In 1906 Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (daughter of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg, who had died of fever during the Ashantee campaign of 1896) and King Alfonso XIII of Spain (son of Alfonso XII, who had died six months before his birth, and Queen Maria Cristina) became engaged. The match maker had been Princess Ena’s godmother, the Ex-Empress of France, Eugenie, and of Spanish birth herself. The wedding was held in Madrid on May lst in the Church of San Geronimo, the ceremony being performed by the Archbishop of Toledo. On June 9th 1906, a Royal Wedding double number
'The Marriage of Princess Ena' was issued which also took the place of the usual Summer number which did not appear that year.
(Appendix list no.48) The wedding day was interrupted by an assassination attempt. As the procession went along the Calle Mayor, an Anarchist, Mateo Moral, threw a bomb hidden in a bouguet of flowers at the Royal coach. Twenty people died and fifty were wounded and the blood of the victims stained the bride’s dress and shoes. (Mateo Moral escaped, but, on his arrest to days later, he committed suicide). This issue shows the whole of the wedding ceremony and accompanying pageantry as well as giving full and graphc coverage to the bomb outrage and its aftermath. The multi-covered cover displays a large oval frame on which is painted a Spanish lady in traditional dress with surrounding sprays of yellow and blue irises and pink carnations. The magazine is number 3503, vol. 128 (pages 827-872) measures 30 x 42 cm and was priced at one shilling.
