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Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, the Duchess of Alba, has died at the age of 88 in Seville.

The holder of 14 Grandezas de Espaa titles, the highest rank in Spanish nobility, she was the head of the House of Alba and a well-known society figure. But, above all, she was a unique, incomparable individual who left no one indifferent.

Though born in Madrids Liria Palace, she always enjoyed stepping out on to the street and challenging convention. And she did so until the end of her days, marrying for the third time just three years ago.

If I dont poke my nose into anyone elses life, they shouldnt poke their nose into mine, she argued ahead of marrying Alfonso Dez, with whom she celebrated her third wedding anniversary on October 5. Her children initially opposed the union but everything changed when the House of Alba estate was settled and the details of how all its assets, businesses, land and properties worth anywhere between 600 million and 3 billion were to be shared out was laid down in writing, along with the fact that the latest Duke of Alba would renounce almost everything.

If I dont poke my nose into anyone elses life, they shouldnt poke their nose into mine

Cayetana de Alba chose to divide her inheritance unequally between her six children Carlos, Alfonso, Jacobo, Fernando, Cayetano and Eugenia all born from her marriage to Luis Martnez de Irujo. The two eldest, Carlos and Alfonso, are left in charge of the House of Alba Foundation, obliged to preserve and maintain its historical legacy. Cayetano receives the Arbaizenea Palace in San Sebastin and the large Las Arroyuelas estate in Seville. Eugenia inherits the Ibiza mansin and another Seville estate, while Fernando and Alfonso takes Las Caas mansion in Marbella and El Tejado estate, an old castle, in Salamanca. Most disappointed by the division of assets has undoubtedly been Jacobo, who receives a few country properties. The decision caused a rift between the pair that was only recently resolved. She also included her eldest grandchild, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, to whom she left the Dueas Palace in Seville.

Maintaining the House of Alba legacy was one of the duchesss greatest concerns. Her big supporter in this task was her second husband, Jess Aguirre, who restored part of the art collection in collaboration with Rafael Alonso of the Prado Museum, which since 1978 has taken on the task of looking after the Houses great works. In 2012, with the support of Madrid City Hall, the duchess put some of the treasures from her collection on public display in the exhibition El legado de la Casa de Alba. Mecenazgo al servicio del arte (The legacy of the House of Alba. Patronage at the service of art). The show included 150 masterpieces by the likes of Titian, Ribera, Rubens, Zurbarn, Renoir, Chagall, Fra Anglico and Goya, as well as a collection of letters penned by Christopher Colombus.

She once revealed that Picasso had wanted her as his model for a new version of Goyas La maja desnuda

The rebuilding of the Liria Palace was another of the duchesss missions after she inherited it upon her fathers death in 1953. It was in one of its rooms that on March 28, 1926, she was born, the first and only child of Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Falc, 17th Duke of Alba and Mara del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, 10th Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco. The godparents at her christening were King Alfonso XIII and his wife Queen Victoria Eugenia. From a young age she was a woman of the world and spent many years living abroad. She was in Paris when the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936 and later moved to London, where she often visited the future Queen Elizabeth II. She spoke English, French, German and Italian.

Her social life and interest in art meant she got to know many artists and other well-known figures, from Jackie Kennedy to Grace Kelly and Yves Saint Laurent. She once revealed that Picasso had wanted her as his model in order to create a new version of Goyas famous La maja desnuda, but that the project never came to anything because of her husband Luis Martnez de Irujos objections. Another of her big passions was flamenco and she was noted for her dancing talent, boasting the great Antonio el bailarn as one of her teachers.

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Spains rebellious noble, the Duchess of Alba, dies aged 88