Duchess of Alba(R) and her suitor(L). Spain's fabulously rich Duchess of Alba has signed away her enormous wealth to marry for love at 85.
Spain's fabulously rich Duchess of Alba has signed away her enormous wealth, string of palaces, priceless works of art and vast swathes of Spanish real estate to marry for love at 85, Spanish media has reported. Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, a regular subject of gossip in Spain's glossy magazines and said by Guinness World Records to have more titles than any other royal on the planet, wants to marry a humble civil servant 25 years her junior. The duchess has divided her fortune between her six children to convince them that her suitor is besotted with her rather than her money and the kinds of possessions that are considered national treasures, reports said. "Every great love story should end in marriage," the duchess told Vanity Fair magazine in May as she posed in the garden of one of her palaces, explaining why she wanted to make social security worker Alfonso Diez, 60, her third husband. All her children were born to her first husband, engineer Luis Martinez de Irujo, son of the Duke of Sotomayor. She shocked many in Spain after his death by marrying former Jesuit priest Jesus Aguirre in 1978. But her recent match has divided the House of Alba. Her son Cayetano Martinez de Irujo, the Duke of Salvatierra, said just a few weeks ago he had only met his mother's suitor three times and she shouldn't marry because of her historic responsibility. It looked as if the duchess had caved in to pressure from her children and a rumored request from Spain's King Juan Carlos not to formalize her relationship. "I still don't know why my children are causing problems," the duchess complained to Spanish radio station La Cope in February. "We aren't hurting anyone. If only things could be fixed... Alfonso doesn't want anything, he's renounced everything. He doesn't want anything but me." The duchess, who appears to struggle to speak and often needs support to walk, allayed her children's worries by dividing up her fortune in early July, reported media, including Spanish celebrity magazine Hola! The duchess's fortune includes palaces and mansions throughout Spain, paintings by the likes of Velazquez, Goya and Rubens and huge stretches of land. Her wealth is estimated at between 600 million and 3.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion).
据西班牙媒体报道，腰缠万贯的西班牙阿尔巴女公爵在85岁高龄之际，签字放弃巨额财富，包括多座宫殿、价值连城的艺术珍宝、以及大片西班牙房产，只为嫁给心上人。 卡叶塔娜•菲茨-詹姆斯•斯图亚特经常在西班牙时尚杂志上曝光。据《世界吉尼斯纪录大全》记载，她是全球拥有最多头衔的皇室成员。她要下嫁给一名小她25岁的普通公务员。 报道称，女公爵为了说服子女们相信她的追求者爱的是她的人而不是她的钱，或是所谓的国家财富，而将财产分配给了自己的6个子女。 今年五月，她在自己一座宫殿的花园里接受《名利场》杂志采访时说：“每一段真爱最后都应走向婚姻”，解释了为什么她要选择60岁的社保工作者阿方索•迭斯做她第三任丈夫。 她的子女都是她和第一任丈夫索托马约尔公爵之子、工程师路易斯•马丁内斯·德·伊鲁霍所生。路易斯去世后，她在1978年嫁给前耶稣会神父阿奎尔，令许多西班牙人为之震惊。 但是她的第三次婚姻却遭到家人反对。她的儿子、萨尔瓦铁拉公爵卡耶塔诺•马丁内斯·德·伊鲁霍几周前称，他才见了他母亲的追求者3次。他认为母亲不该再嫁人，因为她承担着历史责任。 女公爵似乎已经屈服于来自子女的压力，也有传言称西班牙国王胡安•卡洛斯劝她不要动真格的。 今年2月，女公爵接受西班牙电台La Cope采访时抱怨道：“我不明白孩子们为什么要阻挠我。” “我们没有伤害任何人。只要能结婚，阿方索什么都不要，他已经放弃一切。他只想和我在一起。” 据西班牙名人杂志Hola等媒体报道，女公爵7月初将自己的家产分配给了子女，减轻了他们的顾虑。女公爵看起来说话颇为吃力，走路也常要人搀扶。 女公爵的财产包括西班牙境内的宫殿和宅邸、委拉斯凯兹、戈雅、鲁本斯等名家的画作、以及大量地产。据估计资产总值在6亿至35亿欧元（约合49亿美元）之间。
fabulously: exceedingly; extremely（难以置信地，惊人地）
sign away: to dispose of or lose by or as if by signing a document（签字放弃）
glossy magazine: 用优质有光纸印刷并有很多图片的杂志，服装杂志
suitor: a man who is courting a woman（求婚者）
besot：to muddle or stupefy, as with alcoholic liquor or infatuation（使沉醉，使如痴如醉）
divide the House: 付诸表决，（英国下院中）分赞成或反对两组进行表决
cave in: to yield completely, esp under pressure（投降，屈服）
allay: to reduce the intensity of; relieve（使缓和，减轻） | 
