On November 25, 1885, King Alfonso XII of Spain died unexpectedly. In connection with his death, the following note appeared in Spanish newspapers, reprinted by many European newspapers and magazines:
“Shortly after the first marriage of Alfonso XII in 1878 with his cousin Princess Mercedes, daughter of the Duke of Montpensier, the king gave his young wife, among other things, a small ring as an intimate memory and, so to speak, in addition to his official gifts.
The young queen immediately put the ring on her finger and did not take it off again. Two months later she was gone. The king took the ring off the finger of his dearly beloved wife so early, and gave the cherished ring in memory of their common maternal grandmother, Queen Christina.
A short time later, Queen Christina died, and the ring, returned to the king, was given to him by his sister, Infanta Maria del Piler. The Infanta died a few days after receiving this gift.
For the third time, the ring returned to King Alfonso, who then presented it to Infanta Christina, sister of Queen Mercedes, the second daughter of the Duke of Montpensier. In less than three months, Infanta Christina was already in her grave.
These four deaths occurred during one year 1878.
King Alfonso demanded the return of his so infamous ring for the fourth time, but did not wear it himself. Seven years passed, the heavy impression gradually faded away, the king was not superstitious, and at the end of September 1885 he decided to wear it and put it on his finger.
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Less than two months later, the newspapers announced that on November 25, Alfonso of Bourbon, the twelfth king of Spain by name, died in the morning at his residence near Madrid, twenty-eight years of age. The king was somewhat weak in chest, but there was nothing serious in his state of health, and even a week before his death no one suspected such a close death.
After the death of the king, the fatal ring was removed from his finger, and when the things and jewelry in the room were removed, this ring reminded those present that everyone who had worn it until then died soon after they put it on. Indeed, five persons who owned it soon died with a ring on their finger: two queens, two princesses and a king.
It seemed that something fatal and pernicious was in this intimate souvenir, and no one wanted to take it for themselves. Currently, the ring is presented as a gift to the Almudena Blessed Virgin - the patroness of the city of Madrid. But instead of putting it on one of the fingers of the statue of the Madonna, they hung the ring around her neck on a simple ribbon."
Unfortunately, not a word has been said about the origin of this deadly ring …