Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria, 2nd Duchess of Hernani (Margarita MarÃÂa de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón; born 6 March 1939), is the younger sister of King Juan Carlos I and aunt of the reigning King Felipe VI of Spain.
Infanta Margarita was born at Hotel Firenze Anglo American in Rome as the younger daughter of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess Mercedes of the Two Sicilies. Margarita has been blind since birth.
She married the physician and aristocrat Carlos Zurita y Delgado on 12 October 1972 in Estoril at St. Anthony's Church. They have two children:
In 1989, alongside her husband, they created The Duke and Duchess of Soria Cultural Foundation (), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of Spanish culture, Hispanic studies, science and knowledge, as well as the preservation of cultural heritage.
She is also Honorary President of Madrid's delegation of UNICEF, of the Spanish Heart Foundation, of the ONCE Foundation and of the Spanish Federation of Hemophilia.
Infanta Margarita renounced her right of succession to the Spanish throne upon marriage because it was not a dynastic wedding.
On 6 January 1979, the Infanta's distant cousin Manfredo de Borbón, 1st Duke of Hernani, died and willed his ducal title to be inherited by Margarita. The King granted this request in 1977 and, on 27 May 1981, she became 2nd Duchess of Hernani, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee. The peerage title refers to the town Hernani, Spain. The month after, on 23 June 1981, King Juan Carlos created her Duchess of Soria (referring to the city Soria, Spain); this title is a title of the Royal House and cannot be inherited by her children.