Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón, Duke of Galliera


Don Alfonso de Orleans-Borbón y Ferrara-Pignatelli, Duke of Galliera, is a Spanish aristocrat and the founder of Racing Engineering, a Spanish racing team. He became the 7th Duke of Galliera in 1997.

Life and career

He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, as the elder son of Don Alonso de Orleans-Borbón y Parodi-Delfino and Emilia Ferrara-Pignatelli.
Since his father died when he was seven, Alfonso inherited the title of Duke of Galliera from his grandfather, the 6th Duke of Galliera. Despite being a descendant of Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, as a Roman Catholic he is not in the line of succession to the British throne.
He competed at the 1994 and 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing fourth in the GT2 class in his 1994 debut. Alfonso is the president of Racing Engineering, which he founded in 1999.

Marriage and family

Alfonso married the Belgian Véronique Goeders, daughter of Jean-Marie Goeders and Anne-Marie Grosjean, on 28 March 1994. After seven years of marriage, they divorced in 2001.
They had one child: