A post-luncheon group shot at Los Molinillos, the country estate of Piru and Jaime Urquijo.
Escorted by Bourbon descendants of the Kings of France, contributors to the American Friends of Versailles were recently entertained for four days in some of Madrid’s iconic institutions and private homes linked to the Spanish Bourbons.
Organized and escorted by Princess Beatrice de Bourbon des Deux Sicilesand her cousin Prince Charles-Philippe d’Orleans, the group was treated to private tours of the Prado and Royal Palaces in Madrid and Aranjuez as well as elaborate meals in private palaces, clubs, and homes.
The underlying mission was raising funds to restore the ceiling of the Guard Room in Marie Antoinette‘s suite of apartments in Versailles.
Damaged by bombing, the painting of Jupiter in Majesty in a chariot drawn through the clouds by two eagles currently is held together with pieces of tape, and the AFV’s current project is to rescue it. Since Spain’s Philip V was the grandson of Louis XIV, born at Versailles but sent to Spain in 1704 to resolve a problem of succession, visiting his contemporary Bourbon cousins seemed appropriate. Read More