From 2 December to 5 April 2026, the Gallery of the Royal Collections will host an exhibition exploring the fascinating life and enduring legacy of Queen Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg.
The exhibition features around 350 works, documents, books and photographs, offering a contemporary perspective on a figure who redefined the role of a Queen Consort. Victoria Eugenia combined her official duties as the King’s wife with modern, forward-thinking humanitarian work.
The second of four children born to Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858–1896) and Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (1857–1944), Victoria Eugenia was also the youngest granddaughter of Queen Victoria I of England (1819–1901). She was educated at the British court during the final years of her grandmother's reign.
Affectionately known as Ena, the last of the names she received at the baptismal font, she met Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) during his State visit to England in June 1905. In January 1906, her engagement to the King was announced, and shortly before the wedding, Victoria Eugenia renounced her Anglican faith and converted to Catholicism.
Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenia had six children: Prince Alfonso (1907-1938) and Infante Jaime (1908-1975), who renounced their succession rights in 1933; Infanta Beatriz (1909-2002), Princess of Civitella-Cesi upon marrying the V Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1935-1986); Infanta María Cristina (1911-1996), Countess Marone as the wife of Enrico Eugenio Antonio Marone-Cinzano (1940-1968); Don Juan de Borbón (1913-1993), Count of Barcelona and successor to his father as head of the Spanish Royal Household; and Infante Gonzalo (1914-1934).
After her arrival at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Victoria Eugenia softened court protocol during the regency of María Cristina of Habsburg-Lorraine. Away from politics, the Queen devoted much of her public activity in Spain to charitable and social work, including reorganising the Spanish Red Cross and the Anti-Tuberculosis League, as well as founding a School for Nurses and the League Against Cancer.
