"The New York Times" reported that Alfonso did not have the permission of his cousin King Alfonso XIII of Spain to marry and that he had been "stripped of his Spanish honours and decorations". Beatrice had been raised Protestant, and chose not to convert to Catholicism. Several days after the marriage it was revealed that King Alfonso XIII had no personal objection to the marriage: indeed, he encouraged it and used his influence to obtain a dispensation so as to allow a Catholic ceremony. Nevertheless, the Spanish government insisted that the marriage of a Spanish "infante" to a Protestant could not receive official approval.