Franco's daughter was the offspring of his brother: book
The daughter of late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco was probably fathered by his brother, according to a new book which also repeats claims that the general had only one testicle.
The daughter of late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco was probably fathered by his brother, according to a new book which also repeats claims that the general had only one testicle.
In his book on the "secret life" of Franco's younger brother Ramon, the writer and journalist Jose Maria Zavala cites evidence that Carmen, officially the dictator's only child, was really the daughter of Ramon.
Zavala includes testimony from Angel Alcazar de Velasco, a friend of Ramon Franco, that he had an affair with a prostitute who died after giving birth to a girl.
Francisco Franco and his wife Carmen Polo brought the child up as there own, according to the book.
Other evidence for the claim includes the total lack of photographs of pregnant Carmen Polo or of her daughter when she was little, and the different dates given for her birth in various documents and biographies.
"Only a DNA test can shed light on this issue," Zavala said.
Carmen Polo Franco, now 82, married a doctor, Cristobal Martinez-Bordiu, and they have seven children.
The biography of Ramon Franco, released today, also includes what Zavala said was the "astonishing revelation" that the dictator was monorchic, meaning he had only one testicle.