Career
He inherited the genetic disorder haemophilia from his maternal line, as did a number of his matrilineal relatives. Alfonso"s father faced increasing political problems that led Spain to become a Republic in 1931 when the monarch was deposed. The family moved into exile.
There had been plans of young Alfonso"s deposition from succession, but ultimately he himself renounced his rights to the then-defunct throne to marry a commoner, Edelmira Ignacia Adriana Sampedro-Robato, in Ouchy on 21 June 1933, after which Alfonso took the courtesy title Count of Covadonga.
This was required by the regulations for the succession set by the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III. The couple divorced 8 May 1937, with Edelmira keeping the title Countess of Covadonga. Alfonso married Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra in Havana on 3 July 1937.
They divorced on 8 January 1938. However, Alfonso de Bourbon, a resident of California, later claimed to be an illegitimate son of Alfonso.
A car accident led to Alfonso"s early death in 1938, at the age of 31.
He crashed into a telephone booth and appeared to have minor injuries but his haemophilia led to fatal internal bleeding. He was initially entombed at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum) in Miami but in 1985 he was re-entombed in the Pantheon of the Princes in El Escorial.
