CARMEN RUIZ MORAGAS : SECOND ACKNOWLEDGED MISTRESS OF KING ALFONSO XII : EIGHT YEARS AS LOVERS - LUXURY and VOLATILITY

 

CARMEN RUIS MORGAS

1898 - 1936

 

Image from Wikipedia

Carmen Ruis Morgas was an actress who became more famous as Mistress to the King of Spain than she did her successful acting career. Born in Madrid in an upper middle class family, she began acting at about the age of 20 and was successful on the Spanish stage as well as appearing in Silent Films. She was married in 1919 at about the age of 21 to a bullfighter named Rodolfo Gaona, but the marriage didn't last long - about a year..

This Spanish language article from SPANISH edition of VANITY FAIR magazine, published in 2018, suggests that Carmen was a liberated woman, a feminist, and one who dared break rules large and small. (Therefor not at all like her more private Mistress predecessor, Melanie.) But then what threat could Melanie De Gaufridy De Dortan have been to the Queen since her relationship with the King, Alfonso XII, as evidenced by the birth of their son, Roger, was before his marriage. It depends on if you believe that the relationship continued for some time during his marriage.

REVISTA VANITY FAIR SPAIN; CARMEN MORAGES ALFONSO XII's LOVER - ACTRESS FEMINIST (I've hit the Google Translate option to put it into English and note that the translation isn't perfect.)  I enjoy that Carmen is called a Lover rather than a Mistress. 

The author of this article Pilar Eyre is also the author of a book on Carmen in Spanish Language: It's called CARMEN THE REBEL and no I didn't read it. She says eight years went by before the Queen came face to face with Carmen, and then at the theatre.

Carmen sounds like a spitfire. EXCERPT: She is one of the most distorted figures of her time, a beautiful creature, a charismatic actress who rebelled against her condition as a woman, against her role as submissive wife, illegitimate daughter and lover, with episodes in her life as dark as her marriage to a famous bullfighter, whose most intimate details could be followed punctually in the uncensored newspapers, devoured by a public eager for strong emotions.

"As long as you can't really be, I want to have you to live like a queen," he said, and he, with a lot of money and authority, made it possible.

EXCERPT : They were eight years of romanticism, luxury and splendor, dream trips, a magnificent mansion adorned with the barbarian pageantry of the czar's furniture, a cook on loan from the Duke of Alba, a jeweler full of Cartier jewels... But they were also eight years of anguish due to the social and political vicissitudes of the time they had to live, also full of the jealousy and arguments of two exalted and stormy temperaments. .... Carmen became republican *** …. she died screaming Aflonso!  Alfonso! 

***

Carmen died a painful death of uterine cancer at only thirty-nine years old and her funeral was apparently only attended by her friends from the theatre.  Therefore, she became infamous.

*** for the people

ALPHONSO III's FATHERING.

1905 : Roger - with Melanie De Gaufridy De Dortan married to her husband.

1906 : Alfonso Pio Cristino Eduardo, Prince o Asturias  - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

1908 : Jaime Luitpold Isabelino Enrique - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

1909 : Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugenia - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

1910 : Fernando (stillborn) - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

1911 : Maria Christina Teresa Alejanra - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

1913 : Juan Carlos Teresa Silvestre Alfonso - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

           (the Father of Juan Carlos who became King and abdicated in recent years)

1914 : Gonzolo Manuel Maria Bernardo - with wife Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg

BIG GAP HERE

1929 : Leanodro Alfonso Ruiz Moragus - with Mistress Carmen Ruiz Moragas

____ : Ana Maria Teresa Ruiz Moragas - with Mistress Carmen Ruiz Moragas

NOTE that he abdicated in 1931

NOTE that she died in 1936, leaving two children

NOTE that Alfonso died in 1941

According to Spanish language Wikipedia, Carmen moved on from the King and had another man in her life Juan Chabas, from 1929 to 1936. Once again I see that there is potentially some misinformation about this woman.  While she did not have more children, this would suggest that she was seeing Chabas, who she did not marry, during the time that Leanodro was born. Her last words as reported by author Pllar Eyre would indicate that the King was her true love. Chabas was a republican poet, novelist, journalist - an all around writer - and also a theater critic.

C 2021

Research for this post included numerous genealogy sites and encyclopedia. Again, there is some speculations.

MELANIE DE GAUFRIDY DE DORTAN : THE FIRST MISTRESS OF ALFONSO XIII de BOURBON of SPAIN

BERTHE MARIE MELANIE DE GAUFRIDY de DORTAN

"MELANIE" 

(1876-1937)

Our Mistress of the Month, Melanie de Gaufridy de Dorton was born in 1876 as a French woman in a family entwined with French history.  According to the web site Anciennes familes de Provence, her family was so important that their records go back into the 1600's. Other genealogy sites suggest the families she sprung from were in place as aristocracy further back into Medieval times. Melanie's family is intermarried with others who appear in The Peerage and can be found in European countries other than France as members of the gentry. And so, like other Mistresses we have learned about, while not Royal, she came from a distinguished background and, as was expected, she made a marriage with a notable man.

Melanie married her husband, Philippe de Vilmorin, a famous Botanist and Horticulturist who collected rare plants and began two arboretums that still exist, one in France and another in Belgium, and they had four children. Then she had a son in 1905 who was fathered by the King Alfonso XIII, and she named that son Roger Leveque de Vilmorin. 

However, as the King married his wife on the 31st of May in 1906, he was unmarried at the time. It was she who was already married. Would he have considered marrying her if she were not? Another thing.  He was born in 1886 so this relationship was with an older woman. Older and married and no divorce for Catholics...

It would seem that the King was not one to be faithful to his wife, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg; You know that name and you know this ties the Spanish royal family into the British Royal family and to many Royal families in Europe.  She knew he already had this child when she married him.

There are rumors that other or more children born by Melanie were actually the King's. According to various sources which I can't judge for authenticity, the King was also known to have children with other women he could not marry. The other known Mistress, actress Carmen Ruiz Moragas had two children with him. He is also supposed to have fathered children with maids or nanny's. These children have been referred to in Spain and France as "Royal Bastards." Although that sounds like swearing, in fact this was the correct term for illegitimate children. So for him seven children with Princess Victoria Eugenie and one with Melanie and two with Carmen? Another one or two?

Was the King always a man on the prowl? Was he romantic? Seductive? Could a woman say no and make him go away? Did he feel he had the right as King to fool around? (Probably!)  One thing for sure is that these people lived long before media attention could out them for their personal decisions. Now if you're Royal it's most difficult to be discreet.

I don't have exact answers for you. Walls of silence were long ago put up around the King and Queen of Spain. Books about the King and the family that I was able to find don't mention Melanie. However, it would seem that his own father also had Mistresses and extramatrimonial children.

Roger was born in 1905 when Melanie was about twenty-nine years old. The King was barely out of his teens. It seems the birth falls into that Open Secret category. Since Melanie's parents were Roger de Gaufridy de Dorton and Adelaide de Veronnet ,the de implying ownership of the town, Melanie named her son with the King after her father. 

Did her husband know of the relationship between his wife and the King and that the child was not his? Well, they had another child after this, so they stayed married. All of this is just so Old School Aristocrat.  Affairs are tolerated, if not encouraged, because it's just too much to break up the financial agreements and family. (Divorce is just too modern.) After all it's rather an honor that the Royal himself is interested in your wife. And what about the children? They need their mother. As the mother of six, Melanie de Gaufridy de Dorton is one of the most fruitful Mistresses ever profiled here at Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot. Today she has many descendants - grandchildren and great grandchildren.

King Alfonso XIII was also quite fruitful. This is where the various genealogy sites are not in agreement. It would seem he totaled 10 children - or was that twelve? Did his wife suffer or did she go about her business thinking "it is what it is"? 

Your guess is as good as mine.

C 2021 Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot

All Rights Reserved Including International and Internet Rights

Research for this months posts include items linked to and mentioned, as well as many genealogy sites,encyclopedias.,and articles, some of which were repetitive.