Queen Julia I at 2007 coronation and talking with me as her reign ends
Julia María Santa Ana Cervantes remembers the day she decided to become Queen of Carnavel. She was a chiquita aged five or six when her parents brought the family down to the Malecón to watch the carros alegóricos, the parade floats that are at the heart the festival. The little girl saw the queen, and she was hooked.
“Her dress had so many jewels, and colours, and a long cape, and feathers. And she wore such a big crown," the 20-year-old said as we talked during the final week of her reign as queen of Carnaval 2007. “It became my fondest dream to have a dress like that.”
In the race for the Carnaval crown, the candidate who brings in the most money wins. Julia raised $186,000 pesos in her 2007 bid and became Queen Julia I. A Carnaval queen doesn’t get prizes, but keeps her gowns. Indirectly, Julia paid for her own royal robes, since the money she raised went towards Carnaval’s bills for costumes and entertainment.
The custom-made coronation gown– she doesn’t give a price tag, just that it’s muy elevado (very high) – “is worth the pain,” she says. All of the clothes for the royal court are hand-stitched by dressmaker Lupita Cosio and her family.
Julia is a little sad that her year as queen is ending, but says she’s glad to know the younger girls in this year’s contest are continuing what she considers a valued tradition.
I ask to take her photo and Julia, obliging like the royalty she is, goes to the car to fetch her crown and sash. As for the dress, it’s at home. She says she may donate it to a museum. Or, she may keep it, a reminder of the childhood dream she made real.
