Infanta Maria Luisa, 1st Duchess of Talavera

Infanta María Luisa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina (née: María Luisa de Silva y Fernández de Henestrosa; 3 December 1880 – 2 April 1955) was a Spanish aristocrat and the second wife of Infante Ferdinand of Spain, Prince of Bavaria, who was a first cousin and (former) brother-in law of King Alfonso XIII. She was the second child and elder daughter of Luis de Silva y Fernandez de Henestrosa, 10th Count of Pie de Concha and his wife, María de los Dolores Fernández de Henestrosa, herself the daughter of the 9th Marquess of Villadarias.

On the occasion of her marriage to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, Infante of Spain, in 1914 King Alfonso XIII created her Duchess of Talavera de la Reina, with the dignity of Grandee and the style of Highness. The couple married on 1 October 1914, in Guipúzcoa, Spain.

Titles, styles and honours

3 December 1880 – 25 June 1914: Doña María Luisa de Silva y Fernández de Henestrosa 25 June 1914 – 1 October 1914: Her Excellency The Duchess of Talavera de la Reina, Grandee of Spain 1 October 1914 – 17 May 1927: Her Highness The Duchess of Talavera de la Reina, Grandee of Spain 17 May 1927 – 2 April 1955: Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña María Luisa, Duchess of Talavera de la Reina

Honours

Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa (1914) Dame Grand Cross of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Honorary Protector of the Royal Collegiate Body of Knights of the Nobility of Madrid (1927) Dame of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla (1928).