Francisco Franco, 2nd Lord of Meirás

Coat of arms of Francisco, 2nd Lord of Meirás and 11th Marquis of Villaverde

Don Francisco Franco y Martínez-Bordiú, 2nd Lord of Meirás, Grandee of Spain, 11th Marquis of Villaverde (born 9 December 1954 in Madrid) is a Spanish aristocrat and grandson of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Family

Francisco, a. k. a. Francis, is the third of seven children of the noted surgeon Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquis of Villaverde, and his wife Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco, only child of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and his wife Carmen Polo. His older sisters are María del Carmen y María de la O, and his four younger siblings are María del Mar, José Cristóbal, María de Aránzazu and Jaime Felipe.

When Francisco was born, General Franco ordered his last names (Martínez-Bordiú and Franco) to be legally inverted so that his first male grandchild could perpetuate the Franco lineage.

Marriage and children

Francisco Martínez-Bordiú y Franco married firstly, at Altafulla, Tarragona, on 18 December 1981, María de Suelves y Figueroa (b. Lima, 22 August 1957), daughter of Juan José de Suelves y de Ponsich, 11th Marquess of Tamarit (Barcelona, 3 November 1928 - Madrid, 26 July 2004) and his wife (m. San Sebastián, 11 August 1955) Victoria de Figueroa y Borbón, daughter of the 2nd Count of Romanones (paternal grandfather: Álvaro de Figueroa, Conde de Romanones; maternal great-grandfather: Enrique de Borbón, 1st Duke of Seville), and had issue:

• Francisco Franco y de Suelves (b. Madrid, 30 November 1982).
• Juan José Franco y de Suelves (b. Madrid, 29 September 1985).

Francisco Franco y Martínez-Bordiú and María de Suelves y Figueroa were divorced in 1992. Upon his father's death in 1998, Francisco Franco y Martínez-Bordiú succeeded as 11th Marquess of Villaverde. After the death of his maternal grandmother, Carmen Polo, he was the only one to claim the Lordship of Meirás (together with accompanying dignity Grandee of Spain) she had held. Thus, he became 2nd Lord of Meirás.

He married secondly, at Móstoles in March 2001, Miriam Guisasola y Carrión (b. 1967), and had issue, born before wedlock:

• Alvaro Franco y Guisasola (b. Madrid, 15 August 1994).
• Miriam Franco y Guisasola (b. Madrid, 5 February 1996).

Finally they divorced in 2014.

Ancestry

External links

• Ducal House of Franco