Diego, Prince of Asturias

Diego Félix of Austria ( Spanish Diego Félix de Austria ) (* July 12, 1575 in Madrid, † November 21, 1582 in Madrid) was a Spanish heir to the title of Prince of Asturias.

Life

Diego was the third son of King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) from his fourth marriage to Anna (1549-1580), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II

On March 1, 1580 Diego was worshiped as the Prince of Asturias by the Cortes in Madrid. He followed his brother Ferdinand, who had died in 1578. The poet Cristóbal de virüs dedicated to the Infante Don Diego a sonnet, which he combined with the desire that the prince should take after his father. During the Portugal trip his parents, who in 1580 took the lives of his mother, Diego was back together with his siblings in Madrid, his half-sisters Isabella and Catherine were entrusted with the custody of the heir to the throne. In letters of Philip is clear that he was very proud of Diego Félix, he emphasizes that his son learned the alphabet and the dancing was five years old. In 1582 Philip wrote that the Indian Viceroy Francisco de Mascarenhas had sent the heir to the throne an elephant to Europe as a gift. Philip tried also that his son learned the Portuguese language that Philip II himself only very sketchy mastered so that he could speak as the future king of Portugal with his subjects.

Diego died 7- year smallpox and was buried in the Pantheon of Infantes at the Escorial palace. When Prince of Asturias was succeeded by his brother, who afterwards became King Philip III.

The painting

The painting of the prince, a masterpiece of the painter Alonso Sánchez Coello back to 1577, was acquired by Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein in 2006 for £ 2 million and is on loan to the National Gallery in London, with the princes of purchase image negotiated.