Editing Alfonso XIII (section)

===Early life and education===
{{See also|Regency of Maria Christina of Austria}}[[File:Alfonso_XIII, cadete, de Manuel García Hispaleto.jpg|thumb|left|Alfonso XIII as a cadet; by [[Manuel García Hispaleto]]]]
Alfonso XIII was born at the [[Royal Palace of Madrid]] on 17 May 1886. He was the posthumous son of [[Alfonso XII]] of Spain, who had died in November 1885, and became king upon his birth. Just after he was born, he was carried naked to the prime minister [[Práxedes Mateo Sagasta]] on a silver tray.

Five days later, he was carried in a solemn court procession with a [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Golden Fleece]] around his neck and was baptised with water specially brought from the [[River Jordan]] in Palestine.<ref>''Magnificent Monarchs'' (Fact Attack series) p. 21 by [[Ian Locke]]; published by [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] in 1999; {{ISBN|978-0330-374965}}</ref> The French newspaper {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}} described the young king in 1889 as "the happiest and best-loved of all the rulers of the earth".<ref>"The Happiest Living Monarch", ''The New York Times''. 14 August 1889.</ref> His mother, [[Maria Christina of Austria]], served as his regent until his sixteenth birthday. During the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the [[Spanish–American War]].

Alfonso became seriously ill during the [[1889–1890 pandemic]].<ref>Kempińska-Mirosławska, B., & Woźniak-Kosek, A. (2013). The influenza epidemic of 1889–90 in selected European cities{{snd}}a picture based on the reports of two Poznań daily newspapers from the second half of the nineteenth century. Medical Science Monitor, 19, 1131–1141. {{doi|10.12659/MSM.889469}}</ref> His health deteriorated around 10 January 1890, and doctors reported his condition as the flu attacked his nervous system leaving the young king in a state of indolence. He eventually recovered.

When Alfonso came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls and receptions throughout Spain.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1902/03/29/archives/alfonsos-reign-begins-may-17-he-will-take-the-oath-on-that-day.html?sq=Alfonso+XIII&scp=101&st=p "Alfonso's Reign Begins on 17 May; He Will Take the Oath on That Day – Festivities to Last a Week,"] ''New York Times,'' 29 March 1902.</ref> He took his oath to the constitution before members of the [[Cortes Generales|Cortes]] on 17 May.

Alfonso received, to a large extent, a military education that imbued him with "a [[Spanish nationalism]] strengthened by his military vocation".<ref name=casals /> Besides the clique of military tutors, Alfonso also received political teachings from a liberal, {{ill|Vicente Santamaría de Paredes|es}}, and moral precepts from an [[Integralism|integrist]], [[José Fernández Montaña|José Fernández de la Montaña]].<ref name=casals>{{Cite book|first=Xavier|last=Casals|title=Franco y los Borbones. Historia no oficial de la corona española|year=2019|publisher=Ariel|isbn=978-84-344-2970-3|author-link=Xavier Casals|orig-year=2005|location=Barcelona|url=https://xaviercasals.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/portada-sumario-fragmento-franco-y-los-borbones.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://xaviercasals.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/portada-sumario-fragmento-franco-y-los-borbones.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2022|url-status=live|page=32}}</ref>