Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos.
Born a princess of Greece and Denmark, she became Queen of Spain upon her husband's accession
in 1975.
On 2 June 2014, Juan Carlos announced that he would abdicate in favour of their son,
Felipe VI, who assumed the throne on 19 June 2014.
Early life Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark was born
in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of King Paul and his
wife, Frederica of Hanover.
Sofia is a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty.
Her brother is the deposed King Constantine II and her sister is Princess Irene.
Princess Sofia spent some of her childhood in Egypt where she took her early education
in El Nasr Girls' College in Alexandria.
Then she attended South Africa during her family's exile from Greece during World War
II.
They returned to Greece in 1946.
She finished her education at the prestigious Schloss Salem boarding school in Southern
Germany, and then studied childcare, music and archeology in Athens.
Sofia also studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University
of Cambridge.
She represented Greece, alongside her brother Constantine, as a reserve member of the Gold
Medal-winning sailing team in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Marriage and family Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark met Infante
Juan Carlos of Spain on a cruise in the Greek Islands in 1954; they met again at the wedding
of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, at York Minster in June 1961.
The couple married on 14 May 1962 at the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius.
The bride's gown was made by Jean Dessès and she was attended by her sister Princess
Irene of Greece and Denmark, the groom's sister Infanta Pilar of Spain, and Sofia's future
sister-in-law Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, along with Princess Irene of the Netherlands,
Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess Anne of Orleans and Princess
Tatiana Radziwill.
Sofia converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism to become more palatable to Catholic
Spain, and thus relinquished her rights to the Greek throne.
Along with this, the usual Latinisation of her Greek name was changed from Sophia to
the Spanish variant, Sofía.
In 1969, Prince Juan Carlos, who was never Prince of Asturias, was given the official
title of "Prince of Spain" by the Spanish state; Sofía herself had suggested the title.
Juan Carlos acceded to the throne in 1975 upon the death of Francisco Franco.
The couple have three children: Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo; Infanta Cristina, Duchess
of Palma de Mallorca; and Felipe VI of Spain.
Their four grandsons and four granddaughters are Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar y de
Borbón, Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón, and Princess Leonor and Infanta
Sofía, all of whom are in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.
Royal duties
Besides accompanying her husband on official visits and occasions, Queen Sofía also has
solo engagements.
She is executive president of the Queen Sofía Foundation, which in 1993 sent funds for relief
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is honorary president of the Royal Board on Education
and Care of Handicapped Persons of Spain, as well as the Spanish Foundation for Aid
for Drug Addicts.
She takes special interest in programs against drug addiction, travelling to conferences
in both Spain and abroad.
The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is named after her, as is Reina Sofía Airport
in Tenerife.
Queen Sofía is often seen representing the Spanish Royal Family at weddings of other
European royalty, most recently at the wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and
Daniel Westling in 2010 and the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in
2011; her husband had earlier expressed his wish that he not attend such royal functions.
The Queen is an Honorary Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of
the Spanish Royal Academy of History.
She has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rosario, Valladolid, Cambridge,
Oxford, Georgetown, Evora, St. Mary's University, and New York.
A keen supporter of sport, the Queen also attended the final match of the 2010 Wimbledon
Championships – Men's Singles where she watched Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal
win for a second time, as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup where the Spanish team was
crowned as world champion.
Queen Sofía has been honorary president of the Spanish Unicef Committee since 1971.
She has been working closely with Dr. Muhammed Yunus on his Grameen Bank, which offers microcredits
to women across the world.
Queen Sofía has travelled to Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Mexico to
support the activities of the organization led by Yunus.
Queen Sofía has also been a strong supporter of Somaly Mam's efforts and of the NGO she
founded—Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire—in combatting child prostitution
and slavery in Cambodia.
In 1998, Mam was awarded the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation
in her presence.
In July 2012, the Queen visited the Philippines for a fourth time.
She inspected several development projects around the former Spanish colony that the
her country's government is funding via the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional
para el Desarollo.
She visited the National Library, National Museum and the University of Santo Tomas.
She also met with Spanish nationals residing in the Philippines, and attend a reception
at the Spanish Embassy.
She also attended a state dinner in her honour at Malacañan Palace hosted by President Benigno
Aquino III.
Personal life
In addition to Spanish and her native Greek, Queen Sofía also speaks Italian, French,
German, Portuguese and English.
Abolition of the Greek monarchy Queen Sofía was in Greece on a private visit
to her brother, King Constantine II, when the 1967 Greek military coup took place.
Since then, he has been stripped of his title, citizenship and property in Greece.
Except for a brief stay for the funeral of her mother in 1981, Queen Sofía did not visit
republican Greece until 1998.
She and her husband paid an official visit after 17 years as guests of the then–President
Constantinos Stephanopoulos.
Fashion The Queen is considered one of the most fashionable
royals in Europe and there is always interest in her clothing at royal events.
After becoming queen, Sofía gained the privilege of wearing white before the pope, as opposed
to the black donned by other visitors who do not have the title "Catholic Monarch".
Opinions She criticised the military intervention in
Afghanistan, where Spanish troops were taking part at the moment, her defence of religious
education in schools, and her conviction that gender violence publicity will encourage new
cases to happen.
Her opinions were the object of lively criticism from LGBT associations and from Spanish intellectuals.
Also responding were Spanish republican political parties like IU and ERC.
The governing PSOE decided to keep silent, while the conservative opposition PP also
did so, after at first one of its representatives criticised of the Queen's political intervention.
A biography published in May 2012, claims that the Queen is a vegetarian who dislikes
bullfighting.
Notable published works En Decelia: fragmentos cerámicos de Decelia
y miscelánea arqueológica.
Athens,.
Edited in Spanish in Spain, 2013.
ISBN 9788494103308 Ancestry
Titles, honours and arms
2 November 1938 – 14 May 1962: Her Royal Highness Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark
14 May 1962 – 21 July 1969: Her Royal Highness Infanta Sofía of Spain
21 July 1969 – 22 November 1975: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Spain
22 November 1975 – 19 June 2014: Her Majesty The Queen
19 June 2014 – present: Her Majesty Queen Sofía
Sofía was appointed to the Grand Cross of The Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles
III on 10 May 1962 and to The Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa on 14 May 1962.
The Queen of Spain was appointed to the Collar of the The Royal and Distinguished Order of
Charles III as dame on 31 October 1983.
Since then, Queen Sofía has received different appointments and decorations by more than
40 foreign states.
Arms References
External links Official website of the Spanish Royal Family
Official website of the Queen Sofia Foundation Queen Sofia Family Tree