Maria Cristina, Queen, consort of Alfonso XII, King of Spain, 1858-1929

Alfonso XIII, the young King of Spain, holds on to the robe of Pope Leo XIII. His mother, María Cristina, stands next to him on the viewing stand as young women are presented to him as potential brides. Caption: Little Alfonso is next in line to have a wife picked out for him.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Alfonso XIII was born after his father’s death and assumed the throne of Spain on his sixteenth birthday. Perhaps unable to surrender its wartime bias against Spain, almost every element of Ehrhart’s cartoon is demeaning. The new king is depicted as a virtual child, the women waiting to be chosen for him all are flirtatious, his mother assertive, and the Pope appears evil and lascivious. Cartoonist Ehrhart was one of Puck‘s “answers” to Charles Dana Gibson of Life Magazine, a master at depicting beautiful and self-assured women.

Ambassador Reid updates Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt on the visits of royalties to London, England, including the dinner held for German Emperor William II and his wife Auguste Viktoria. Reid raves about Auguste Viktoria’s dress and notes she wore the “biggest pearls I ever saw worn in any part of the world.” Reid also tells Roosevelt about the Bourbon wedding he and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid attended. The ambassador includes an anecdote about Spanish King Alfonso XIII who wanted to change his clothes, but his wife Maria Cristina told him he could not because the luggage had already left. Reid concludes by telling Roosevelt about a luncheon for the new Mexican minister and a dinner for the Alfonso XIII and Maria Cristina of Spain. Reid discusses his plans for a leave of absence, which will include stopping in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-20

Collection of newspaper clippings of articles, photographs, and maps showing some of the actors, naval vessels, and events making up parts of the Spanish-American war. Includes some handwritten notes and hand-colored photographs.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

1898

A man labeled “Spanish War Party,” wearing a military uniform and holding a large knife, is about to sacrifice the “Youth of Spain” to a huge monument labeled “False Pride” with a large sword labeled “Colonial Oppression.” On the ground to the left of the sacrificial bier are bags of “Revenue” and “Taxes,” and kneeling in the foreground is the “Queen Regent”, holding a bag, with her right arm on the shoulders of “Alphonso XIII.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-08-24

An elderly woman labeled “Spain,” possibly María Cristina, Queen Regent, struggles to maintain control of two diminutive figures, one labeled “Cuba,” armed with a gun and sword, and the other labeled “Philippine Islands,” armed with a crude hatchet and knife.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-11-18