[Spain][Video] King Juan Carlos signs his abdication (June 18, 2014)

[Spain][Video] King Felipe and Queen Letizia rehearsing for their wedding in 2004

[Spain] King Juan Carlos I opens Parliament with new government

I am completely in love with her dress and coat!

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[Spain] Spanish Royal family together (exception to Infanta Cristina's family) to attend Cirque du Soleil

Victoria and Felipe with their mother, Infanta Elena, Infantas Leonor and Sofia holding hands with Queen Sofia and the Prince and Princess of Asturias. What a united front! People missing, obviously: the King (but he usually does not attend this type of event) and Infanta Cristina's family.

If the coat Infanta Elena is wearing is front Zara, I own one just like that.

Queen Sofia with her granddaughters, Doña Victoria Federica and Infanta Leonor

Infanta Sofia holding hands with her grandma and father, Prince Felipe

Princess Letizia looked dazzling and stylish with her leather and fur coat. I hope it's a faux, though.

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When Charles, Diana, William & Harry met Juan Carlos, Sofia, Elena, Cristina & Felipe in 1987...

Spotted: Queen Sofia having one fine night at the Opera

Queen Sofia was spotted yesterday at the premiere of the opera "Saint Francis of Assisi", by Olivier Messiaen, who was first introduced to Spain in its stage version in "The Way to Holiness" . The Opera had to take place at the Madrid Arena and not a theater in the capital due to the complexity of production. 

The Queen was well accompanied as she was sitting by the Minister of Culture, Ángeles González Sinde, and the mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón. At the end of the spectacle, the Queen went to greet the artists after the performance and passed her enthusiasm for this difficult and complex play, directed by one of the foremost experts on Messiaen, Sylvain Cambreling with a production by Emilia and Ilya Kabakov.

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King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Sophia of Greece and Denmark (now Queen Sofia) have been married for 49 years today!

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have now been married for 49 years. Let's take a quick look at how it went half a century ago.

The engagement

The royal couple got engaged on December 12, 1961, having met on a yacht. In the photo above, of the official engagement, from left to right: Princess Irene of Greece, Prince Constantine of Greece, Queen Frederika of Greece, Don Juan Bourbon y Battenberg, Princess Sophia, Juan Carlos of Spain, King Paul I of Greece, Dona Maria de las Mercedes de Bourbon y Orleans, Countess of Barcelona.


Some background
Juan Carlos and Sophia are both Queen Victoria's descendants and therefore related several times. Juan Carlos is a grandson of Queen Victoria-Eugenia of Spain, born a Princess of Battenberg. Victoria-Eugenia was the only daughter of Prince Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice of Great Britain. Beatrice was Queen Victoria's youngest child. Victoria-Eugenia of Battenberg had the distinct honor of being a favorite of Empress Eugenie of the French, Napoleon III's widow. The closeness between the family of Queen Victoria and her friend Empress Eugenie's led to Beatrice naming her daughter in honor of the two older ladies. Some have also rumored that this friendship between Beatrice and Eugenie was the result of the English princess' love for Eugenie's unfortunate son, the Prince Imperial who died in Africa during the Zulu Wars in 1879.

Sophia is a descendant of Queen Victoria through both her parents. King Paul I of the Hellenes was the youngest son of King Constantine I and Queen Sophie, born a Princess of Prussia. Sophie was the third daughter of Kaiser Friedrich III and Kaiserin Victoria, who was Queen Victoria's eldest child. Sophia's mother, Frederica of Hanover, was the only daughter of Duke Ernst-August of Brunswick and Princess Victoria-Luise of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II's only daughter. Wilhelm II and Queen Sophie of Greece were siblings, both being children of Kaiser Friedrich III and Kaiserin Victoria. Duke Ernst-August was closely related to the English royal family, as the head of the old Hanoverian royal family. Ernst-August was the grandson of King George V of Hanover, only son of King Ernst-August of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland. Ernst-August was the younger brother of Edward, Duke of Kent, Queen Victoria's father

The wedding ceremony

The prince and princess were married at two church ceremonies. The first ceremony took place at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Denis, Athens, Greece. Accompanied by her father and brother Constantine, Sophia arrived at the church in a majestic golden royal coach pulled by six horses.

The emotion of the day finally got to the bride by the time she reached the altar. Tears fell down her cheeks, and a concerned Juan Carlos offered her his handkerchief and held her arm to comfort her. By the way, 42 years after, Felipe did the exact same with Letizia.

After the couple were pronounced husband and wife, mass was celebrated. The strains of Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Perosi’s Magnificat filled the church. Accompanied by Handel’s Alleluia, Juan Carlos and Sophia left the church to be greeted by rapturous crowds.

After the one-hour Catholic ceremony, the couple then traveled in a carriage drawn by six white horses to a second ceremony at the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral of the Virgin Mary.

The bride’s dress

The bride wore a silver-white lamé gown encrusted with Brussels lace and antique brocade, by Greek designer Jean Dessés.

The bride’s veil

The veil was 15-feet long, and had been used 25 years earlier at the wedding of the bride’s parents, Princess Federica of Hanover and Prince Pavlos of Greece.

The bride’s tiara

Sophia’s elegant imperial-style tiara, made of platinum and diamonds, was given to her by her mother Queen Frederica.

Since the tiara was made it has been connected with dynastic weddings. Kaiser Wilhelm II gave it to his daughter Princess Victoria of Prussia when she married the Crown Prince of Hannover, Ernesto Augusto.

Victoria’s daughter Queen Frederica of Greece was herself given the tiara by her mother when she married the then Prince Pavlos of Greece.

Queen Sofía of Spain loaned the tiara to her daughter-in-law Princess Letizia on her marriage to Sofía’s son Felipe and she has been using it ever since.

The flowers

The bride carried a small bouquet of lily of the valley. The Orthodox Cathedral was decorated with 35,000 roses, Sophia’s favorite flower; red and yellow carnations, the colors of Spain, filled the Roman Catholic Church.

The bride and groom’s attendants

The bride was attended by Princess Irene of Greece (the bride’s sister), Infanta Pilar of Spain (the groom’s sister), Princess Irene of the Netherlands, Princess Alexandra of Kent, and Princesses Beneditke and Anne Marie of Denmark—the latter Danish princess would eventually become the bride’s sister-in-law, Princess Anne of France, and Princess Tatiana Radziwill. Prince Michael of Greece, the Duke of Aosta, and Infante Alfonso de Orleans acted on behalf of the groom.

The wedding banquet

Once the Orthodox ceremony finished, the newlyweds returned to the Greek royal palace. After a brief royal civil ceremony, a fantastic banquet for more than one thousand guests was held in honor of Juan Carlos and Sophia.

The guest list

The wedding saw the biggest gathering of royals in Europe since before 1914. Over 150 members of Europe’s royal families were invited, including representatives from the royal houses of Greece, Spain, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Hanover, Portugal, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Parma, Württemberg, and Romania.

Thousands of Spaniards traveled from Spain to Greece to witness the wedding of their future King and Queen. Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia hosted a large garden party at the Hellenic Tennis Club to acknowledge their Spanish guests’ support and enthusiasm for the union.

The honeymoon

After the wedding banquet, the couple left for the royal retreat on the island of Corfu, starting a four month honeymoon and also spent time in New York.


Nowadays
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are still married *sigh of relief*, have two daughters and a son, Elena, Cristina and Felipe. Infanta Elena married Jaime de Marichalar in 1995 and have two children. They divorced in 2010. Infanta Cristina married Iñaki Urdangarin in 1999 and have four children. They now live in Washington. Don Felipe married Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in 2004. They now have two children.

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King and Queen of Spain off to Switzerland

King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia are traveling today to Zurich for a two-day state visit to Switzerland which will include official activities in Bern and Lausanne, with the aim of strengthening the already "excellent" bilateral relations in the political, economic, cultural and scientific fields. 

As reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, the Spanish diplomat, Trinidad Jiménez, will accompany them in their second state visit to Switzerland, the first took place in 1979. 

The aircraft of the Spanish Air Force landed today at noon at the airport in Zurich, where Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey welcome King Juan Carlos and his wife. Then, they followed on a particular train to Bern, aboard the which lunch was served. 

As they arrived at the railway station in Bern-Kehrsatz, they were greeted by a group of schoolboys, who performed traditional songs, after which they attended an official welcoming ceremony with military honors at the federal plaza in the capital.

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[The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Wedding] Princess Letizia, married to two Felipes

Oh. My. God. Letizia in a hat! So seldom in her! I loved her overall look, signed by Felipe Varela, her fashion husband, the author of... ALL her major dresses. And her real husband, Prince Felipe of Asturias looked dashing. For a change. Wink.

Here with the always smily Queen Sofia in a Margarita Nuez violet suit with some stockings that make her look a bit sick, unfortunately.

[Pre-Wedding Dinner] Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe and the never more beautiful Princess Letizia

source of the photos: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Europe

Oh. My. God. Second. Time. Of. The. Night. Letizia, hija, you are perfect!! That dress is perfect, head to toe. Her hair is perfect. I can not find any other adjective to talk about her. Felipe was just being as gorgeous as he always is and Queen Sofia was... cold. As cold as Letizia was not cold, apparently.


Update - two photos of them leaving the party:

CP Felipe looks quite... happy!

Royal weddings from the past - King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia (1962)

Then Princess Sophia holding both her new husband and brother (former King) Constantine's arms.

Juan Carlos was married in Athens at the Church of Saint Dennis on May 14th, 1962, to Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul. She was Greek Orthodox but converted to Roman Catholicism in order to become Spain's queen. Her name is now styled as Queen Sofia.

Juan Carlos and Sofia are fluent in several languages. They both speak Spanish, English, and French. The king also speaks fluent Italian and Catalan. Unlike the queen, Juan Carlos does not speak any German, nor her native language, Greek, a fact he allegedly regrets.

Emir of Qatar and wife Sheikha Mozah in Spain - day one (photos)

Sheikha Mozah, Queen Sofia, Princess Letizia.

Mozah is the Emir's second wife. Her second son is the Heir Apparent to the throne, as her older son resigned a few years ago. She is 51 years old.

Sheikha Mozah with Queen Sofia, Infanta Cristina and Princess Letizia

Infanta Cristina, Queen Sofia, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, King Juan Carlos I, Sheikha Mozah, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia on the Emir's official visit to Spain. These photos were taken just before their official lunch.

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