Biography of HRH Prince Felipe of Asturias

[Elsa M.]

Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, the third child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, was born at Nuestra Señora de Loreto private hospital, in Madrid, on January 30th, 1968.

His birth, which ensured the male succession to the Throne, was a dynastic event whose importance was emphasized in the symbolic names he was given at his christening: the names of the first Bourbon to reign in Spain, his paternal and maternal grandfathers and his great grandfather King Alfonso XIII. His godparents were HRH the Count of Barcelona, Juan de Borbon, and his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenia, who then set foot on Spanish soil for the first time since 1931.

Being heir to the throne since the proclamation of his father as King (1975), he received the title of prince of Asturias in 1977, together with those of Prince of Girona and Viana, the titles vested in the first born of the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarre, the union of which gave rise to the Spanish Monarchy, in the XVI century. He also holds the peerages of Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer.

On January 30th, 1986, at the age of eighteen, he took the oath of loyalty in the Cortes to the Constitution and the King, thus taking on his full institutional role as heir to the Throne.
The Banner and Standard of H.R.H. The Prince of Asturias were created by Royal Decree 284/2001, where his Coat of Arms, his Banner and his Standard are described.

Photos: courtesy of Brigitte Gastel Lloyd