Spain's richest woman, the Duchess of Alba, dies at 88


The Duchess of Alba, the richest women in Spain and a longstanding fixture on the gossip pages, died Thursday in Seville following a short illness. She was 88.
Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuary was a member of one of Spain's oldest noble families, with an estimated wealth of at least $753 million. Known as the "rebel noble," she owned masterpieces, loved flamenco, let Yves Saint Laurent use her home for a Dior fashion show, and turned down Picasso's request to be his muse.
The Guinness World Records says she was the most titled person: As the BBC reports, she was five times a duchess, 18 times a marchioness, 18 times a countess, 14 times a Spanish grandee, and once a viscountess. The duchess was married three times, including once to a defrocked Jesuit priest. She is survived by her children and her third husband.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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