice Fromkes 1925 He served as Lord of the Bedchamber to the young King Alfonso XIII who had acceded on his birth In May 1902 royal visitors came to Madrid for the festivities to mark the King s birthday and enthronement The Duke received the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order GCVO from the Duke of Connaught who was present for the festivities 9 10 Between 2 February 1930 and 18 February 1931 Alba was Foreign Minister of Spain During the Spanish Civil War the Communists occupied his residence the Palace of Liria which his daughter later restored and they murdered his younger brother Hernando Carlos Maria Teresa Fitz James Stuart y Falco 1882 1936 Alba became General Franco s official representative in London and opened the new building at Campion Hall University of Oxford in June 1936 alongside Alban Goodier S J the former Archbishop of Bombay and the Earl of Oxford 11 He was still the ambassador there in 1939 when Neville Chamberlain s cabinet formally gave to Franco s Nationalists diplomatic recognition The master Soviet spy Kim Philby wrote in his memoir My Silent War that the Spanish diplomatic bag during the Second World War was regularly accessed and from it we learnt that Alba periodically sent to Madrid despatches on the British political scene of quite exceptional quality As we had no doubt that the Spanish Foreign Ministry would make them available to the German allies these despatches represented a really serious leakage Yet there was nothing that could be done There was no evidence that the Duke had obtained his information improperly He simply moved with people in the know and reported what they said with shrewd commentaries of his own In fact King George VI was warned of this possibility in October 1943 as his Private Secretary Sir Alan Lascelles reported in his diary and advised not to say anything that he did not want to reach the enemy 12 After the war Alba s relations with Franco markedly cooled the result of Alba supporting a prompt monarchist restoration much more than Franco Alba was a leading guest at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Duke of Edinburgh 13 Olympic career EditHe won a silver medal in polo at the 1920 Summer Olympics 14 15 Honours Edit1902 Knight Grand Cross Royal Victorian Order 16 1925 Grand Cordon Order of Leopold 17 1926 Knight Order of the Golden Fleece 18 Titles and styles EditTitles Edit Dukedoms Edit 17th Duke of Alba Grandee of Spain 13th Duke of Huescar Grandee of Spain Ceded to his grandson Don Carlos 10th Duke of Berwick Grandee of Spain also English peerage 10th Duke of Liria and Jerica Grandee of Spain 10th Duke of Montoro Grandee of Spain Ceded to his daughter Dona Cayetana 2nd Duke of Arjona Grandee of Spain The Duke of Alba and Winston Churchill his distant cousin during a polo match in Casa de Campo Madrid 1914 Count Dukedoms Edit 11th Count Duke of Olivares Grandee of SpainMarquessates Edit 17th Marquess of Carpio Grandee of Spain 22nd Marquess of Coria 19th Marquess of Ardales Ceded to his sister Dona Sol 19th Marquess of la Mota 19th Marquess of Moya 18th Marquess of Sarria 17th Marquess of Barcarrota 17th Marquess of Villanueva del Fresno 16th Marquess of Villanueva del Rio 15th Marquess of la Albaga 13th Marquess of Eliche 13th Marquess of San Leonardo 11th Marquess of Osera 11th Marquess of TarazonaCountships Edit 21st Count of Lemos Grandee of Spain 21st Count of Siruela Grandee of Spain 19th Count of Lerin Grandee of Spain Constable of Navarre 11th Count of Montijo Grandee of Spain 19th Count of Osorno Grandee of Spain 15th Count of Monterrey Grandee of Spain 13th Count of Banos Grandee of Spain 24th Count of San Esteban de Gormaz 20th Count of Miranda del Castanar 20th Count of Modica Kingdom of Sicily 19th Count of Villalba 18th Count of Andrade 17th Count of Gelves 16th Count of Galve 15th Count of Casarrubios del Monte 15th Count of Fuentes de Valdepero 13th Count of Ayala 11th Count of Santa Cruz de la Sierra 10th Count of Fuentiduena 10th Earl of Tinmouth English peerage Viscountcies Edit 11th Viscount of la CalzadaBaronies Edit 10th Baron Bosworth English peerage Styles Edit The Most Excellent The Duke of Huescar 1878 1901 The Most Excellent The Duke of Alba de Tormes 1901 1953 Coat of arms EditHeraldry of Jacobo Fitz James Stuart y Falco Coat of arms of Jacobo Fitz James Stuart y Falco as Duke of AlbaReferences Edit Obituaries from the Times Newspaper Archive Developments Limited 1951 p 11 Los Angeles Times Duchess of Alba dies at 88 free spirited Spanish aristocrat 20 November 2014 Express The lost Queen of Scotland How the Duchess of Alba could have held the Stuart crown November 20 2014 USA Today Fate of the monarchy unclear in an independent Scotland September 8 2014 El Mundo Cayetana de Alba reina de Escocia un disparate con sentido historico 22 February 2014 Geneall Royal Collection Seating plan for the Ball Supper Room http www senado es cgi bin verdocweb tipo bd HI20 amp PWIndice 4 amp Signatura HIS 0010 05 amp Contenido 1 bare URL PDF No 27440 The London Gazette 6 June 1902 p 3681 William A Shaw The Knights of England page 425 Campion Hall Pages 339 340 A History of the County of Oxford Volume 3 the University of Oxford Originally published by Victoria County History London 1954 British History Online Diary entry of 14 October 1943 page 201 King s Counsellor Abdication and War the diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles edited by Duff Hart Davis published 2006 Royal Collection Seating plan for the Ball Supper Room Sports Reference Olympics Archived 2009 07 04 at the Wayback Machine Jacobo Fitz James Stuart Olympedia Retrieved 27 August 2021 The London Gazette 10 June 1902 p 574 Royal Decree of 1925 Memorial du centenaire de l Ordre de Leopold 1832 1932 Bruxelles J Rozez 1933 Boletin Oficial del Estado BOE 28 May 1926External links EditNewspaper clippings about Jacobo Fitz James Stuart 17th Duke of Alba in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBWSpanish nobilityPreceded byCarlos Maria Fitz James Stuart Duke of Alba1902 1953 Succeeded byCayetana Fitz James StuartDuke of Berwick1902 1953Duke of Montoro1902 1947Duke of Huescar1902 1951 Succeeded byCarlos Fitz James StuartPreceded byEmpress Eugenie Marquess of Ardales1920 1953 Succeeded byJaime de MitjansItalian nobilityPreceded byCarlos Maria Fitz James Stuart Count of Modica1902 1953 Succeeded byCayetana Fitz James Stuart Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jacobo Fitz James Stuart 17th Duke of Alba amp oldid 1132690147, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
