94-581: Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena; 24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. A Hessian princess by birth, she was a member of the Battenberg family , a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt . She was
188-540: A Royal Warrant on 4 December 1886 granting the higher style of " Highness " to all sons and daughters of Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice, thus she was born Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. She was named for her maternal grandmother Victoria and for her godmother, Eugénie de Montijo , the Spanish-born French empress who lived in exile in the United Kingdom. To her family, and
282-474: A changing room and a WC with plumbing. The refurbished machine is now displayed at the beach. On 14 January 1878, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated an early version of the telephone to the queen, placing calls to Cowes, Southampton, and London. These were the first publicly-witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the UK . The queen tried the device and considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although
376-479: A dalliance with the Queen's cousin, Beatrice, Duchess of Galliera , but this is disputed. Then members of the king's circle spread rumours that Beatrice had been expelled because of her bad behaviour, which was not true. All this situation was very painful for the Queen, who could do nothing to help her cousin. Victoria Eugenie devoted herself to work for hospitals and services for the poor, as well as to education. She
470-440: A marriage were religion (Alfonso was Roman Catholic, and Victoria Eugenie was Anglican); and, the potential problem of haemophilia , the disease that Queen Victoria had transmitted to some of her descendants. Victoria Eugenie's brother, Leopold , was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50% probability that she would be a carrier, although the degree of risk was not yet known. Still, if Alfonso married her, their issue could be affected by
564-679: A marriage with Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, niece of His Majesty Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and daughter of Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg)… Article I. It is concluded and agreed that the marriage between His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII and Her said Royal Highness
658-624: A new wave of migrations from continental Europe, linked to the Bell Beaker Culture . Bell beaker migrants are typically thought to have introduced metal-working to Britain marking the beginning of the Bronze Age . Evidence of early Bronze Age occupation on the Isle of Wight include distinctive bell beaker pots, flint tools, occupation sites and finds of bronze weapons and tools, occurring either individually or in hoard deposits such as
752-544: A separate Contract, which shall, however, be deemed to form an integral part of the present Treaty… III. The High Contracting Parties take note of the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, according to the due tenor of the law of England, forfeits for ever all hereditary rights of succession to the Crown and Government of Great Britain… The treaty's reference to
846-496: A severe concussion when she was thrown off her pony at Osborne and hit her head on the ground. Queen Victoria 's physicians noticed "dangerous symptoms", such as "evident signs of brain pressure, probably a haemorrhage". Her aunt Victoria, Princess Royal , wrote, "it is so grievous that [Victoria Eugenie] cannot take notice or open her eyes". Victoria Eugenie was close to her grandmother Queen Victoria . She reflected that "having been born and brought up in her home, Queen Victoria
940-613: A single Member of Parliament until 2024. The Isle of Wight constituency covered the entire island, with 138,300 permanent residents in 2011 , being one of the most populated constituencies in the United Kingdom (more than 50% above the English average). In 2011 following passage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act , the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
1034-468: A son and heir apparent to the kingdom, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias . However, while the baby prince was being circumcised , the doctors noted that he did not stop bleeding — the first sign that the infant heir had haemophilia . Victoria Eugenie was the obvious source of the condition, which was inherited by her eldest and youngest sons. Contrary to the response of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia , whose son and heir by another granddaughter of Queen Victoria
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#17327753557651128-400: A unique character. The highest point on the island is St Boniface Down in the south east, which at 241 m (791 ft) is a marilyn . The most notable habitats on the rest of the island are probably the soft cliffs and sea ledges, which are scenic features, important for wildlife, and internationally protected. The island has three principal rivers. The River Medina flows north into
1222-577: Is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. Since the abolition of its two borough councils and restructuring of the Isle of Wight County Council into the new Isle of Wight Council in 1995, it has been administered by a single tier Island Council which has the same powers as a unitary authority in England. There have been small regionalist movements: the Vectis National Party and
1316-494: Is a list of the women who were queens as wives of Spanish monarchs from the 16th Century, when Spain was unified, until present. Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz is the only King Consort , as the husband of Queen Isabella II . ( Aviz ) Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( /waɪt/ WYTE ) is an island, English county and unitary authority in the English Channel , 2 to 5 miles (3 to 8 kilometres) off
1410-421: Is designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve . With a land area of 380 km (150 sq mi), it is about half the size of Singapore . The island has been home to the poets Algernon Charles Swinburne and Alfred, Lord Tennyson . Queen Victoria built her summer residence and final home, Osborne House , at East Cowes on the Isle. It has a maritime and industrial tradition of boat-building , sail-making,
1504-610: Is now the site of the Marconi Monument. In 1898 the first paid wireless telegram (called a "Marconigram") was sent from this station, and the island was for some time the home of the National Wireless Museum near Ryde. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901 at 81. During the Second World War , the island was frequently bombed. With its proximity to German-occupied France,
1598-591: Is reflected in the current residents' genetic makeup. As the Iron Age began, tin value likely dropped sharply, greatly changing the Isle of Wight's economy. Trade, however, continued, as evidenced by the local abundance of European Iron Age coins. Julius Caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic" but made no reference to Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that
1692-513: Is the Longstone at Mottistone , the remains of an early Neolithic long barrow . Initially constructed with two standing stones at the entrance, only one remains upright today. The site would have likely served as a communal tomb and ritual site for nearby farming communities. A Neolithic mortuary enclosure has also been identified on Tennyson Down near Freshwater . From c. 4,400 – c. 4,200 years ago Britain experienced
1786-574: Is unknown. However, sites and fossils of the same age range in Europe are often attributed to Homo heidelbergensis or early populations of Neanderthals . A Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian flint assemblage, consisting of 50 handaxes and debitage, has been recovered from Great Pan Farm in the Medina Valley near Newport. Gravel sequences at the site have been dated to the MIS 3 interstadial during
1880-724: The Count of Barcelona . On 12 February, Alfonso suffered a first heart attack. Alfonso died on 28 February 1941. In 1942, Victoria Eugenie was obliged to leave Italy, having become persona non grata to the Italian government , according to Harold Tittmann , a U.S. representative at the Vatican at the time, for her "ill-disguised leanings to the Allied cause". Victoria Eugenie returned briefly to Spain in February 1968, to stand as godmother at
1974-540: The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire until 1974, when it was made a ceremonial county in its own right. The island no longer has administrative links to Hampshire. However, the two counties continue to share their police force and fire and rescue service , and the island's Anglican churches belong to the Diocese of Portsmouth (originally Winchester ). A combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton
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#17327753557652068-556: The Palmerston Forts , The Needles Batteries , and Fort Victoria , because of fears about possible French invasion. The future Queen Victoria spent childhood holidays on the island and became fond of it. When she became queen, she made Osborne House her winter home. Subsequently, the island became a fashionable holiday resort for many, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson , Julia Margaret Cameron , and Charles Dickens (who wrote much of David Copperfield there), as well as
2162-586: The Prince and Princess of Wales . After the wedding ceremony, as the royal procession was heading back to the Royal Palace , an assassination attempt was made on the King and Queen when anarchist Mateu Morral threw a bomb from a balcony at the royal carriage. Victoria Eugenie's life was saved because, at the exact moment the bomb exploded, she turned her head in order to see St. Mary's Church, which Alfonso
2256-772: The Princess of Battenberg (her paternal grandmother; represented by the Marchioness of Ely ), Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (her maternal aunt; represented by the Countess of Erroll ), Prince Louis of Battenberg (her paternal uncle; represented by the Earl of Hopetoun ) and the Duke of Edinburgh (her maternal uncle; represented by Sir Henry Ponsonby ). Victoria Eugenie grew up in Queen Victoria's household, as
2350-743: The Seven Years' War , the island was a staging post for British troops departing on expeditions against the French coast, such as the Raid on Rochefort . During 1759, with a planned French invasion imminent , a large force of soldiers was stationed there. The French called off their invasion following the Battle of Quiberon Bay . In the spring of 1817, the twenty-one year old John Keats spent time in Carisbrooke and Shanklin, where he found inspiration in
2444-644: The Solent , the Eastern Yar flows roughly northeast to Bembridge Harbour, and the Western Yar flows the short distance from Freshwater Bay to a relatively large estuary at Yarmouth . Without human intervention the sea might well have split the island into three: at the west end where a bank of pebbles separates Freshwater Bay from the marshy backwaters of the Western Yar east of Freshwater, and at
2538-528: The joyas de pasar collection later. The jewels in the collection are currently the most important of the royal family and are worn by the Queen of Spain on solemn occasions. A sapphire ring owned by Victoria Eugenie was sold at Sotheby's in May 2012 for $ 50,000. That same year, Sotheby's also sold at auction Victoria Eugenie's diamond and pink conch shell bracelet by Cartier for the extraordinary price of $ 3.4 million. List of Spanish royal consorts This
2632-559: The last glacial period ( c. 50,000 years ago). These tools are associated with the late Neanderthal occupation, and evidence of late Neanderthal presence is seen across Britain at this time. No significant evidence of Upper Palaeolithic activity exists on the Isle of Wight. This period is associated with the expansion and establishment of populations of modern human ( Homo sapiens ) hunter-gatherers in Europe, beginning around 45,000 years ago. However, evidence of late Upper Palaeolithic activity has been found at nearby sites on
2726-653: The line of succession to the British Throne . Despite this treaty, concern about the reaction to the marriage and to Victoria Eugénie's conversion among Protestants was accommodated by the British government's decision that King Edward need not grant official consent to the marriage in his Privy Council , despite the fact that his niece was a British subject. Although the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 requires that descendants of King George II obtain
2820-782: The 5th and 6th centuries saw groups of Germanic -speaking peoples from Northern Europe crossing the English Channel and gradually set about conquering the region. During the Early Middle Ages , the island was settled by Jutes as the heathen kingdom of the Wihtwara . In Asser ’s Life of Alfred , he states that the West Saxon kings Cerdic and Cynric granted lordship of Wight to two brothers, Stuf and Wihtgar, said to be of Jutish and Gothic origin and cousins of Cynric. The brothers then set about exterminating
2914-783: The 7th century BC, during the Late Iron Age , the Isle of Wight, like the rest of Great Britain, was occupied by the Celtic Britons , in the form of the Durotriges tribe, as attested by finds of their coins, for example, the South Wight Hoard, and the Shalfleet Hoard. The island was known as Ynys Weith in Brittonic Celtic . Southeastern Britain experienced significant immigration, which
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3008-662: The British general public, she was known by a diminutive of the last of her names, as Ena . She was born in the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign, so she was called "the Jubilee baby". She was baptised in the Drawing Room at Balmoral. Her godparents were Empress Eugénie (represented by Princess Frederica of Hanover ), the German Crown Princess (her maternal aunt; represented by the Duchess of Roxburghe ),
3102-430: The British monarch had reluctantly allowed Beatrice to marry on the condition that she remain her mother's full-time companion and personal secretary. Therefore, she spent her childhood at Windsor Castle , Balmoral, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight . She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, the Duke (later King George V) and Duchess of York on 6 July 1893. When she was six, Victoria Eugenie suffered
3196-575: The British sovereign's prior permission to marry by Order in Council , an exception exists for descendants of royal daughters who marry "into foreign families". Although the naturalisation of Victoria Eugénie's father in the United Kingdom had been initiated in Parliament a week prior to his marriage to Princess Beatrice, the nuptials were completed before the naturalisation, thus the Government
3290-618: The Catholic faith: as the future Queen of Spain, she agreed to convert. The official reception of Victoria Eugenie into the Catholic faith took place on 5 March 1906 at Miramar Palace in San Sebastián. The terms of the marriage were settled by two agreements, a public treaty and a private contractual arrangement. The treaty was executed between Spain and the United Kingdom in London on 7 May 1906 by their respective plenipotentiaries ,
3384-470: The French painter Berthe Morisot and members of European royalty. Until the queen's example, the island had been rural, with most people employed in farming, fishing, or boat-building. The boom in tourism, spurred by growing wealth and leisure time and by Victoria's presence, led to the significant urban development of the island's coastal resorts. As one report summarises, "The Queen's regular presence on
3478-681: The Isle of Wight Party; but they have attracted little support at elections. The Isle of Wight is situated between the Solent and the English Channel , is roughly rhomboid in shape, and covers an area of 150 sq mi (380 km ). Slightly more than half, mainly in the west, is designated as the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The island has 100 sq mi (258 km ) of farmland, 20 sq mi (52 km ) of developed areas, and 57 miles (92 km) of coastline. Its landscapes are diverse, leading to its oft-quoted description as "England in miniature". In June 2019
3572-426: The Isle of Wight is found close to Priory Bay . More than 300 acheulean handaxes have been recovered from the beach and cliff slopes, originating from a sequence of Pleistocene gravels dating approximately to MIS 11 - MIS 9 (424,000–374,000 years ago). Reworked and abraded artefacts found at the site may be considerably older however, closer to 500,000 years old. The identity of the hominids who produced these tools
3666-472: The Isle were known as Wihtware . During Pleistocene glacial periods sea levels were lower than at present, and the area that today forms the Solent was part of the valley of the now extinct Solent River . The river flowed eastward from Dorset, following the course of the modern Solent strait. The river travelled east of the Isle of Wight before flowing southwest towards the major Channel River system. At these times, extensive gravel terraces associated with
3760-633: The Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg), shall henceforth be styled and called 'Her Royal Highness'; And to command that the said Royal concession and declaration be registered in His Majesty's College of Arms." Princess Victoria Eugenie married King Alfonso XIII at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906. Present at the ceremony were her widowed mother and brothers, as well as her cousins,
3854-437: The Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena shall be solemnized in person at Madrid as soon as the same may conveniently be done. II. His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII engages to secure to Her said Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena from the date of her marriage with His Majesty, and for the whole period of the marriage, an annual grant of 450,000 pesetas . His said Majesty King Alfonso XIII also engages, if, by
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3948-460: The Solent River and the forerunners of the island's modern rivers were deposited. During warmer interglacial periods, silts, beach gravels, clays, and muds of marine and estuarine origin were deposited due to higher sea levels, suggesting similar marine or estuary conditions to those experienced today. The earliest clear evidence of Lower Palaeolithic archaic human occupation on what is now
4042-606: The Spanish Ambassador to the Court of St. James's , Don Luis Polo de Bernabé , and the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey , Bt. Ratifications were exchanged on 23 May following. Among other conditions, the treaty stipulated: BE it known unto all men by these Presents that whereas His Catholic Majesty Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, has judged it proper to announce his intention of contracting
4136-470: The Spanish king. Alfonso was seated between Queen Alexandra and Princess Helena , King Edward's sister. He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who the dinner guest with almost white hair was. Everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates was Princess Patricia of Connaught , another niece of King Edward. As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by
4230-606: The Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, and so the courtship began. When Alfonso returned to Spain he frequently sent postcards to Victoria Eugenie and spoke of her approvingly. His mother, Queen Maria Cristina , did not like her son's choice, in part because she considered the Battenbergs non-royal because of the obscure origin of Prince Henry's mother, and in part because she wanted her son to marry within her own family. Other obstacles to
4324-700: The Style, Title and Appellation of Her Royal Highness accordingly. Given at Our Court of Saint James's, the Third day of April 1906: in the Sixth Year of Our Reign. By His Majesty's Command. M Gladstone" Notice of this warrant was gazetted in the London Gazette which read: "Whitehall 3 April 1906. The KING has been graciously pleased to declare and ordain that His Majesty's niece, Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, daughter of Her Royal Highness
4418-537: The Villa Mauriscot where some days later King Alfonso met them. At the Villa Mauriscot, Alfonso and his future bride conducted a chaperoned, three-day romance. Then, Alfonso took Victoria Eugenie and her mother to San Sebastián to meet Queen Maria Cristina. On 3 February, the king left San Sebastian to go to Madrid and Victoria Eugenie and her mother went to Versailles where the Princess would be instructed in
4512-545: The baptism of her great-grandson, Infante Felipe , the son of Infante Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark . Felipe became King of Spain after his father, King Juan Carlos I , abdicated in June 2014. Victoria Eugenie died in Lausanne on 15 April 1969, aged 81, exactly 38 years after she had left Spain for exile. She was the last surviving child of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg . The funeral
4606-426: The coast of Hampshire , across the Solent . It is the largest and second-most populous island in England. Referred to as "The Island" by residents, the Isle of Wight has resorts that have been popular holiday destinations since Victorian times . It is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland , and chines . The island is historically part of Hampshire . The island
4700-418: The countryside and coast, and worked on his long poem Endymion . In the mid-1840s, potato blight was first found in the UK on the island, having arrived from Belgium. It was later transmitted to Ireland. In the 1860s, what remains in real terms the most expensive ever government spending project saw fortifications built on the island and in the Solent, as well as elsewhere along the south coast, including
4794-425: The death of Queen Victoria in 1901, her mother and her family moved out of Osborne House and took up residence in Kensington Palace in London. Princess Beatrice inherited Osborne Cottage on the Isle of Wight from her mother. In 1905, King Alfonso XIII of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenie's maternal uncle, King Edward VII , hosted a dinner in Buckingham Palace in honour of
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#17327753557654888-515: The disease. Nonetheless, Alfonso was not dissuaded. After a year of rumours about which princess Alfonso would marry, his mother finally acceded to her son's selection in January 1906 and wrote a letter to Victoria Eugenie's mother, telling her about the love Alfonso felt for her daughter and seeking unofficial contact with the king. Some days later at Windsor, King Edward congratulated his niece on her future engagement. Princess Beatrice and her daughter arrived in Biarritz on 22 January and stayed at
4982-534: The early Holocene the Solent flooded, submerging the site. From c. 6,000 years ago migrations of farming populations to Britain from northwest Europe brought the onset of the Neolithic , largely replacing and assimilating previous mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations. On the Isle of Wight neolithic occupation is attested to by flint tool finds, pottery and monuments. The Isle of Wight's neolithic communities were agriculturalists, farming livestock and crops. The Isle of Wight's most recognisable neolithic site
5076-413: The famous Arreton hoard. Highly visible evidence of early Bronze Age activity on the Isle of Wight comes in the form of the barrow monuments present across the island's chalk downland. It is likely these barrows were high-status burial sites, and often occur in 'cemeteries' a notable example being Five Barrows near Brook. Bronze Age Britain had large tin reserves in Cornwall and Devon areas, which
5170-492: The forfeiture of Victoria Eugénie's British succession rights reflected neither the British government's censure of the alliance nor any renunciation made by her. Rather, it was an explicit recognition of the fact that by marrying (and becoming) a Roman Catholic, Victoria Eugénie lost any right to inherit the British crown as a consequence of Britain's Act of Settlement . This exclusion was personal and limited: those among her descendants who do not become Roman Catholic remain in
5264-442: The front line of conflicts through the ages, having faced the Spanish Armada and weathered the Battle of Britain . Being rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the growing affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The island was historically a part of Hampshire, but became a separate administrative county in 1890. It had continued to share
5358-592: The head of the royal family successively to be worn by the following Queens of Spain. The jewellery collection, known as the joyas de pasar , includes her Ansorena fleur-de-lis tiara [ es ] given to her by Alfonso XIII as a wedding gift in addition to other wedding gift jewellery from the King. She left her other jewels to be distributed between her daughters Infanta Beatriz and Infanta María Cristina –who received Victoria Eugenie's Cartier tiara of diamonds set with pearls (or alternatively with emeralds)–. This tiara and other family jewels were added to
5452-427: The island Wit. The modern Welsh name is Ynys Wyth ( ynys meaning island). These are all variants of the same name, possibly sharing a Celtic origin with Welsh gwaith 'work', a cognate of both Latin vectis ("lever," or literally "the act of lifting") and Old English wiht ("weight"). It may mean 'place of the division,' since the island divides the two arms of the Solent. In Old English , inhabitants of
5546-427: The island helped put the Isle of Wight 'on the map' as a Victorian holiday and wellness destination ... and her former residence Osborne House is now one of the most visited attractions on the island." While on the island, the queen used a bathing machine that could be wheeled into the water on Osborne Beach; inside the small wooden hut, she could undress and then bathe, without being visible to others. Her machine had
5640-407: The island hosted observation stations, transmitters, and the RAF radar station at Ventnor . Adolf Hitler personally suggested an invasion of the Isle of Wight as a supplementary operation for Operation Sealion , and the possibility of an invasion was incorporated into Fuhrer Directive 16. Field Marshal Alan Brooke , in charge of defending the UK during 1940, was sceptical about being able to hold
5734-400: The island in the face of an invasion, instead considering that British forces would retreat to the western side of the island rather than commit forces against what might be a diversionary landing. In the end no invasion of the island was carried out as German naval commanders feared any invasion force might be cut off by British naval forces, particularly Royal Navy submarines. The island was
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#17327753557655828-514: The island was captured by the commander Vespasian . The Romans built no towns on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. First-century exports were principally hides, enslaved people, hunting dogs, grain, cattle, silver, gold, and iron. There are indications that the island had vast trading links, with a port at Bouldnor , evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, and finds of Late Iron Age coins. Starting in AD 449,
5922-483: The island was under the control of the English Crown and its Lordship a royal appointment. The island continued to be attacked from the continent: it was raided in 1374 by the fleet of Castile and in 1377 by French raiders who burned several towns, including Newtown . Under Henry VIII , who developed the Royal Navy and its Portsmouth base, the island was fortified at Yarmouth , Cowes, East Cowes, and Sandown . The French invasion on 21 July 1545 (famous for
6016-478: The island's Solent coastline has yielded an internationally significant mesolithic archaeological site. The Bouldnor Cliff site exhibits evidence of seasonal occupation by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers dating to c. 6050 BC . Finds include flint tools, burnt flint, worked timbers, wooden platforms, and pits. The worked wood shows evidence of splitting large planks from oak trunks, interpreted as being intended for use as dug-out canoes. DNA analysis of sediments at
6110-407: The island's second-largest ferry company, Red Funnel . Tourism is the largest industry on the island. The oldest records that give a name for the Isle of Wight are from the Roman Empire. It was called Vectis or Vecta in Latin and Iktis or Ouiktis in Greek. Latin Vecta, Old English Wiht, and Old Welsh Gueid and Guith were recorded from the Anglo-Saxon period. The Domesday Book called
6204-555: The mainland, notably Hengistbury Head in Dorset, dating to just before the onset of the Holocene and the end of the last glacial period c. 11,700 years ago. Evidence of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer occupation on the island is generally found along the river valleys, particularly along the Solent coastline of the island and in the former catchment of the western Yar. Other key terrestrial sites are found at Newtown Creek, Werrar, and Wootton-Quarr. A submerged escarpment 11 metres (36 feet) below sea level off Bouldnor Cliff on
6298-426: The major cities, leading to the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic . Alfonso XIII had hoped that his voluntary exile might avert a civil war between the Republicans and the Monarchists. The family went to live in France and later Italy. Victoria Eugenie and Alfonso later separated, and she lived partly in the UK and in Switzerland. She purchased a chateau , the Vieille Fontaine , outside Lausanne . In 1938,
6392-444: The manufacture of flying boats , hovercraft , and Britain's space rockets . The island hosts annual music festivals, including the Isle of Wight Festival , which in 1970 was the largest rock music event ever held. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of Europe's richest cliffs and quarries of dinosaur fossils . The island has played an essential part in the defence of the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth and has been near
6486-432: The monarchy was restored and Victoria Eugenie's grandson, Juan Carlos I , became King of Spain; her great-grandson, Felipe VI , is the current king. Her godchildren included the Prince of Monaco , Queen Fabiola of Belgium , and Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba . Victoria Eugenie left eight important pieces of jewellery written in her will that, following her instructions, would be transmitted privately to
6580-501: The monumental opera house and theatre "Teatro Victoria Eugenia" in San Sebastián , Spain, was named after her. In 1920, she launched the Spanish Navy cruiser Reina Victoria Eugenia which was named after her. She was the 976th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa . In 1923, the Pope conferred upon her the Golden Rose which was the first time this honour had been awarded to a British princess since 1555 when Pope Julius III conferred one upon Queen Mary I of England . She
6674-425: The native Britons , either killing them or driving them into exile. According to Bede , in 685, Wight was invaded by King Cædwalla of Wessex , who attempted to violently replace the Jutish inhabitants with his own followers. In 686, the native King Arwald was killed in battle, and the island became the last part of English lands to be converted to Christianity . It suffered especially from Viking raids and
6768-680: The sinking of the Mary Rose on the 19th) was repulsed by local militia . On 1 May 1647, Swedish and English ships clashed in a brief skirmish off the island , ending in the Swedish fleet being able to escape. During the English Civil War , King Charles I fled to the Isle of Wight, believing he would receive sympathy from Governor Robert Hammond . Still, Hammond imprisoned the king in Carisbrooke Castle. During
6862-636: The site yielded wheat DNA, not found in Britain until 2,000 years after the occupation at Bouldnor Cliff. It has been suggested this is evidence of wide-reaching trade in Mesolithic Europe; however, the contemporaneity of the wheat with the Mesolithic occupation has been contested. Owing to lower sea levels during the mesolithic the hunter-gatherer site was located on a river bank surrounded by wetlands and woodland. As sea levels rose throughout
6956-595: The sound was "rather faint". She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her. The world's first radio station was set up by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897, during her reign, at the Needles Battery , at the western tip of the island. A 168-foot (51 m) high mast was erected near the Royal Needles Hotel as part of an experiment on communicating with ships at sea. That location
7050-626: The starting point for one of the earlier Operation Pluto pipelines to feed fuel to Europe after the Normandy landings . The Needles Battery was used to develop and test the Black Arrow and Black Knight space rockets, which were subsequently launched from Woomera , Australia. The Isle of Wight Festival was a large rock festival near Afton Down , West Wight, in August 1970, following two smaller concerts in 1968 and 1969. The 1970 show
7144-531: The whole family gathered in Rome for the baptism at the Palazzo Malta of Alfonso and Victoria Eugenie's son Juan's eldest son, Juan Carlos , by Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli (who stood in for the dying Pope Pius XI and would himself become Pope Pius XII in a few months). On 15 January 1941, Alfonso, feeling his death was near, transferred his rights to the Spanish crown to his son,
7238-569: The whole island was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve , recognising the sustainable relationships between its residents and the local environment. West Wight is predominantly rural, with dramatic coastlines dominated by the chalk downland ridge, running across the whole island and ending in the Needles stacks. The southwestern quarter is commonly referred to as the Back of the Wight , and has
7332-466: The will of Divine Providence, the said Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena should become his widow, to secure to her, from the date of his death, an annual grant of 250,000 pesetas , unless and until she contracts a second marriage, both these grants having already been voted by the Cortes . The private settlements to be made on either side in regard to the said marriage will be agreed upon and expressed in
7426-516: The youngest granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert . Unlike other members of the Battenberg family, who were accorded the lower rank of Serene Highness , Victoria Eugenie was born with the rank of Highness due to a Royal Warrant issued in 1886 by Queen Victoria. Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was born on 24 October 1887 at Balmoral Castle , in Scotland . Her father
7520-459: Was Prince Henry of Battenberg , the fourth child and third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julia, Princess of Battenberg , and her mother was Princess Beatrice , the fifth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Her mother, as the youngest child of the lonely queen, was kept "at home" with the court, which happened to be at Balmoral when she went into labour. Victoria Eugenie
7614-969: Was able to take the position that Victoria Eugénie was not bound by the Royal Marriages Act, and therefore the British king had legal authority neither to authorise nor forbid her marriage. The King did, however, issue a royal warrant which read: "Our Will and Pleasure is and we do hereby declare and ordain that from and after the date of this Warrant our Most Dear Niece Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, only daughter of Our Most Dear Sister Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg) shall be styled entitled and called Her Royal Highness before her name and such Titles and Appellations which to her belong in all Deeds Records Instruments or Documents whatsoever wherein she may at any time hereafter be named or described. And We do hereby authorize and empower Our said Most Dear Niece henceforth at all times to assume and use and to be called and named by
7708-683: Was also granted the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert by her grandmother, Queen Victoria. The Queen was also awarded the Spanish Red Cross Merit Order (First Class) and the jewelled breast star was paid for by a subscription undertaken by the Corps of Lady Nurses of the Spanish Red Cross. The Spanish royal family went into exile on 14 April 1931 after municipal elections brought Republicans to power in most of
7802-575: Was also involved in the reorganization of the Spanish Red Cross . In 1929, the city of Barcelona erected a statue of her in a nurse's uniform in honour of her Red Cross work (the statue has since been destroyed). Various Spanish landmarks have been named after Victoria Eugenie. For instance, in 1909, Madrid's stately neoclassical bridge crossing the Manzanares River was named after her as the "Puente de la Reina Victoria". In 1912,
7896-455: Was considered as part of a regional devolution package but was subsequently rejected by the UK government in 2018. The quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft ( Hovertravel ) from Ryde to Southsea . Three vehicle ferries and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton , Lymington , and Portsmouth via the island's largest ferry operator, Wightlink , and
7990-538: Was held in the church of Sacré Coeur , she was buried in the nearby cemetery Bois-de-Vaux in Lausanne. On 25 April 1985, her remains were returned to Spain and re-interred in the Royal Vault in the Escorial , outside Madrid, next to the remains of her husband, Alfonso XIII, and not far from her sons, Infante Alfonso, Infante Jaime, and Infante Gonzalo. After the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1975,
8084-611: Was like a second mother to us. She was very kind but very strict, with old fashioned ideas of how children must be brought up". When Victoria Eugenie said, "I think it is time for us to go to bed", Queen Victoria corrected her. "Young woman, a princess should say, 'I think it is time for me to retire'. Queen Victoria wrote that "I love these darling children so, almost as much as their own parent" and referred to Victoria Eugenie as "the little treasure". Her father died while on active military service after contracting fever in Africa in 1896. After
8178-595: Was necessary to smelt bronze . At that time, the sea level was much lower, and carts of tin were brought across the Solent at low tide for export, possibly on the Ferriby Boats . Anthony Snodgrass suggests that a shortage of tin, as a part of the Bronze Age Collapse and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean around 1300 BC, forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. From
8272-517: Was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they could not reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson (who became King Harold II) held manors on the island. The Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight ; the island was given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern . Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded. Allegiance
8366-633: Was one of the last public performances by Jimi Hendrix and attracted somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 attendees. The festival was revived in 2002 in a different format and is now an annual event. On 26 October 2020, an oil tanker, the Nave Andromeda, suspected to have been hijacked by Nigerian stowaways, was stormed southeast of the island by the Special Boat Service . Seven people believed to be Nigerians seeking UK asylum were handed over to Hampshire Police. The island had
8460-518: Was showing her. She escaped injury, although her dress was spotted with the blood of a guard who was riding beside the carriage. A large statue in front of the Royal Monastery of San Jeronimo commemorates the victims of the bombing of 31 May 1906. After the inauspicious start to her tenure as Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie became isolated from the Spanish people and was unpopular in her new land. Her married life improved when she gave birth to
8554-465: Was similarly afflicted, Alfonso is alleged never to have forgiven Victoria Eugenie nor to have come to terms with what had happened. In all, King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Neither of their daughters is known to have been a carrier of haemophilia. After the births of their children, Victoria Eugenie's relationship with Alfonso deteriorated, and he had numerous affairs. It has been said that he had
8648-549: Was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king; the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, with the de Redvers family ruling from Carisbrooke. The final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus , who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I . Subsequently,
8742-567: Was the last grandchild of a British monarch to be born in Scotland until Princess Margaret was born at Glamis Castle in Angus in August 1930. As Prince Henry was the product of a morganatic marriage , he took his style of Prince of Battenberg from his mother, who had been created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. As such, Henry's children would normally have been born with the style " Serene Highness "; however, Queen Victoria had issued
8836-519: Was to have changed this, but this was deferred to no earlier than October 2022 by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 . Thus the single constituency remained for the 2015 , 2017 and 2019 general elections. However, two separate constituencies, Isle of Wight East and Isle of Wight West were created for the island under the 2022 review, and were first contested in the 2024 general election . The Isle of Wight
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