Doña María del Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco, Grandee of Spain, Dowager Marquise of Villaverde (14 February 1926- December 2017) was the only child of Spain's Caudillo, dictator General Francisco Franco and his wife Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés. In Asturian fashion, she is known by many nicknames such as Nenuca, Carmelilla, Carmencita, Cotota and Morita.

Family life

Franco was born in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. On 10 April 1950, in El Pardo, she married Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquis of Villaverde (1 August 1920 Jaén, Mancha Real – 4 February 1998 Madrid).[3] Villaverde was a prominent surgeon. In 1968 he conducted the first heart transplant operation in Spain. The couple had seven children:

• María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. El Pardo, 26 February 1951), who married Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, son of Infante Jaime of Spain, Duke of Segovia and grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain; and had issue:
  • Francisco de Asís de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú (b. 22 November 1972, Madrid – d. 7 February 1984, Pamplona) †
  • Luis Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú (b. Madrid, 25 April 1974) married in La Romana on 6 November 2004 to María Margarita Vargas y Santaella, and had issue.
  • María Cynthia Rossi y Martínez-Bordiú (28 April 1985).
• María de la O "Mariola" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. El Pardo, 19 November 1952), married in El Pardo on 14 March 1974 to Rafael Ardid y Villoslada (b. 1 February 1947), and had issue:
  • Francisco de Borja Ardid y Martínez-Bordiú (b. Madrid, 20 December 1975), married in Ciudad Real on 23 July 2005 María Ruíz y Vega
  • Jaime Rafael Ardid y Martínez-Bordiú (b. Madrid, 28 September 1976)
  • Francisco Javier Ardid y Martínez-Bordiú (b. Madrid, 7 April 1987)
• Francisco Franco, 11th Marquis of Villaverde (b. 9 December 1954)
• María del Mar "Merry" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 6 July 1956), married firstly at the Pazo de Meirás on 3 August 1977 and divorced in 1982, Joaquín José Giménez-Arnau y Puente (b. 14 September 1943), and had issue, and married secondly in New York City on 4 August 1986, and divorced in 1991, Gregor Tamler, without issue:
  • Leticia Giménez-Arnau y Martínez-Bordiú (b. 25 January 1979), married on 8 August 2008 to Marcos Sagrera y Palomo
• José Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. El Pardo, 10 February 1958), married civilly in New York City, New York, on 23 November 1984 and religiously in Madrid on 27 October 1990 to model Josefina Victoria Toledo y López (b. San José de Tirajana, Canary Islands, 1963), and had issue:
  • Daniel Martínez-Bordiú y Toledo (b. Madrid, 11 June 1990)
  • Diego Martínez-Bordiú y Toledo (b. Madrid, 4 May 1998)
• María de Aránzazu "Arantxa" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 16 September 1962), married at the Pazo de Meirás on 27 July 1996 to Claudio Quiraga y Ferro, without issue
• Jaime Felipe Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 8 July 1964), married in Madrid on 24 November 1995 to Nuria March y Almela (b. July 1966), and had issue:
  • Jaime Martínez-Bordiú y March (b. Madrid, 13 November 1999)

Shortly after her father's death in 1975, King Juan Carlos created her Duchess of Franco and a Grandeza de España in her own right, with the honorific of Doña and a Coat of Arms of new creation. These Arms are a variation of the Arms of the de Andrade family of Galicia, from whom she is twice descended from the Pardo de Andrade branch, and twice again from the 7th Counts of Lemos and Sarria.

Controversy

In 2008 the Duchess collaborated with Stanley G. Payne and Jesús Palacios Tapias to write Franco, My Father, a biography of her father from her point of view. She described her father as a warm person. With regards to the White Terror, she noted that "he didn't talk about it at home". Franco is referred to as "Generalísimo" or "Head of State", who was an "intelligent and moderate", a "brave and catholic" man and who established an "authoritarian, but not totalitarian" régime.

Franco chairs the Foundation "Fundacion Nacional Francisco Franco" which is under permanent criticism for its revisionistopinions e.g. by calling the Spanish coup of July 1936 an "armed referendum". Spanish historian Borja de Riquer called this a euphemism with reference to an era in which approximately 140,000 Spaniards were executed in a reign of terror by Falange, Guardia Civil and other fascist organisations. During the premiership of José María Aznar the foundation received financial support from the Spanish Minister of Education and Culture. The funding was terminated in 2004. She is regarded as an icon by the remaining followers of Francoism.

Honours

•  Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao