Princess Maria Teresa de Borbón-Parma has become the first member of a royal family to pass away due to Coronavirus complications. The Spanish princess’ younger brother took to social media to announce the tragedy on Thursday.

“On this afternoon… our sister Maria Teresa de Borbón-Parma and Borbón Busset, victim of the coronavirus COVID-19, died in Paris at the age of eighty-six,” Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, the Duke of Aranjuez, said in a statement on Facebook.

According to the prince, a memorial service was held in Maria Teresa’s honor on Friday in Madrid. As some know, Maria Teresa was referred to as the “Red Princess” for her progressive views. She was an advocate of women’s rights and had many socialist ideas.

As People reports, she was a beloved and renowned professor at Paris’ Sorbonne and a professor of Sociology at Madrid’s Complutense University. Moreover, the outlet points out she was an early supporter of CIVIS (the open university system, which ties schools in eight European nations) and studied Islam, particularly as it applied to women’s rights in Arab nations.

The news of the Spanish princess’ death comes weeks after Spain’s King Felipe VI tested negative for COVID-19. Additionally, Forbes recently reported Spain has become Europe’s second-worst hit country by COVID-19, just right after Italy. Another royal to be affected by the Coronavirus pandemic? Prince Charles.

On Wednesday, news broke the British royal member tested positive. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual,” a statement read from Clarence House.

“The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing,” the statement continued. “It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.”

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip have been practicing social distancing at their Windsor estate, while Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three kids have been staying at their Anmer Hall estate, Harper’s Bazaar reported.

Photo: Nieboer/PPE/Sipa/Shutterstock

Original article: https://www.eonline.com/news/1135492/spanish-princess-becomes-the-first-royal-to-die-of-coronavirus-complications