Queen Letizia of Spain

Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano; 15 September 1972) is Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI.

Letizia came from a middle-class family. She worked as a journalist for ABC and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Television Espanola. In 1998, she married Alonso Guerrero Perez, whom she divorced the following year. In 2004, Letizia married Felipe, then Prince of Asturias as the son and heir of King Juan Carlos I. The couple have two daughters, Leonor and Sofia. As Princess of Asturias, Letizia represented her father-in-law in Spain and abroad. On Juan Carlos’s abdication in June 2014, Felipe became king, Letizia queen consort.

Family

Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano was born on 15 September 1972 at Minor Sanatorium in Oviedo, Asturias, the eldest daughter of Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez, a journalist, and his first wife, Maria de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodriguez, a registered nurse and hospital union representative. She has two younger sisters, Telma (b. 1973) and Erika (1975-2007), whose death was widely reported by press as due to an international prescription drug overdose.

Letizia’s parents divorced in 1999 and her father remarried in Madrid on 18 March 2004 to fellow journalist Ana Togores.

Letizia’s paternal grandparents were Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco (ca. 1923-2005), a commercial employee at Olivetti; and Maria del Carmen “Manchu” Alvarez del Valle (1928-2021), a radio broadcaster in Asturias for over 40 years.

Her maternal grandfather was Francisco Julio Rocasolano Camacho (1918-2015), a mechanic and cab driver in Madrid for over 20 years who was of French and Occitan origin.

Letizia’s maternal grandmother, Enriqueta Rodriguez Figueredo (1919-2008) was born in the Philippines to Filipino and Spanish parents.

British genealogists have provided evidence that through her mother’s Rocasolano lineage, Letizia descends from Astorg Roquesoulane (died c. 1564), and her coat of arms incorporates the arms of the Rocasolano family. Reports have suggested-and remain unproven-that on her paternal grandfather’s side, Letizia is a descendant of an untitled family descended from medieval nobility who served as constables of Castile.

Education and Career

Letizia attended La Gesta School in Oviedo, before her family moved to Rivas-Vaciamadrid near Madrid, where she attended the Ramiro de Maeztu High School.

She completed a bachelor’s degree in journalism, at the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as a master’s degree in audiovisual journalism at the Institute for Studies in Audiovisual Journalism.

During her studies, Letizia worked for the Asturian daily newspaper La Nueva Espana and later for the newspaper ABC and the news agency EFE. After completing her master’s degree, she traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, where she worked at the newspaper Siglo 21 and began work toward a PhD. She did not, however complete her doctoral thesis because she returned to Spain. After returning to Spain, she worked for the Spanish version of the economic channel Bloomberg before moving to the news network CNN+.

In 2000, she moved to TVE, where she started working for the news channel 24 Horas. In 2002, she anchored the weekly news report program Informe Semanal and later the daily morning news program Telediario Matinal on TVE 1. In August 2003, a few months before her engagement to Felipe, Letizia was promoted to anchor of the TVE daily evening news program Telediario 2, the most viewed newscast in Spain. In 2000, Letizia reported from Washington, D.C., on the president election. In September 2001, she broadcast live from Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks in New York and in 2003, she filed reports from Iraq following the war. In 2002 she sent several reports from Galicia in northern Spain following the ecological disaster when the oil tanker Prestige sank.

First Marriage

Letizia married Alonso Guerrero Perez (born in 1962), a writer and a high school literature teacher, on 7 August 1998, in a simple civil ceremony at Almendralejo, in Badajoz, after a 10-year courtship. The marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1999.

Second Marriage

On 1 November 2003, to the surprise of many, the Royal Household announced Letizia’s engagement to Felipe, then Prince of Asturias.

Afterwards, she moved to live in a wing of the Zarzuela Palace until the day of her wedding. The Prince of Asturias had proposed to her with a 16-baguette diamond engagement ring with a white gold trim. She marked the occasion by giving him white gold and sapphire cufflinks and a classic book.

The wedding took place on 22 May 2004 in the Cathedral Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena in Madrid. It was the first royal wedding in this cathedral. It had been nearly a century since the capital celebrated a royal wedding, as the prince’s married in Athens, and his sisters, Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina, married in Seville and Barcelona respectively.

Letizia’s bridal gown was designed by Spanish fashion designer Manuel Pertegaz, her bridal shoes by Pura Lopez; and the veil, a gift from Felipe to his bride, was made of off-white silk tulle and hand-embroidered with detailing.

As Letizia’s previous marriage involved only a civil ceremony, the Catholic Church does not consider it canonically valid therefore did not require an annulment to proceed with a Catholic marriage to the Prince of Asturias.

Letizia and Felipe have two daughters: Leonor, Princess of Asturias, born on 31 October 2005; and Infanta Sofia, born on 29 April 2007.

They were born at Ruber International Hospital in Madrid.

Princess of Asturias

Princess Letizia immediately joined in the duties of her husband and travelled extensively through Spain representing her father-in-law.

They also represented Spain in other countries: she has travelled along with her husband to Jordan, Mexico, Peru, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the United States, Serbia, Brazil, Uruguay, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, China and Portugal. She also greeted international dignitaries, along with other members of the royal family, and attended gathering of foreign royalty in Luxembourg, for the silver wedding anniversary of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and in the Netherlands for the 40th birthday of the Prince of Orange.

Her solo agenda was announced in 2006, shortly the announcement of her second pregnancy. Letizia has performed a couple of audiences and her work focuses on social issues such as children’s rights, culture, and education. In late 2007, her solo agenda started to grow in the number of events she performed by herself and Felipe’s and Letizia’s agendas became more distinct and separate.

Queen of Spain

Titles

22 May 2004-19 June 2014 Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias,Her Royal Highness The Princess of Girona, The Princess of Viana, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Montblanc, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Cervera, Lady of Balaguer, Infanta of Spain

19 June 2014-present Her Majesty The Queen of Spain

Spanish Honors

-Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, Mistress of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, Dame of the Decoration of the Royal Cavalry of Seville

Foreign Honors

-Angola: Recipient of the Order of Agostinho Neto (7 February 2023)

-Argentina: Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin

-Chile: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit

-Colombia: Grand Cross Extraordinary of the Order of Boyaca

-Estonia: Member 1st Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana

-France: Grand Cross of the Order of National Merit

-Germany: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (17 October 2022)

-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary

-Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (25 October 2021)

-Japan: Grand Cordon (Paulwonia) of the Order of the Precious Crown

-Latvia: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars

-Lebanon: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit

-Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal

-Mexico: Sash of Special Category of the Order of the Aztec Eagle

-Morocco: Member Special Class of the Order of Muhammad

-Panama: Grand Cross of the Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa

-Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun, Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service

-Philippines: Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Heart

-Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty

-Romania: Grand Cross of the Order of Faithful Service

-South Korea: Grand Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit (15 June 2021)

-Sweden: Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (24 November 2021)

Honorific Eponyms

Spain

-Elche, Alicante: Colegio de Educacion Infantil Princess of Asturias (Infantile and Primary Education Public School Princess of Asturias)

-Santander: Centro de Acogida Princess Letizia (Reception Center Princess Letizia)

House: Bourbon-Anjou (by marriage)

Religion: Roman Catholic

(https://en.wikipedia.org)