Christening of Infanta Sofía; July 15, 2007

[BeautyLeonor]

In past occasions people was said that Leonor had a too calm behavior, which was not smiling, etc... Now she is an active, happy and smiling girl ... she is really lovely!!
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" *Love Is Like A Rose In Winter,Only The Strong Survive* My Favorite Rose: Felipe & Letizia"

[Verde Esmeralda]

Caras magazine features a small picture of the Princes of Asturias with Sofia, in this week's cover (see bottom left corner):

Revista Caras

The other major magazine, Gente, also provides an nice article on the christening inside the magazine, though it is not featured in the cover.

[MarvelousMarta]

Originally Posted by Avalon

Completely agree Duke of marmalade, you can't force a behaviour on a 2 years old child.
Leonor is an active girl, who can't stay in one place for more then a minute.
Christian is a quiet child, who prefers to stay close to his parents.

Why make any of them behave otherwise?

I completely disagree. You can and should instill proper behaviour on a 2 year old and the sooner the better. Just because she is two doesnt mean she should be going wild. What if she was yelling during the ceremony, or hitting other children or sticking out her tongue? Should that be ignored because she is so cute? It was a short ceremony wherein should could have been made to sit quietly on grandmas lap.

[catango]

Originally Posted by MarvelousMarta

I completely disagree. You can and should instill proper behaviour on a 2 year old and the sooner the better. Just because she is two doesnt mean she should be going wild. What if she was yelling during the ceremony, or hitting other children or sticking out her tongue? Should that be ignored because she is so cute? It was a short ceremony wherein should could have been made to sit quietly on grandmas lap.

She wasn't yelling at all, She was walking here and there, and She isn't still a 2 year old girl, it is just stupid, think about protocol and so on for her.

By the way, Could anybody post Hola magazine's pics, They seem to be beautiful, please, please, here in my country the magazine arrive in two weeks.

[acdc1]

Originally Posted by MarvelousMarta

I completely disagree. You can and should instill proper behaviour on a 2 year old and the sooner the better. Just because she is two doesnt mean she should be going wild. What if she was yelling during the ceremony, or hitting other children or sticking out her tongue? Should that be ignored because she is so cute? It was a short ceremony wherein should could have been made to sit quietly on grandmas lap.

You shouldn't make a 20-month-old act a certain way if she's not being a particular problem. Of course you should treach them good manners, etc., but Leonor wasn't behaving badly. I could see making Leonor sit still if she was screaming and biting and hitting her cousins or her little sister, and making the ceremony awful for everyone there. But she was just happily running around, and it didn't seem to bother anyone there except for perhaps King Juan Carlos. Her parents and Queen Sofia seemed particularly delighted. So I'm going with the old saying: Don't fix it if it's not broken!

[lula]

Originally Posted by MarvelousMarta

I completely disagree. You can and should instill proper behaviour on a 2 year old and the sooner the better. Just because she is two doesnt mean she should be going wild. What if she was yelling during the ceremony, or hitting other children or sticking out her tongue? Should that be ignored because she is so cute? It was a short ceremony wherein should could have been made to sit quietly on grandmas lap.

But the girl did not do anything that, in any moment she was badly educated, simply she was investigating by the garden, seeing what her cousins did, or who was that man dressed of strange form. The only thing that she had was curiosity.

On the other hand, I believe that 1 hour of religious ceremony, it is not something short, and it is quite boring for any child, more if in addition it makes heat.

[Saphire]

I think Leonor was just acting like a normal "almost" 2 year old. She is beautiful, and so is Sofia.

[LadyFinn]

Leonor didn´t behave badly, she was just curious about the event and the things at the garden. The archbishop didn´t seem to be angry at all of Leonor´s behaviour, he smiled to Leonor and patted her gently to her head.

[*SofiaM*]

I think it is hilarious. First of all Leonor was criticized for being a serious child, one who never smiled and now when we finally get to see her true little personality, once again it is not good enough.

I don't really think Letizia sat and gave Leonor a lecture before the christening, telling her not to run around, not to make noise. It simply wouldn't work because she's just a young girl.
And the way I see it, if there had been a real problem with the way the little Infanta was acting, somebody (probably Grandma Sofía) would have made her sit down.

The same could be said for Princess Amalia, there are photos of her at Princess Alexia's christening and she is walking around, pointing and smiling, just as you would expect from a happy little girl.

At the end of the day Leonor is growing and becoming more and more curious so I think we should expect this from her for a good few years yet.

[royaltywatcher]

Regarding Leonor's behavior; here's another option, and one that was used in my (ordinary middle-class) family years ago--take her away from the event if she is disturbing it. It's true, her behavior is normal for a child that isn't even two, but that is no reason to allow her to disrupt the ceremony. If she isn't old enough to be quiet, she may just not be old enough to attend. It's simple, really.

[mapian]

but she isn't disrupt the ceremony!!! we haven't seen all the images, only few minutes for 1 hour of celebration, but in several moments, the nany took she out, for example wen the baptism took place. Not problem

The archbishop said at the baptism end : you leave them young approach me. (dejad que los niños se acerquen a mí)

[lula]

The girl did not bother to anybody. if she had began to shout, to cry, to throw things… it would be another thing… but she was very calm, happy and taking a walk by the garden. Like they were the rest of the children. A baptism must be a celebration for a baby and for the children. All the children moved that way, Victoria went from her site to the place where was her mother, the same made Pablo and Miguel, Irene also gave some stroll. In all them baptism the children are moving.

In addition, it was a deprived baptism, in the garden of their house, where with exception of a few guests, all were members of the family or people who work with them.

[chuchu]

Originally Posted by ...sOfIa....

I think it is hilarious. First of all Leonor was criticized for being a serious child, one who never smiled and now when we finally get to see her true little personality, once again it is not good enough.

You cannot please all the people all of the time. No matter what a public figure does or does not do, there is bound to be criticism.

[lucys]

Over the time I've been on this board I thought the two silliest critics I ever read were 1.) that Princess Mary speaks Danish with an accent, and 2.) that Princess Letizia repeats the same outfits too often. Now I have a new winner.

To critic a 20-month-old toddler for being happy, sweet and playful at an outdoor, family ceremony is really the silliest critic I have read on this board.

[royaltywatcher]

Originally Posted by lucys

Over the time I've been on this board I thought the two silliest critics I ever read were 1.) that Princess Mary speaks Danish with an accent, and 2.) that Princess Letizia repeats the same outfits too often. Now I have a new winner.

To critic a 20-month-old toddler for being happy, sweet and playful at an outdoor, family ceremony is really the silliest critic I have read on this board.

Actually, I've read worse. For instance, the debate about Letizia's weight strikes me as ridiculous (who could look healthier?), and the criticism of Mary and Frederick for having nannies is also incredibly silly.

At 20 months, nobody is really criticising the baby. It's really more a question of whether her parents should allow her to be there. Maybe she should be with her nanny while the ceremony is taking place, and allowed to go to the family party afterwards. (For those that have called the Baptism a "family occasion," it is, but it is first and foremost a religious ceremony.) If she wasn't disrupting the ceremony, then there really isn't any reason why she shouldn't be there.

I remember when Victoria was young she had a few episodes of misbehavior and a habit of sticking out her tongue. Both she and her brother seem to have grown up nicely despite their early behavior.

[planetcher]

Amalia behaved the same way at her sister Alexia's baptism so did Ingrid at Sverre's, and Maud at Leah's. Leonor, Amalia, Ingrid, and Maud did not disrupt the ceremony. They were simply just 2 year olds running around being carefree. I guess we'll have to wait for October to see how Amalia (this time around) and Alexia will behave at Ariane's baptism. Of course nobody is gonna criticize them because they're not Letizia's daughters .

[Katrianna]

I have to agree. Leonor was behaving like a 20 month old and while viewing the pictures and videos, I had to laugh because she reminded me of Ingrid Alexandra. If Frederik hadn't been holding Prince Christian, he would have been walking around too. As long as a child doesn't totally disrupt a ceremony then I don't mind. It is a family ceremony.

[acdc1]

I'm not meaning to be rude, but I personally think that we all (me included, as I've contributed to the discussion) are wasting our breaths -fingers, actually- saying on how a child who is a year-and-a-half is behaving at a baptism. They are either going to be perfectly well behaved and quiet, or they aren't. It's that simple. Christian of Denmark was well-behaved because he is a quieter, more serious child in public situations than Leonor, who is clearly happy and somewhat restless in public. Most toddlers are happy and restless. It's not that big of a deal, and if her parents think that she was or is a problem they are dealing with it or going to deal with it.

[planetcher]

Originally Posted by lula

More photos

http://img178.imagevenue.com/img.php..._123_383lo.jpg

I wonder what was up there. The people in the back were also looking up.

[acdc1]

Originally Posted by planetcher

I wonder what was up there. The people in the back were also looking up.

There had to be something up there, the people in the back and Leonor too were looking up. Darn, I was thinking that Leonor was just gazing at Daddy, but now I'm not so sure.