A Princess of Spain has become the world’s Royal Family member to die from coronavirus.
Princess Maria Teresa, 86, of the Bourbon-Parma Royal Family, died yesterday after testing positive for Covid-19.
Her younger brother, Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, announced the tragic news as the world grapples with a global pandemic.
Her death came as Spain’s coronavirus deaths skyrocketed past 5,000 today.
Princess Maria Teresa was born in Paris, France in 1933 to parents, Prince Xavier and Madeleine de Bourbon, who had six children in total, reports the Daily Star.
The royals are members of the House of Bourbon-Parma which is a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family, descended from the French Capetian dynasty.
Its members once ruled as King of Etruria and as Duke of Parma and Piacenza, Guastalla, and Lucca.
Cadet branches are created when a young member of a Royal Family, who is not the current heir, is granted lands and titles of his own.
They usually consist of only male-line descendants and the branch can only the ruling branch of a dynasty if nobody occupies the senior line to the throne.
The death of Princess Maria Teresa comes after Prince Charles of the British Royal Family this week announced he has tested positive for coronavirus.
He is now in self-isolation with “mild symptoms” at his and Camilla’s Scottish residence Balmoral, with Camilla isolating separately having tested negative for Covid-19.
Charles, 71, become the second royal in the world to test positive for the disease after Prince Albert of Monaco, 62, was confirmed to be the first head of state to have tested positive for the virus.
Charles had met Prince Albert just two weeks ago at a Water Aid event in London, although the pair were always stood far apart and sat on other sides of the table.
The Queen is currently staying at Windsor Castle with her husband Prince Philip amid the UK lockdown and is said to be in good health.