On 10 April 1950 , in El Pardo , she married Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú , 10th Marquis of Villaverde ( 1 August 1922 , Jaén , Mancha Real – 4 February 1998 , Madrid ) . Villaverde was a prominent surgeon . In 1968 he conducted the first heart transplant operation in Spain . The couple had seven children : Shortly after her father 's death in 1975 , King Juan Carlos created her '' Duchess of Franco '' and a '' Grandee of Spain '' in her own right , with a Coat of Arms of new creation . These Arms are a variation of the Arms of the de Andrade family of Galicia , from whom she is twice descended from the Pardo de Andrade branch , and twice again from the 7th Counts of Lemos and Sarria . In 2008 the Duchess collaborated with Stanley G. Payne and Jesús Palacios Tapias to write '' Franco , My Father '' , a biography of her father from her point of view . She described her father as a warm person . With regards to the White Terror , she noted that " he did n't talk about it at home " . Franco is referred to as " Generalísimo " or " Head of State " , who was an " intelligent and moderate " , a " brave and catholic " man and who established an " authoritarian , but not totalitarian " régime
White Terror
White Terror (Spain)
Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco