The Main Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville is famous for its Royal Weddings. Even today the tradition is maintained that only members of the Royal House or the Greats of Spain can get married in this Main Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville and always with the previous authorization of the Archbishop of Seville.
The last four weddings celebrated in front of the majestic High Altar of this Chapel took place during the XX Century.
María de la Esperanza Borbón-Dos Sicilias
Doña María de la Esperanza Borbón-Dos Sicilias, sister of Doña María de las Mercedes, the mother of King Juan Carlos, married Don Pedro de Orleans Braganza, the Imperial Prince of Brazil in 1944.
María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart
In 1947, the then Duchess of Montoro Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart married Luis Martínez de Irujo in the Main Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville.
When in September 1953, her father died, she became the XVIII Duchess of Alba.
It was her father’s power that overcame the refusal of the famous Cardinal Segura to allow the marriage in the Chapel.
Doña Cayetana always adored the city of Seville and had the whim to get married here. In fact, two of her three weddings were celebrated in Seville.
The cost of the wedding was 20 million pesetas of the time, a real fortune and was described by the international press as “the most expensive wedding in the world”.
Don Carlos Fizt-James Stuart
The first-born son of the Duchess of Alba, Don Carlos Fizt-James Sturat married Matilde Solís-Beaumont , daughter of the Marqueses de la Motilla and 15 years his junior. The wedding took place in 1988. This marriage turned out to be a real failure that ended in divorce.
The Infanta Elena
Probably the most remembered of the weddings that have taken place in the Main Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville was the one of the firstborn of Don Juan Carlos, the Infanta Elena with Don Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada.
It took place on a hot day, in March 1995. The Infanta Elena was the one who decided to marry in Seville to fulfill a promise made to her paternal grandmother Doña María de las Mercedes who although she was born in Madrid moved to live in Seville when she was a child. Here she lived all her youth until the proclamation of the Republic in 1931 forced her to go into exile in France. However, she never lost her ties with the city of Seville.
It was Cardinal Carlos Amigo who celebrated the wedding. In 2010 they were granted a divorce.
Plebeian” weddings
The truth is that other “normal” or “plebeian” couples can also get married in the Cathedral, but not in the Main Chapel.
The Royal Chapel or Chapel of the Virgin of the Kings is one of the most demanded places to get married in Seville, so much so that it is necessary to make the reservation at least one year in advance.
If you liked this article and want to know more about the many anecdotes and curiosities of the city of Seville and its monuments, do not hesitate to contact Showmesevilla.
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