Pilar González de Gregorio


María del Pilar González de Gregorio y Álvarez de Toledo, 15th Duchess of Fernandina, GE, OSI, also known as Pilar Medina Sidonia, is a Spanish noblewoman, writer and socialite, who was Duchess of Fernandina and Grandee of Spain between 1993 and 2012, when her title was revoked as a result of a legal battle with her nephew. Born in Madrid, she is the daughter of Leoncio González de Gregorio y Martí and his wife Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia. Her main seat of residence is at González de Gregorio Palace, in Quintana Redonda, Soria. Pilar is a writer, and is the author of many articles and a novel, titled Nápoles 23. Since 2011, Pilar has served as chairman of Christie's Spain.

Family

She married, firstly, her second cousin, Rafael Márquez, 9th Count of las Torres de Alcorrín, second son of General José Joaquín Márquez y Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Duke of Santa Cristina, and María del Rosario Osorio y Díez de Rivera, 8th Countess of las Torres de Alcorrín, of the Ducal House of Alburquerque, on 16 September 1977, and divorced in 1981. She has one child from this marriage:
She married, secondly, Tomás María Terry y Merello, second son of Fernando Carlos Terry y del Cuvillo, a sherry producer from El Puerto de Santa María, of Irish descent, relative of the Cuban magnate Tomás Terry y Adán and of Blessed William Tirry, and had a second son:

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

The Dukedom of Fernandina was rehabilitated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1993, by which it was agreed on that Pilar would receive the title. Her elder brother, Leoncio Alonso González de Gregorio, 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia, and his eldest son, Don Alonso Enrique González de Gregorio y Viñamata, won a legal battle in order to strip her of her ducal title. The rehabilitation of the title was formally revoked in 2012.