by
Philip de László, 1927 Gonzalo was born in
Madrid. He was baptized with the names
Gonzalo Manuel María Bernardo Narciso Alfonso Mauricio. He received his final name in honor of his uncle,
Prince Maurice of Battenberg, who was killed in
World War I shortly before Gonzalo's baptism. The infante was educated privately. Because he
inherited the genetic disorder hemophilia from his mother's family (a fact not widely known in Spain during his life), he had some ill health, although he was an active sportsman. He held the rank of a private in the Engineering Corps of the
Spanish Army. In 1927, he was made the 1,166th
Knight of the Spanish branch of the
Order of the Golden Fleece. In May 1924, nine-year-old Gonzalo inaugurated the
Estadio Chamartín, the new football stadium for
Real Madrid, kicking the ball of honour and yelling "." On 14 April 1931, Gonzalo accompanied his mother into exile. He studied engineering at the
Catholic University of Leuven, instead of at the
University of Madrid as originally planned for him. In August 1934, Gonzalo was spending the summer holidays with his family at the villa of Count Ladislaus de Hoyos at
Pörtschach am Wörthersee in
Austria. On the evening of 11 August, Gonzalo and his sister
Infanta Beatriz were driving from
Klagenfurt to Pörtschach. Near
Krumpendorf, Beatriz, who was driving, was forced to swerve to avoid a cyclist (the retired jockey Baron Neimans). The car crashed into a wall. Neither Gonzalo nor Beatriz appeared badly hurt, and so they returned to their villa. Several hours later it became clear that Gonzalo had severe abdominal bleeding. Because he had a weak heart, an operation was ruled out. He died two days later. His eldest brother,
Alfonso, would die just over four years later from very similar circumstances—having also inherited hemophilia, he was involved in a crash after the automobile he was in swerved to avoid a truck. The crash caused severe internal bleeding, ultimately leading to his death. Gonzalo was buried in the graveyard at
Pörtschach. Later, his body was moved to the Pantheon of the Princes in
El Escorial. ==Ancestry==