On Monday the 26th, the former Head of the Household of H.M. the King, Don Sabino Fernandez Campo, Count of Latores, died in Madrid. He was a very beloved man in Spain, and was 91 years old.

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Don Sabino was born in Oviedo on March 17, 1918. After a military career, he started his work at the Royal House in 1977 as General Secretary and from 1990 to 1993, he become the Head of the Househld. He developed an important role in the Spanish life as the Head of the Household. He made main decisions in Royal Family’s institutional work, and he was a key person in Prince Felipe’s education.

He was the closest man to King Juan Carlos during the Spanish state coup on the 23rd of February 1981, when almost 200 members of the Guardia Civil stormed the Congreso de los Diputados and staged a coup while Congress was in the process of electing a new Prime Minister.

Don Sabino was great defender of democracy during those difficult moments and a very loyal person. “My role always has been secondary; it’s been characterized for being always next to someone, never above. To be secondary is never to want occupy the principal position, but to advise well and to be always at service,” he said about himself.

On 1992, King Juan Carlos granted the nobility title of Count of Latores for his “long and brilliant career of out-standing, military and civil services to Spain”.

The Count of Latores was buried yesterday in Oviedo, his homeland. Today the Royal Family will hold a funeral at Pardo Palace church, which will be attended by Don Sabino’s relatives and the Royal Family.

Paty Spanish Royals Death, King Juan Carlos, Royal Staff

On Friday 23rd, the 2009 Prince of Asturias Awards took place at Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, Asturias.

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At 18:25, the Prince and Princess of Asturias arrived at theatre to preside over the ceremony. They were accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Sofia, who always attends the ceremony, and by HRH Princess Alia of Jordan, a special guest who for the first time attended the event. Both watched the ceremony form the royal box.

The Prince and Princess took their seats at the Presidential table along with the President of the Principality of Asturias, Mr. Vicente Alvarez Areces, and the President of the Prince of Asturias Foundation, Mr. Matias Rodriguez Inciarte. The ceremony started with the playing of the national anthem, played by the City of Oviedo Bagpipe Band. After a brief speech by the President of the Foundation; Ismail Kadaré, José Narro, Margaret Chan and Klaus Wowereit gave thanking speeches.

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A special and emotive one, was Ismail Kadaré speech. “During that glacial age when no-one traveled between my country and Spain, a solitary gentleman crossed the impassable frontier as often as he wished, spurning the world’s laws. You know who I am referring to: Don Quixote,” he said.

The award winners left their seats and walked to the President’s table, to be handed the Award by the Prince. Afterward the Prince gave his speech, considered one of his most important speeches of the year, in which he devoted a few words to this year laureates. HRH also give thanks to “the people of Asturias and to others parts of Spain, and event too many from abroad who accompany us to make this day a great celebration of culture and of concord”. Read more…

Paty Spanish Royals Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Prince of Asturias Awards, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Queen Sofia

This evening the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award grand presentation ceremony will take place. More than a thousand journalists from more than a hundred media stations worldwide are accredited to cover the XXIX Prince of Asturias Awards.

For those interested in watching the whole ceremony, it will be broadcast live on La 1 TV, and the 24 Hour Channel of TVE. Also foreign medias will broadcast it to their countries, the European Association of Public Service Broadcasters, Eurovision, the Television of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Euronews will also broadcast part of the grand presentation ceremony. The Mexican radio channel Grupo Radiocentro will also broadcast from the Campoamor Theatre in their programme “De una a tres”, chaired by journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky.

The Ceremony will start at 6:30pm, but prior that, at 6:15pm TVE will broadcast the departure from Reconquista Hotel of the prize winners and the Prince and Princess of Asturias to Campoamor Theatre, where the Ceremony will take place.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation has conferred its awards since 1981. The principal intention is to acknowledge scientific, technical, cultural, social, and humanitarian work carried out by institutions, individuals, and groups of people whose achievements are exemplary at an international level.

This year the laureates with the 2009 Prince of Asturias awards are:

Norman Foster, Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts

World Health Organization, Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation

David Attenborough, Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences

The National Autonomous University of Mexico, Prince of Asturias for Communication and Humanities

Martin Cooper and Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.

Ismail Kadare, Prince of Asturias Award for Letters

Yelena Isinbayeva, Prince of Asturias Award for Sports

The City of Berlin, Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.

For more information please visit this thread

Paty Spanish Royals Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Prince of Asturias Awards, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias

 The President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman, and his wife, Wafaa Suleiman, arrived yesterday in Madrid to start a two-day state visit to Spain upon the invitation of Their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

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The Presidential couple was welcomed with state honours by the King and Queen of Spain at Pardo Palace, where they will reside during their stay in Spain. Afterward, a private lunch was hosted by the King and Queen at Zarzuela Palace, which was also attended by the Prince and Princess of Asturias and the Presidential couple’s eldest daughter, Rita Suleiman, and her husband Wissam Baroudi.

That night, the traditional gala dinner took place at the Royal Palace, in honor of the Lebanese President and his wife which was attended by representatives of both governments. President Suleiman and the First Lady were honoured by the Spanish government with the Spanish Order of Isabel de Catolica, while the Spanish Royals were honoured with the Lebanese Order of Merit.

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During his speech at the dinner, King Juan Carlos spoke of the Lebanese president: “Spain always followed closely the evolution of the political Lebanese situation, and has contributed with our best efforts to your country to overcome the challenges and tears of its most recent history. The commitment of Spain to Lebanon is wide and solid.”

Today Queen Sofia and the Lebanese First Lady will visit the Alzheimers Centre of the Queen Sofia Foundation and at night the return reception in honour of the King and Queen of Spain will take place at Pardo Palace.

Tomorrow, the Presidential Couple will leave Spain.

Paty Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Lebanon, Orders, President Suleiman, Queen Sofia, State Visit

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 Today must have been a special day for Princess Letizia, as she returned to her homeland, Asturias. As you all surely remember, she was born in Oviedo, its capital. By the way, next Friday the Prince and the Princess of Asturias will be there again to attend the presentation ceremony of the 2009 Princes of Asturias Awards which is without doubt the major annual event they attend. Oviedo is already waiting for its Prince and Princess and its prizewinners…but everything in good time.

Today the Princess was in Candás, a beautiful fishing village in the north of Asturias famous for its Internatinal Sadine Festival (this blogger can testify to that) to visit the San Felix school. This centre is part of EducaRed program which is promoted by Fundación Telefónica and whose main goal is to apply Internet as a tool of innovation and pedagogic training among teachers, parents and pupils of primary and secondary education, baccalaureate and formative cycles of average degree, to improve the quality of their education and to encourage the equality of opportunities. Currently in Spain more than 12,000 schools are registered in this program.

See you in Oviedo next week!

Paty Spanish Royals Children, Education, Internet, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias

 Yesterday the Queen of Spain, as Executive Chairman of the Queen Sofia Foundation, attended a work meeting with the Minister of Science and Innovation, Carmen Garmendia, and directors of Instituto Carlos III at Zarzuela Palace.

The main issue of the meeting was to inform the Queen on the Minister’s advances and projects in research of Alzheimer’s disease in Spain, as well as the plans which will allow Spain to join the EU Joint Programming in Research on Alzheimers.

Spain will be a part of the Joint Program in Research Direction Committee together with France, Germany and England. According to the Minister, Spain’s main work will be the research in genetics of Alzheimer’s disease, the design of a unique animal model in Europe, the research in pharmacological interventions and research into medical care and technologies of help to dependence and disability.

On 17 May 1977, the Queen Sofia Foundation was established with a small capital personally provided by H.M. the Queen. Its aims are charitable and cultural, and its nature is non-profit and permanent. These days its bigger project is the Alzheimer Project which faces the consequences of Alzheimer’s disease on patients and their families.

Currently the foundation has completed its Alzheimer Centre, by delivering the finished buildings to the Public Administrations with all the necessary equipment and in full working order.

Paty Spanish Royals Alzheimers Project, Health, Queen Sofia, Queen Sofia Foundation

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 Today, October 12, the Spanish Royal Family celebrated the Spanish National Day. King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, Infanta Elena, and the Duke and Duchess of Palma (who are back from Washington for a few days) arrived early in the morning at Plaza de Lima in Madrid where a military parade is taking place.

Prior the event, His Majesty King Juan Carlos left a floral tribute at the Spanish flagpole in memory of soldiers killed aboard. At midday, the entire Royal Family will host a reception for the authorities at the Royal Palace.

For more information and pictures please visit this thread

Paty Spanish Royals Iñaki Urdangarín, Infanta Cristina, Infanta Elena, King Juan Carlos, National Day, Prince Felipe, Princess Letizia, Queen Sofia

 The Prince and Princess of Asturias arrived on Sunday in the USA to start a three-day visit to New Mexico and Chicago.

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Their Royal Highnesses visited on Monday the new facilities of the National Hispanic Cultural Centre in Albuquerque, and the Cervantes Institute, which was inaugurated by the Prince and Princess in their visit in 2004.

Afterward they went to New Mexico Univiersity (they already visited in 2004) where they had a meeting with the Advisory committee of the Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair at Zimmermans Library. The Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair, which this year goes to Fernándo Pérez-Gómez, was created in honor of the heir to the Spanish Crown, and its aim is to promote collaboration between Spanish and U.S. scholars by “bringing a preeminent Spanish scientist to the University of New Mexico to engage in teaching and research in information science and technology.”

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At the end of the day Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia attended a dinner that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and his wife Barbara Richardson hosted in their honor in their official residence in Santa Fe. The dinner was also attended by the First Lady of Mexico, Margarita Zabala.

On Tuesday, Felipe and Letizia attend the major event of their visit to New Mexico, the City of Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary celebrations. As heir to the Spanish Crown, Prince Felipe, declared his joy and honour to represent Spain, together with the Princess, in the ceremonies that commemorate the Founding of the capital of “this beautiful and fascinating” State of New Mexico. Read more…

Paty Spanish Royals Official Visit, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, United States of America

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 After her private visit to attend the baptism of Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie Chantal’s 5th child, Queen Sofia arrived yesterday at Thessaloniki from Athens, where she was since Monday, to attend the official inauguration of “El Miró de Mallorca” exhibition.

The exhibition, which will run until February 5 2010, is organized by the Teloglio Foundation and Pilar i Joan Miro of Mallorca, and shows more than 400 works made by the Spanish artist during his life on the island.

Yesterday the Queen was back in Athens to visit the New Acropolis Museum which was inaugurated last June. The museum has been recently constructed with Greece and European Union funds (almost 150 million Euros). The beautiful building is made of glass, stainless steel and cement and is located in the southeast of the Acropolis. A truly gem that a high value of archeology as Queen Sofia couldn’t miss.

Paty Spanish Royals Exhibition, Greece, Official Visit, Queen Sofia

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 As they did with Leonor two years ago, today Prince Felipe and Princess Leticia took their youngest daughter, Sofia, to kindergarten. Today was not the first day that Sofia attends the day-care centre as she has been attending since September 3.

Sofia will start her school life in the same kindergarten her sister attended, which is located at King’s Royal Guard Quarters in El Pardo, near Zarzuela Palace.

The daughter of the Prince and Princess of Asturias will began the day at 8:30am and will leave school at 3:00pm, so she will lunch and take the “siesta” in the centre. Sofia will share lessons and games with the other 40 children whose parents work in the King Quarters.

Paty Spanish Royals Education, Infanta Sofia