page_title: Felipe VI of Spain
section_title: Birth and early life
hierarchical_section_title: Felipe VI of Spain / Birth and early life
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Collectie / Archief&#160;: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie&#160;: [ onbekend ] Beschrijving&#160;: De proclamatie en beëdiging van Prins Juan Carlos tot Koning van Spanje tijdens een speciale zitting van de Cortes, het Spaanse parlement, op 22 november 1975. Juan Carlos vertrekt met zijn vrouw en kinderen na afloop van de plechtigheid. Datum&#160;: 22 november 1975 Trefwoorden&#160;: generaals Persoonsnaam&#160;: Franco, Juan Carlos, prins van Spanje Fotograaf&#160;: [onbekend] Auteursrechthebbende&#160;: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort&#160;: Dia (kleur) Nummer archiefinventaris&#160;: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.07 Bestanddeelnummer&#160;: 254-9764
context_page_description: Felipe VI or Philip VI is the King of Spain. He ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I. His mother is Queen Sofía, and he has two elder sisters, Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, and Infanta Cristina.
  In 2004, Felipe married TV news journalist Letizia Ortiz with whom he has two daughters, Leonor and Sofía.
  In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces with military rank of Captain General, and also plays the role of the supreme representation of Spain in international relations.
context_section_description: He was born at Our Lady of Loreto Nursing Home at Madrid, the third child and only son of Infante Juan Carlos and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark. He was baptised on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, with water from the Jordan River. His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons. His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. 
  Shortly after his birth he was styled infante. The dictator Francisco Franco died just more than two months before Felipe's eighth birthday, and Felipe's father ascended the throne, as the latter had been appointed as Prince (heir presumptive of Franco) back in 1969. In his first official appearance, Felipe attended his father's proclamation as king on 22 November 1975.
  In 1977, Felipe was formally proclaimed Prince of Asturias. In May, nine-year-old Felipe was made an honorary soldier of the 1st King's Immemorial Infantry Regiment. The occasion was marked on 28 May and was attended by the king, the prime minister and several other ministers in a ceremony at the infantry's barracks. On 1 November the same year, he was ceremoniously paid homage as Prince of Asturias in Covadonga. In 1981 Felipe received the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece from his father, the Chief and Sovereign of the Order. On his 18th birthday on 30 January 1986, Felipe swore allegiance to the Constitution and to the King in the Spanish Parliament as required by the constitution, fully accepting his role as successor to the Crown.
caption: In 1975, next to his parents, one of his older sisters (Cristina) and Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel.
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