Infanta Eulalia of Spain

Infanta Eulalia, Duchess of Galliera (María Eulalia Francisca de Asís Margarita Roberta Isabel Francisca de Paula Cristina María de la Piedad; 12 February 1864 – 8 March 1958), was the youngest and last surviving child of Queen Isabella II of Spain and King Francisco, and the youngest sister of King Alfonso XII. She authored memoirs that were controversial for their critical perspective and allegations about the political policies of various Spanish and foreign governments.

Eulalia was born on 12 February 1864 in the Royal Palace of Madrid, the youngest of the five children born to Isabella II during her marriage to Francis de Assisi de Borbón, Duke of Cadiz, who survived to adulthood. She was baptised on 14 February 1864 with the names María Eulalia Francisca de Asís Margarita Roberta Isabel Francisca de Paula Cristina María de la Piedad. Her godparents were Robert I, Duke of Parma, and his sister Princess Margherita. In 1868, Eulalia and her family were forced to leave Spain in the wake of the revolution. They lived in Paris, where Eulalia was educated. She received her first communion in Rome from Pope Pius IX. In 1874, Eulalia's brother Alfonso was restored to the throne in place of their mother Queen Isabella II. Three years later, Eulalia returned to Spain. She lived at first in El Escorial with her mother, but later moved to the Alcázar of Seville and then to Madrid.

In May 1893 Eulalia visited the United States; her controversial visit to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago was particularly well documented. She traveled first to Puerto Rico, then to Havana, Cuba, and arrived in New York on 18 May on the Spanish cruiser Infanta Isabel, before making her way to Washington, D. C., where she was received by President Grover Cleveland at the White House. She then proceeded to New York City. Eulalia was later admitted to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution as a descendant of King Charles III of Spain.

Eulalia was the author of several works that were controversial within royal circles, although she never ceased to have frequent contact with her relatives both in Spain and elsewhere. In 1912, under the pseudonym Comtesse de Avila, Eulalia wrote Au fil de la vie (Paris: Société française d'Imprimerie et de Librarie, 1911), translated into English as The Thread of Life (New York: Duffield, 1912). The book expressed Eulalia's thoughts about education, the independence of women, the equality of classes, socialism, religion, marriage, prejudices, and traditions. Her nephew King Alfonso XIII telegraphed her to demand that she suspend the book's publication until he had seen it and received his permission to publish it. Eulalia refused to comply. In May 1915, Eulalia wrote an article about the German Emperor William II for The Strand Magazine. The following month she published Court Life from Within (London: Cassell, 1915; reprinted New York: Dodd, Mead, 1915). In August 1925, Eulalia wrote Courts and Countries After The War (London: Hutchinson, 1925; reprinted New York: Dodd, Mead, 1925). In this work she commented on the world political situation and articulated her belief that there could never be peace between France and Germany. She also made a celebrated observation about Benito Mussolini's Italy by reporting that she crossed the Italian frontier and heard the phrase "Il treno arriva all'orario" [the train is arriving on time], a boast often cited in connection with the Fascist regime at the time. In 1935, Eulalia published her memoirs in French, the Mémoires de S. A. R. l'Infante Eulalie, 1868–1931 (Paris: Plon, 1935). In July 1936, they were published in English as Memoirs of a Spanish Princess, H. R. H. the Infanta Eulalia (London: Hutchinson, 1936; reprinted New York: W. W. Norton, 1937).

On 9 February 1958, Eulalia had a heart attack at her home in Irun. She died there on 8 March and is buried in the Pantheon of the Princes in El Escorial. She was the last surviving grandchild of Ferdinand VII of Spain.