# King Alfonso XIII of Spain - could he really not recognise the national anthem?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 7, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692 "2006-06-07T01:50:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/1 "2006-06-07T01:50:50Z")
I came across one of those trivia facts last night:
> [@](#):
>
> King Alfonso XIII of Spain (reigned 1886-1931) was so tone-deaf that he employed one man whose sole duty was to tell the King to stand up whenever the Spanish national anthem was played, since the King wasn’t able to recognise it.
Does anyone know whether this was really true? Is it possible for a person to be that tone-deaf?
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/2 "2006-06-08T07:47:17Z")
No takers?
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/3 "2006-06-08T13:03:25Z")
Well, considering that the dates are all wrong, I don’t think the rest of the quote would be accurate.
The dates add together Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/4 "2006-06-08T13:22:58Z")
Well, Alfonso XIII never stood up for the national anthem when he was first made king – he was a posthumous heir of his father, and on the throne from birth. No idea about the tonedeafness though.
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/5 "2006-06-08T13:34:13Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> The dates add together Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII.
No, those are the right regnal dates, although it includes his childhood, when his mother was regent.
In _The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty_, John Bergamini discusses Alfonso’s personality in some detail and notes that he wasn’t much of a patron of music but was “quite fond of military marches”. No comment about tone-deafness one way or the other.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/6 "2006-06-08T14:35:56Z")
> [@Freddy the Pig](#):
>
> No, those are the right regnal dates, although it includes his childhood, when his mother was regent.
You’re right, my bad. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/king-alfonso-xiii-of-spain-could-he-really-not-recognise-the-national-anthem/359692/7 "2006-06-08T22:34:51Z")
> [@Freddy the Pig](#):
>
> In _The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty_, John Bergamini discusses Alfonso’s personality in some detail and notes that he wasn’t much of a patron of music but was “quite fond of military marches”. No comment about tone-deafness one way or the other.
Thanks for that. A fondness for military marches doesn’t really seem consistent with such a degree of tone-deafness that he wasn’t able to recognise his own national anthem. I assume this was just another of those made-up internet facts.