| Letizia | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Asturias | |
| The Princess of Asturias at the pre-wedding events before the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, 18 June 2010 | |
| Spouse | Alonso Guerrero Pérez (m. 1998; div. 1999) Felipe, Prince of Asturias (m. 2004) |
| Issue | |
| Infanta Leonor of Spain Infanta Sofía of Spain |
|
| Full name | |
| Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano | |
| House | House of Bourbon |
| Father | Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez |
| Mother | María de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodríguez |
| Born | 15 September 1972 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Letizia, Princess of Asturias (née Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano on 15 September 1972), is the wife of Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Before her marriage to the prince, she was a journalist.
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Letizia is the eldest daughter of Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez (born in Oviedo on 24 December 1949), a journalist, and first wife María de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodríguez, (born in Madrid on 15 April 1952) a registered nurse and also a hospital union representative.[1]
Her parents divorced in 1999 and her father remarried on 1 September 2000 or in Madrid on 18 March 2004 to fellow journalist Ana Togores N, born ca. 1955.[2]
Letizia's paternal grandparents were José Luis Ortiz Velasco (ca. 1923 - Sardéu, Ribadesella, 30 March 2005), a retired commercial employee at Olivetti who died of a pulmonary disease,[3] and wife (m. 1949) María del Carmen "Menchu" Álvarez del Valle (Santander, ca. 1928 -), a well known radio broadcaster in Asturias for over 40 years. Her maternal grandparents are Francisco Julio Rocasolano Camacho (ca. 1918 -), a mechanic and a cab driver in Madrid for over 20 years, and half-Filipino wife (m. Madrid, 1950) Enriqueta Rodríguez Figueredo (Oviedo, 1919 - Madrid, 22 June 2008); by her maternal grandfather she is of French and Occitan[4] descent and by her maternal grandmother is of Filipino descent (Enriqueta Rodríguez Figueredo was half-Filipino, making Princess Letizia 1/8 Filipino).
It has been said, to much popular acclaim, that Letizia had no noble blood, but although her mother came from a working class family, on her paternal grandfather's side she is an untitled descendant of the families that were for centuries Constables of Castile and other Royal high office holders.
Letizia has two sisters (one now deceased) :
Letizia attended La Gesta School in Oviedo, before her family moved to Madrid, where she attended high school at the Ramiro de Maeztu High School.[7] She completed a Bachelor's Degree and a Licentiate's Degree in Sciences of the Information, in the branch of 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.[8]
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Extended royal family
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During her studies, Letizia worked for the Asturian daily newspaper La Nueva España and later for the newspaper ABC and the news agency EFE.[7][8] After completing her studies, she spent some time in Guadalajara, Mexico, working at the newspaper Siglo XXI. After returning to Spain, she worked for the Spanish version of the economic channel Bloomberg before moving to the news network CNN+.[8]
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.[7][8] 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 presidential elections. 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.
Letizia married Alonso Guerrero Pérez, born in Mérida in 1962, son of Juan Francisco Guerrero N and wife María de los Dolores Pérez N, a Licentiate in Philosophy from the University of Extremadura, a writer and a high-school literature teacher, on 6/7 August 1998, in a simple civil ceremony at Almendralejo, in Badajoz, after a 10-year courtship.[9] The marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1999. They had no children. He is now married to María del Carmen Astero N.
On 1 November 2003 to the surprise of many, the Royal Household announced Letizia's engagement to the Prince of Asturias.[8] Afterwards, she moved to live in a wing of Zarzuela Palace until the day of her wedding.[10]
The wedding took place on 22 May 2004 in the Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid. It was the first royal wedding in this cathedral, which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. It had been nearly a century since the capital celebrated a royal wedding, as the present king and queen married in Athens, and the prince's sisters, Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina, married in Sevilla and Barcelona respectively.
As Letizia's previous marriage involved only a civil ceremony, the Roman Catholic Church does not consider it canonically valid and therefore did not require an annulment from the Pope to proceed for a Roman Catholic marriage to the Prince of Asturias.
After the wedding, she moved with her new husband to his residence, a 3,150 square metres (33,900 sq ft) palace built within the Zarzuela Palace grounds.[11]
It was announced on 8 May 2005 that Letizia was pregnant and on 31 October 2005 at 1:46 a.m. at the Ruber Clinic in Madrid, she gave birth to a girl, Infanta Leonor, the first child for the couple, who was baptized on 14 January 2006. The godparents were the King and Queen of Spain.
As for the Infanta's future as a possible monarch, The Prince of Asturias was quoted in the Spanish Herald, when asked by a reporter if "a queen has [been] born", the prince answered, "For now a princess has been born. But the logic of the times means that if the reform that the administration is planning takes place, she will be."
On 25 September 2006 the Royal House announced that the couple were expecting their second child in May 2007.[12] On 27 November 2006 it was announced that the second child the Princess was expecting was also a girl. On 29 April 2007, at 16:50 h, her second daughter, Infanta Sofía, was born. Her godparents were Paloma Rocasolano and Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin of Bulgaria and her baptism was on 15 July 2007.
Letizia joined from the beginning the duties of her husband Felipe, Prince of Asturias, and travelled extensively through Spain in representation of the King. They also represented Spain in other countries: the Princess has travelled along with the Prince to Jordan, Mexico, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the United States of America, Serbia, Brazil, Uruguay, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, China and Portugal. She also greeted, along with other members of the royal family, international dignitaries. Letizia also attended foreign royalty gatherings in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, for the silver wedding anniversary of The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, as well as the 40th birthday celebrations of The Prince of Orange.
Her solo agenda was announced in 2006, shortly after the announcement of her second pregnancy. Letizia has performed a couple of audiences and her work will focus on social issues such as children rights, culture and education.
In late 2007, her solo agenda started to grow in the quantity of events she performed by herself and Felipe's and Letizia's agendas became more distinct and separate.
The coat of arms of Letizia impales her husband's shield to the dexter (viewer's left) with her family arms -1st and 4th quarters, the arms of her father Jesus Ortiz Azure an eight points star Or a bordure chequy Gules and Argent; 2nd and 3rd quarters, the arms of her maternal grandfather Francisco Rocasolano Or a rose Gules barbed and seeded Vert; all surmounted by Prince of Asturias's crown as heir-apparent (Crown's arches differenced as consort) and surrounded by the ribbon of the Order of Charles III. It was designed by Asturian Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy (Academia Asturiana de Heráldica y Genealogía). The Princess's coat of arms has no official status, it is for heraldic (personal) use. In Spain only the coats of arms of the King and the Prince of Asturias are official.[13][14]
| Monarchical styles of Princess Letizia of Asturias |
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|---|---|
| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
Her full official title is: Her Royal Highness Doña Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Viana, Princess of Girona, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cervera and Lady of Balaguer.
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