Spain’s prestigious and most senior aristocratic dynasty has come under fire for breaking the rules - for having an unlawfully long name for the duke’s newborn.
Fernando Juan Fitz-James Stuart y de Solís, 33, the 17th Duke of Huéscar and heir apparent to the dukedom of Alba, and Sofía Palazuelo, 31, his wife, wreaked havoc in the legal register office after they endowed their second child with over a dozen names.
The astonishing name is as follows: Sofía Fernanda Dolores Cayetana Teresa Ángela de la Cruz Micaela del Santísimo Sacramento del Perpetuo Socorro de la Santísima Trinidad y de Todos Los Santos.
But to their dismay, the register rules state that the name given to a child must not exceed more than one “one compound name” and “two simple ones,” as reported by El País.
The duke had named his daughter after the late duchess, who died in 2014, aged 88, María del Rosario Cayetana Paloma Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Fernanda Teresa Francisca de Paula Lourdes Antonia Josefa Fausta Rita Castor Dorotea Santa Esperanza Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva Falcó y Gurtubay.
In addition to these 19 names, the Guinness World Records states that Cayetana held 46 titles which is more than any other noblewoman.
The first name, Sofía, was chosen in honor of the newborn’s mother and grandmother, Sofía Barroso, and the second, Fernanda, as a tribute to her father, Duke of Huéscar, as well as her great-uncle, Fernando Martínez of Irujo, Marquis of San Vicente del Barco.
But despite the tributes, “the girl will not be able to be registered in the Civil Registry with a string of names that surpass all rules, even though it is a tribute to the deceased Duchess of Alba and other members of the family and includes religious devotions,” Le Pais wrote.
