Carmen Polo
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Her Excellency The Lady of Meirás Grandee of Spain |
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Carmen Polo, 1972
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés 11 June 1900 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain |
| Died | 6 February 1988 (aged 87) Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Spouse(s) | Francisco Franco (m. 1923–75, his death) |
| Children | Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco |
| Parents | Felipe Polo y Flórez de Vereterra Ramona Martínez-Valdés y Martínez-Valdés |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés, 1st Lady of Meirás, Grandee of Spain (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988) was the wife of General Francisco Franco.
She was the daughter of Felipe Polo y Flórez de Vereterra and Ramona Martínez-Valdés y Martínez-Valdés (died 8 February 1914), paternal granddaughter of Claudio Polo-Vereterra y Astudillo and wife Bonifacia Flórez and sister of María Isabel (married to José María Sanchíz y Sancho), Felipe and Ramona (Zita) (married in Oviedo on 6 February 1932 to Ramón Serrano Súñer). Her aunt Isabel Polo-Vereterra y Flórez married her relative Luis Vereterra y Estrada. Her great-grandparents were Telésforo Polo y Briz and wife Isabel Astudillo
She played an important role in her husband's regime, playing an especially major role in the election of Carlos Arias Navarro (when her husband was already ill) and in censoring the press. She was, undoubtedly, the most influential woman in the regime.
Her constant smile, pearl necklaces, the wedding's postponement became the inspiration for a verse of "La Madelón": "... el comandante Franco es un gran militar que aplazó su boda para ir a luchar..." ("...Commander Franco is a great soldier who postponed his wedding to go to war..."). It was two years before Franco returned to Oviedo.
When he returned, ready to marry, the death of Rafael de Valenzuela, successor to José Millán Astray as commander of the Spanish Legion, intervened. Franco was offered Valenzuela's command, and promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His ambition was too great to resist the opportunity, and he left for Morocco on 18 July 1923, making this promise to his fiancée: "This year we will be married, above all else. If I do not die in combat, I will return to you." Having become Spain's most decorated soldier, Franco was eventually given a leave of forty days, and royal permission to marry. The wedding took place on 16 October/22 October 1923, in the church of San Juan el Real of Oviedo. Franco's best man was King Alfonso XIII, represented by General Antonio Losada, military governor of Asturias. Serving as maid of honour was Isabel Polo, Carmen's aunt. The witnesses were the Marquis de la Vega de Anzo, and Franco's brothers, Nicolás and Ramón. Franco did not invite his father, Nicolás Franco, whom he had never forgiven for leaving his mother and living in Madrid with another woman.
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