MADRID: Princess Maria Teresa of Spain’s Bourbon-Parma has become the first royal who passed away from the novel coronavirus after her death was reported on Sunday.
The 86-year-old princess Maria, a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet branch of the Spanish Royal family, was famous for her straightforward opinions and activism, which earned her the nickname “Red Princess”.
She was the cousin of Spanish King Felipe VI. Her brother, the Duke of Aranjuez, announced her death via a Facebook post. Her funeral will be held on Friday in Madrid.
“On this afternoon… our sister Maria Teresa de Borbon Parma and Borbon Busset, a victim of the coronavirus COVID-19, died in Paris at the age of eighty-six,” read the post.
Born on July 28, 1933, Theresa became a professor at Paris” Sorbonne as well as a professor of Sociology at Madrid’s Complutense University
The overall death toll in the COVID-19 hit country rises to 5,690. In a Facebook post, her brother Prince Sixto Enrique de Borbon, the Duke of Aranjuez, informed that his 86-year-old sister died on this Thursday and that the funeral was held on Friday.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced stricter lockdown measures that will force all non-essential workers to stay at home for the next two weeks, as the government reported 832 new coronavirus deaths overnight.
As Spain prepared to enter its third week of lockdown, hospitals and morgues struggled under the pressure and infections rose to 72,248 from 64,059 the day before.
Meanwhile, on March 25, Prince Charles, heir apparent to the throne of England and the Prince of Wales, was also tested positive for coronavirus. A Clarence House spokesperson informed he was “displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual”. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who tested negative, are now self-isolating at their home in Scotland.
Read more: Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus
