Nicolas Robles
Badajoz, Spain

¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII?
¿Dónde vas triste de ti?
Voy en busca de Mercedes
Que ayer tarde no la vi.

Where are you going, Alfonso XII?
Where are you going so blue?
I am looking for Mercedes
Yesterday I did not see her.

—Popular Spanish song

King Alfonso XII of Spain was born in Madrid on November 28, 1857. His mother was Queen Isabel II and his father officially was King Consort Francisco de Asís de Borbón. However, the king was so deeply homosexual and the Queen had several lovers, so that most likely his real father was the Captain of Engineers Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans, 3rd Count of Torrefiel and First Viscount of Miranda.

His mother was deposed from the throne in 1868, and he went into exile, first in Paris, then in Vienna, and finally in England. But in January 1875, he was proclaimed King of Spain as Alfonso XII. He immediately had to face major political problems. He had to restore and legitimize the Bourbon monarchy, put down a rebellion by a family branch that considered Queen Isabel II illegitimate, and restore political, social, and economic stability. He successfully directed several military operations, and, by 1876, he began to be popularly known as “the Peacemaker”, an image that was reinforced when he brought to an end the war in Cuba.

On January 23, 1878, Alfonso married María de las Mercedes de Orleans, who died six months later from typhus.¹ In November 1879, he married María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena, who gave him three children. Unfortunately, Alfonso developed tuberculosis, which was very frequent at that time among adults between 18 and 35 years old. The first symptom of the disease appeared a few days after he ascended to the throne at the age of seventeen. He joined the army and had hemoptysis on the battlefield. Then, the disease silently evolved until November 1883, when the king developed what the doctors called rheumatic pleuritis, followed by an arthritis affecting his ankles. At first, he underwent a complete remission. As tuberculous arthritis had only been described by Roux in 1875 and the bacteria involved was only discovered by Koch in 1882, nobody suspected the diagnosis.

In April 1884, fever and night sweats appeared, and a few days later, renewed hemoptysis. He was sent to the spa of Betelu in northern Spain. He improved, but the fever persisted when he returned. In the first days of September, he became so ill that Dr. Garcia Camison ordered him to bed. Respiratory symptoms improved, but fever persisted, and diarrhea supervened. His condition was such that he would wear a red silk handkerchief to discreetly wipe away any hint of blood.

By prescription of his doctors, he remained in his palace since October 1885, and it seemed that he was recovering. But in the afternoon of November 23, after a carriage ride with his aunt, a sudden attack of dyspnea caused him to lose consciousness. A few hours later, he was administered last rites, and he died at nine o’clock in the morning of the 25th. He was 27 years old. The final diagnosis was “acute capillary bronchitis secondary to chronic tuberculosis.”²

References

1. MedScape. “El tifus de la Reina Mercedes.” El Médico Interactivo. September 19, 2011. https://elmedicointeractivo.com/tifus-reina-mercedes-20110919191714040490/
2. Manuel Izquierdo. Historia Clínica de la Restauración. Madrid: Plus-Ultra, 1946.