.. had a life of ups and downs. When she met her eventual husband Alfonso of Spain, she was only 17. He had a fiery and passionate temperament, while she was shy.
He was worried about the possibility of her carrying her mothers’ dreaded haemophilia blood disease and passing it on to his heirs, thus bringing it to his country. Alfonso’s advisors warned him that it was most likely she had it since it was genetic and because her brother was very ill from it, but Alfonso pushed their concerns aside. He couldn’t understand why the healthy and beautiful Ena could be ill.
(Photo: Ena and Alfonso on their wedding day. White by now was the accepted color for weddings, courtesy of the dictates of her grandmother. Note Alfonso’s cigarette burning, even in his royal portrait, indicating his “rogue” personality that would come into play later in their lives…)