British royalty, Queen of Spain. Born Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena at Balmoral, Scotland, she was the only daughter of Prince Henry of Battenburg and Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Called Ena, she was brought up in her grandmother's court. In 1905 she attended a dinner party given by her uncle Edward VII in honor of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. The Spanish king was attracted to the young Victoria, and began courting her. She was considered a poor choice for a wife by the king's mother, as she was not of sufficient royal rank, her father was the product of a morganatic marriage, her family carried the gene for hemophilia, and she was not a Roman catholic. But Victoria converted and was received into the catholic church, and Edward VII issued patent letters giving her the title Royal Highness. She and Alfonso were married at St. Jerome in Madrid on May 31, 1906. Her reign as queen got off to a bad start when, after the ceremony, a bomb was hurled at the royal carriage. The queen was unhurt, but her dress was spotted with the blood of a guard. Victoria became isolated from the Spanish people, she was unpopular, and her marriage was less than idyllic. Situations improved with the birth of her first child, Prince Alfonso. But it soon became apparent that Victoria had passed hemophilia to her son. The king never forgave her. After the birth of six more children, the marriage deteriorated further. Alfonso had many lovers, and Victoria devoted herself to working with education, hospitals, and reorganizing the Spanish Red Cross. The royal family went into exile in 1931 after the establishment of the second Spanish Republic. They lived in France and Italy until Alfonso and Victoria seperated, and she spent her time in Britain and Switzerland. Queen Ena died in Lausanne at the age of 81. Originally interred in the Church of Sacre Coeur in Lausanne, she was moved to Spain to rest beside her husband and sons in 1985.