From an exiled king to a scandalous divorce, it goes without saying
that King Felipe VI's marriage to Queen Letizia hasn't been a walk in the park.
Before she met Prince Felipe, Letizia Ortiz was already a well-known journalist for Televisión
Española and kept pretty busy by traveling all over the world as a reporter. By 2000,
she had two college degrees under her belt, a ton of newsroom experience,
and even earned a special journalism award before she turned 30.
As for the prince himself, Felipe was on a journey to find love — and the press loved
him for it. He dated Isabel Sartorius and model Eva Sannum before he finally met his wife-to-be.
Letizia and Felipe first got to know each other after their mutual acquaintance,
Pedro Erquicia López de Montenegro, introduced them at a dinner party in 2002,
according to ABC. The prince had split up with Sannum only a handful of months before, but he
didn't waste any time getting to know the news anchor. The pair hit it off, and with the way they
still look at each other 20 years later, we're not surprised that it was love at first sight.
Felipe and Letizia kept their relationship a secret until they announced their engagement
in 2003. The two apparently did a good job of hiding their private life since
there wasn't a lot of evidence of their romance and the media was shocked when
their relationship was exposed. According to CNN, Felipe told reporters at the time:
"We present ourselves here in love, committed,
with conviction and full of hope and, of course, devoted to serving Spain."
Felipe wowed the world not just with his announcement,
but also with the engagement ring he gave his bride-to-be — a white gold band that
contains sixteen diamonds. According to The Express, it's worth £20,000.
"Daaaaaaaaamn!"
Interestingly, the outlet also reports that Letizia hasn't worn the ring in
public since 2012, which has stirred plenty of conjecture about how she
really feels about the extravagant symbol of her husband's love.
The next hot gossip to hit the press was Letizia's status as a divorcee. As it did with Meghan
Markle, this piece of news brought up all kinds of questions about the propriety of Letizia's
marriage to Felipe. She was previously married to writer Alonso Guerrero Pérez for a short time
before their divorce in 1999. Because she was married through a civil ceremony the first time
around — rather than a full-on Catholic ceremony as the Spanish royals traditionally do — Letizia
was able to marry Prince Felipe without getting an annulment, according to The Globe and Mail.
Alonso Guerrero Pérez also gained a boost in media attention after the royal engagement
was announced, something he's apparently been frustrated about ever since. In 2019,
while discussing his newest book and new relationship, he told Hola!:
"With other authors, normally they're asked about their books. I'm always asked about the
queen. It's uncomfortable, it's strange, when you want to explain your vision of the world,
and you're being asked about that topic instead."
It appears the crown, aka King Juan Carlos I, was also caught off guard by Felipe's choice
of bride. Based on "The Court of Felipe VI" — the Spanish royal family tell-all book — King
Juan Carlos was not a fan of Letizia. The former king supposedly told friends that
his new daughter-in-law was "the worst thing that happened to [the royal family] in many years." He
also allegedly referred to her as "the maid" and claimed she was out to "destroy the monarchy."
"...Right."
According to the tell-all:
"The master never liked the arrival of a journalist in a place that had
traditionally been an opaque haven from the fourth estate."
Felipe and Letizia have seen less and less of Juan Carlos over the years, due
to his abdication in 2014. Following his father's formal resignation and departure from the country,
Felipe immediately took up the role of king. Queen Letizia rules by his side to this day.
Royal weddings are always a big deal, and Felipe and Letizia's ceremony was
no exception. At least 25 million people in Spain tuned in to watch the event,
which was over half of the entire population at the time!
It was also one of the biggest public events since the fatal terrorist train bombings in
Spain earlier that year, which took the lives of 193 people and injured more than 1,800.
Spaniards like Rosa Coral saw the day as an emotional reset. She told The Daily Mail:
"This is a breath of fresh air after the attacks we suffered. We need to get past this."
From head to toe, the bride was decorated with assorted historical accessories,
regal embroidery, and a "cascading bouquet" full of secret symbolism,
according to Casa Real. But when the time came for Letizia to walk down the aisle,
it began to rain. Royal expert Mábel Galaz wrote in her book, "Real Letizia":
"It always rains on the most important days of Letizia's life. The day of her wedding with
Felipe, the day of the birth of her daughter Leonor, the day she buried her sister Érika."
For Felipe and Letizia, it's all about the power suits — power suits for getting engaged,
baptizing babies, and visiting hospitals. Seeing as Letizia was a news anchor before
she became queen, it's not a shocker that she prefers business attire. In 2022,
she made headlines for matching her husband with her own pinstripe blazer.
When they're not rocking the presidential aesthetic, they both have special royal
decorum to wear. Together, they own sashes in a variety of colors, each of which
represents a different honor, title, or order bestowed on them by the crown. For example,
Felipe received a sash from his father during the abdication ceremony that represents the
Captain-General. Letizia wore a hanging cross-like pin on a blue striped sash
for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's 75th birthday celebration in 2015.
Every family has their drama and baggage — even the Spanish royals. It all started when
the family patriarch, King Juan Carlos, was discovered to have injured himself during a
2012 elephant hunting trip in Africa. According to The Guardian, Spanish citizens were up in
arms because taxpayer money was funding the luxuriously expensive trip, which took place
in the middle of a recession. The World Wildlife Fund, a conservation organization, was also quick
to distance itself from the king by stripping him of his status of "honorary president".
Things only got worse from there. King Juan Carlos' daughter,
who has since been stripped of her title, got caught up in a money laundering scandal
through her husband. It wasn't long before the monarch decided to step down in 2014.
In 2020, he was still under investigation for alleged tax fraud, something his son
has tried to distance himself from. Royal expert Pilar Eyre told Euronews:
"Whatever Felipe does, he is always embarrassed by his father."
"Six years after the abdication of Juan Carlos,
more and more people are calling for his son, Felipe VI, to be the last king of Spain."
With Letizia at his side, the new king has made an effort to fix the
monarchy's image. On their official website, there's even a dedicated
tab for "Transparency" where anyone can view or request information about the crown's expenses.
Becoming a princess, and later, the Queen of Spain was not an easy task for Letizia. For one thing,
she had to give up the journalism career she worked so hard to obtain. Secondly,
as a commoner, she had to make many adjustments to fit royal protocol. According to royal journalist
Mábel Galaz, Letizia struggled with the transition. She told The Limited Times:
"She used to say what she thought, [but] because of her profession and her character, she began
to see how she could not say anything. My conclusion is that she was a rebellious princess."
However, once Letizia discovered how she could make a difference as a royal,
she apparently began tackling the challenge of change. Galaz explained:
"[Former queen] Sofía was old school: go to a function, shake hands, smile, pick up a bouquet
of flowers ... [Letizia] knows that the monarchy has to reinvent itself and be more of a citizen."
Since Letizia took up the mantle as an impetus for modernization,
she's used her royal status to help lift up those in need and highlight areas of society
that could use some improvement. She has placed a particular emphasis on science, as her biography
states that one of her main endeavors as queen is "promoting scientific research".
Within a few years of their wedding, Felipe and Letizia had two daughters. Princess Leonor and
Infanta Sofía make up the next generation of Spanish royalty, and they've got their
work cut out for them. Princess Leonor was named the official heir to the Spanish throne when she
was just 8 years old and took up her official royal duties after giving a speech when she
was 13 years old. She is currently enrolled in a private school abroad and, honestly, it looks
like Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Sofía is wrapping up her time at a primary school closer to home.
In 2020, Leonor's parents made it very clear what their expectations are regarding their
elder daughter's future. According to a report by Diario de Mallorca, when Leonor was asked the
infamous question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Letizia responded with,
"What she has to, not what she wants."
The weight of this sentiment rang true in early 2018 when Felipe presented Leonor
with the Order of the Golden Fleece at the royal palace in Madrid. According to PopSugar,
this is a symbolic step towards her eventually taking over the
responsibilities of the throne. Felipe emphasized that the two girls would
have the support of their entire family behind them during the speech, saying:
"Know that you have the support of many people who want the best for Spain,
for the crown and for you. Your family will always be at your side."