Princess Letizia, Current Events Part 3: April - July 2005

[Cissan]

Felipe is not titled as the CP of Spain. He is the Prince of Asturias. He is not the Crown Prince of Spain.

Oh, excuse me. What a major mistake. I am deeply sorry.

That is fine for you if you would not feel comfortable marrying someone you had only know for only a year or so. But that doesn't mean that it isn't okay for Felipe and Letizia. So long as they are the two in the relationship and they are the ones who committed themselves before God, then only they can know how strong their relationship is and if marriage is/was a suitable decision for them.

Hav I said that it wasn't OK for Felipe and Letizia? I have only said that I considered their relationship as whirlwind and that I would NEVER choose to marry someone I've only known for a bit more than a year.

Furthermore, I think Felipe particularly would be more cautious in his choice of bride. As the future King of Spain, he knew very well the responsibilities and the heavy burden of choosing a suitable wife, not only for himself but for his country. He seems to be an intelligent individual; he would not have proposed to any woman without considering all the ramifications and consequences, or if he did not feel that he truly loved Letizia or that Letizia loved him.

In my experience, your judgment can be somewhat clouded in the beginning of a relationship. Lord knows that I have made som bad choices...

Statistics say that couples who live together before marriage do not necessarily have a better chance of making their marriage last. So whether Felipe and Letizia lived together before their wedding would be a null factor.

Could you show that statistics please?

That is like comparing apples and oranges. The length of Felipe and Letizia's relationship was typical of most royal courtships. That Letizia is an untypical choice of bride has nothing to do with the length of their relationship. If you want to discuss the "typicalness" of choices of brides, then many of the present Crown Princesses would be untypical choices too: Maxima (non-royal, father with scandalous past); Mette-Marit (non-royal, no university degree, single mother, self-admitted partyer); Mary (non-royal, lived with a man during a previous relationship).

Do you believe that the historical royal marriages when the bride and groom barely knew eachother were happy?

 

[Elsa M.]

Can someone who's a subscriptor of Hola post this article for us pleeease

(During her freetime, Doña Letizia visits her sister-in-law Infanta Elena):

http://www.hola.com/casasreales/2005/05/05/letizia-visitainfant/

 

[rchainho]

here's the article from hola magazine:

Aprovechando un pequeño paréntesis en medio de sus numerosos
compromisos oficiales, la princesa Letizia se dirigió a casa de su cuñada, la infanta Elena. Desde que se conociera su noviazgo con el príncipe Felipe, doña Letizia ha mantenido siempre una excelente relación con la Familia Real y, en especial, con la Reina y las Infantas, que le han servido de modelo y apoyo en su nueva vida como Princesa.

Ajena a los cada vez más numerosos rumores que apuntan a un cercano anuncio de embarazo, doña Letizia aprovechó la soleada mañana de primavera para pasar unas horas en compañía de la Duquesa de Lugo. La Princesa llegó sola al domicilio madrileño de su cuñada al volante de su propio coche, un vehículo de color azul metalizado.

Su primer aniversario de boda En las últimas semanas, se ha podido ver a los Príncipes muy felices en los diferentes actos a los que han acudido. Hace algunos días, don Felipe y doña Letizia viajaron a Cuenca, ciudad en la que comenzaron su luna de miel, y recorrieron los mismos lugares que hace casi un año- el próximo 22 de mayo se cumple el primer aniversario de su enlace en la Catedral de la Almudena- fueron testigos del inicio de su vida en común. Allí se mostraron relajados y especialmente cariñosos con los niños que se agolpaban en las calles a su paso, un gesto habitual en ellos que cobra especial importancia en medio de los comentarios de un posible embarazo de la Princesa. Al día siguiente, y ya junto a don Felipe, doña Letizia asistió a un acto de conmemoración del aniversario de la creación de las becas del Instituto de Comercio Exterior, ICEX. La semana que viene los Príncipes comenzarán una visita oficial a las Baleares, el primer viaje oficial que hacen a una comunidad autónoma.

La infanta Elena ha retomado también recientemente su agenda de
compromisos, junto a su marido, Jaime de Marichalar, asistiendo a la inauguración de una exposición sobre la Inmaculada que acoge la Catedral de la Almudena.

 

[cute_girl]

here's the article from hola magazine:

would some1 be kind and translate this article?

 

[Anna_R]

Thanks Raquel! Weren't there any pictures with it?

Here's a translation of the article

Taking advantage of a little gap between her numerous official engagements, princess Letizia went to the house of her sister-in-law, Infanta Elena. Since her relationship with prince Felipe became public, doña Letizia as always kept a great relationship with the queen and the infantas that have served as a model for her new life as a princess.
Oblivious to the numerous rumours that point to an announcement of pregnancy very soon, doña Letizia took advantage of the sunny spring morning to spend some time with the Duchess of Lugo. The princess arrived alone at Elena's madrid home, driving her own car that had the color metal blue.
On the last weeks we're being able to see the princes very happy during the different acts they've attended to. Some days ago, don Felipe and doña Letizia traveled to Cuenca, the city where they started their honeymoon and went by the same places that were, almost a year ago, the witnesses of the start of their common life. There, they showed themselves relaxed and specially tender with the children that the came near them or stood nearby in the crowd, a really common gesture of theirs that gains a new force against the news of a possible pregnancy of the princess. On the next day, already together with don Felipe, doña Letizia attended an act celebrating the anniversary of ICEX. Next week, the princes will start an official visit to the Balears Islands, the first official visit they'll make to an independent community.

 

[carlota]

[/i]

Felipe is not titled as the CP of Spain. He is the Prince of Asturias. He is not the Crown Prince of Spain.

Oh, excuse me. What a major mistake. I am deeply sorry.

he may not be refered as the crown prince of spain, but legally he is. in the spanish constitution says that the crown prince heritier of spain is named prince of asturias. i think quite the same happens with the prince of orange.
it's just the same for cristina and elena... the fact that they are duchesses of lugo and palma doesn't have anything to do with also being infantas de españa.

 

[carlota]

While that is one side of ambition, it is not the only side.

if you carefully read my post you will see that i just said that and never denied it.

I wouldn't really trust the counting done by you and your friends. You are obviously biased when it comes to Letizia so no doubt you'd short change her in the count. I'll wait for an official count from someone more reputable, like a proper accounting firm, thank you very much.

i don't really care whether you trust me or not. i founded all your commentaries quite offensive, as you sad implicetely that i was lying or kind of. as you can see i'm not lying. that's it. they have worked that days according to the casa real (and again i repeat... you can count them yourself if you dont trust me, as you said). maybe the problem here comes when some people don't like accepting the truth.
you are talking about things you don't really know much about, seriously and with all my respect, but that's like that. you already made 2 or 3 comments that were actually wrong so... if people only read what you said then they would obviously consider you as a someone non reputable. excuse me , sir or madam, you may not find yourself reputable... i am and that's how i would define myself and all the comments i make here have that qualification.

ANYWAY... just a pointless discussion but this was actually pissing me off. sorry admins, from my part this will not go much further.

 

[Elsa M.]

ANYWAY... just a pointless discussion but this was actually pissing me off. sorry admins, from my part this will not go much further.

The points of both parts of the discussion are clear enough, so I would ask everybody not to perpetuate this pointless discussion into a mere fencing. Data was shared, contra-data was presented, opinions were given, disagreements too. Thanks for telling all of your thoughts.

 

[Elsa M.]

here's the article from hola magazine

Thanks for posting the article! Weren't there any photos too?
I guess this visit was somehow related to the slight illness of the Infanta, a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, it's nice to see royals visiting each others, just as any other family does!

 

[hillary_nugent]

Felipe is not titled as the CP of Spain. He is the Prince of Asturias. He is not the Crown Prince of Spain.

i've never bothered to ask but is Asturias a place or something? why isn't he crown prince of spain when he's going to be the King of Spain one day?

 

[Elsa M.]

i've never bothered to ask but is Asturias a place or something? why isn't he crown prince of spain when he's going to be the King of Spain one day?

You can read all about Felipe's titles at this thread:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=206625#post206625

 

[hillary_nugent]

You can read all about Felipe's titles at this thread:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=206625#post206625

Thanks mate

 

[Ennyllorac]

i've never bothered to ask but is Asturias a place or something? why isn't he crown prince of spain when he's going to be the King of Spain one day?

Asturias is a region in Spain. Principe de Asturias is a traditional title given to the heir as is Prince of Wales given to the heir of the British throne.

 

[hillary_nugent]

Asturias is a region in Spain. Principe de Asturias is a traditional title given to the heir as is Prince of Wales given to the heir of the British throne.

oh ok...thanks Ennyllorac ^__^ that cleared it all up ^___^

 

[carlota]

Asturias is a region in Spain. Principe de Asturias is a traditional title given to the heir as is Prince of Wales given to the heir of the British throne.

yes... it's a province up north of spain in the cantabric coast.

 

[rchainho]

here's the pic from the visit of letizia to elena. (hola)

 

[rchainho]

a spanish tv presenter, Sonia Ferrer, says that the good news that she wants to say is the pregnancy of letizia.



Sonia Ferrer desea poder comunicar pronto la noticia de embarazo de doña Letizia
[font=arial,helvetica]


MADRID (EUROPA PRESS)



La guapa presentadora del programa "Gente", Sonia Ferrer, se mostró muy simpática ayer cuando acudió al Salón del Automóvil celebrado en Barcelona, donde presentaba un nuevo modelo de coche diseñado por Custo Dalmau.

Sonia habló de las virtudes que debe tener un coche: "La seguridad, porque un día tuve un susto en la carretera. No conducía yo, conducía mi madre. Tuvimos un accidente y me rompí los ligamentos de la rodilla, me tuvieron que operar. Fue un susto gordo, y es algo que no depende de ti. Volvíamos de pasar el día de Navidad, yo volvía al trabajo y por culpa de un loco que nos adelantó por la derecha a 200 km. por hora tuvimos que dar un volantazo con la carretera llena de hielo y tuvimos un golpe fuerte".

"Me gustan mucho los 4x4, el campo, y seguramente el día que decida tener un hijo sólo utilizaré un todoterreno, por seguridad", manifestó acerca de sus preferencias, y sobre si está lejos ese día, dijo: "Bueno, todavía está lejos, primero tendría que encontrar al padre. Tengo 27 años y no tengo ninguna prisa, por ahora estoy sola. Algún día, ya llegará, sin prisas". Para Sonia Ferrer, su trabajo en televisión no es tan estresante. "Uno se estresa lo que quiere", aseguró, y añadió: "Mi trabajo me encanta, lo disfruto muchísimo, mis compañeros son amigos y yo me lo paso bien y me río un montón. ¿Qué estrés tengo yo? No tengo que madrugar, tengo un horario fantástico, un programa de lujo, porque visto lo que hay por ahí, tengo muchísima suerte. No tengo ningún estrés, vivo en el campo, me levanto con el ruido de los pajaritos y casi nunca me pongo el despertador". La presentadora se mostró muy optimista y positiva. Además, quiso compartir cual sería su noticia más deseada para dar en su programa: "¡El embarazo de Letizia! Antes de eso era la boda del príncipe. Esa sería la mejor noticia que podría dar". [/font]

 

[Elsa M.]

La presentadora se mostró muy optimista y positiva. Además, quiso compartir cual sería su noticia más deseada para dar en su programa: "¡El embarazo de Letizia! Antes de eso era la boda del príncipe. Esa sería la mejor noticia que podría dar".

Translation:
The presenter was very optimistic and positive. In addition, she wanted to share what would be the news she much wishes to announce in her TV show: "The pregnancy of Letizia! Before that, it was the wedding of the prince. That would be the best news than I could give".

I guess it's not just Sonia Ferrer who wishes that...

 

[Genevieve]

Could you show that statistics please?

Study: Living together may lead to breakups
July 25, 2002 Posted: 12:38 PM EDT (1638 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Couples in the United States who live together before marrying may be more likely to consider divorce than those who do not, according to a study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health statistics division.

The report on marriage, divorce, remarriage and cohabitation said 75 percent of American women have been married by age 30 and about half have lived with their partner outside of marriage.

The study's findings are based on interviews conducted in 1995 with about 11,000 women ages 15 to 44.

Couples who did not live together before marrying had a 31 percent chance of splitting up after 10 years, compared with a 40 percent chance for couples who cohabited before marriage, the study found.

One of the study's authors said the report did not draw the conclusion that living together before marriage was the cause of the relationship ending.

"It may not be the experience of cohabiting but the people who cohabit," said William Mosher.

"What we're saying about that is that we think that couples who cohabit before marriage may have different values than couples who do not," he said.
Couples who live together before marriage may be the type of people who are "more likely to consider divorce," he explained.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics report also compared the success rates for marriage and pre-marital cohabitation.

It found that the probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within five years is 20 percent, compared with the 49 percent probability of a pre-marital cohabitation breaking up within the same time period.

After 10 years, the study found, a first marriage has a 33 percent chance of ending compared with a 62 percent chance for cohabitations.

The data suggested that a woman's age, whether she comes from an intact two-parent home, the importance of religion in her life, and economic factors also play a part in how long a marriage or cohabitation will last.

The study also found that the likelihood that divorced women will remarry has been declining over the past 50 years. According to the 1995 data, women who divorced in the 1980s had a 50 percent chance of remarrying compared with 65 percent in the 1950s.

The study also found that white women who have separated from their spouses are more likely to end the relationship in divorce than are Hispanic or black women, and women living in prosperous communities are more likely to do so than those in poorer neighborhoods.

 

[liv]

I´ve got a questionid anyone red the book "Tu seras mi reina"(don´t know if the title is really right)?Does anyone know if this book is available in English?

 

[rchainho]

Is this information right or wrong?

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/members/s?path=Search_All_Content&nav=NewsCom&f=NCOM%2Fsearch&s=letizia+ortiz&o=a&cbphoto=1&cbstock=1&cbhist=1&cbill=1&xtag=ZUM-zumalive-116352&redir=preview&tr=2857&row=1&TAG_ID=zumalive116352

 

[Elsa M.]

http://www.elmundo-eldia.com/2005/05/15/opinion/1116108006.html

Behind a great Princess, there can be a great Prince

By Eduardo Inda


The million-euros-question is now, and will be for a long time: How is she? How is Letizia Ortiz, who Juan Balear qualifies as an affectionate flame, without any “hiden Leti"?

This house [Elmundo] described the wedding announcement with a title that said everything: "A jump in the emptiness". And as I don’t belong to that servant legion of slimy courtesan journalists, I believe that I am absolutely legitimized to emit a reasonably positive verdict.

«What a ready person!», I said to myself on Friday evening, when the directors of local mass media met the Princes in Marivent. The Madrilenian colleagues who worked with her had previously told me that she was very perspicacious, but I never thought she was as much. Letizia Ortiz is one of those people who mentally steal your pocket, who process much faster than they speak, and who act almost with more speed than they think.

To begin with, Letizia demonstrated that she hadn’t lost that intellectual restlessness and that perspicacity that made her an interrupted project of a communicator. I will not fall in the flattering paroxysm of Alfredo Urdaci, who described her as "one as those journalists who appear every 20 years". I will simply stand out that she is a colleague, whose limits we will never know. Where could reach this thirty-year-old-woman, who presented the television newscast with such an amazing briskness? Who knows?

This water must have something special to be blessed by the Prince. Yes, it certainly has. As much as at the welcome on Monday, the lunch in the Hotel Victoria, the meeting with the Press Directors, or the farewell ceremony in Sa Llotja, we could see that Letizia carries in her DNA a gene that can be condensed in eight letters: charisma. The woman who has before herself the father of all the challenges (to surpass the standard of Sofia of Greece), showed a closeness, a proximity and a real (more than just Royal) normality that invite us to have hope. And that in spite of the fact there are some politicians who have labelled her as a "not very nice" person (if not as "unpleasant"). But I founded a charming person, who perfectly matches with the title she holds.

It particularly impressed me the great level of information that the royal couple possesses on the reality of this region [Balears]. We have to say that they made the homework. This might be a normal circumstance in somebody like Don Felipe, who passed all his life in this, but that’s unusual in someone who’s a novice. We have to say that neither do they fly over the subjects, nor do they touch them superficially, nor do they limit their comments on the mere anecdote or triviality, which characterizes some members of royal families. As I well said one week ago, this Prince is conscious that he must look after things, that nothing will be given to him, that people will always ask him to give accounts of everything and that the military stroll that his father once enjoyed is not possible anymore.

From all this, I deduce that Letizia Ortiz can be a great surprise for all of us, who welcomed her half hallucinated, half distressed, in a way of "whether you take it, or you leave it", with which Felipe de Borbón confronted us, on the Day of All Saints 2003.

The sixth sense indicates me that we may be before that very person in charge of the modernization of a monarchy that is not the most progressive of Europe, but that needs to bring itself up to date in many aspects. And who’s best than somebody who, until a year ago, was a prototypic representative of that Spanish middle-class that lacks the arrogance of the higher-class and the complexes of the lower-class. Last Sunday, I metaphorically crossed my fingers, hoping that this love story will end up as well as the one of Carl Gustav with a plebeian German girl called Silvia Sommerlath, who Sweden received with all its tooth.

I also noticed that the Princess has achieved, in less than a year, the miracle of all the miracles: to change the habits of a Prince who was a monument to haughtiness, specially when talking with journalists from his 1.97m height. An hostility that was exponentially multiplied, when, between the pink press and the courtesans, all the candidates were all reproved one after another: Victoria Carvajal, Eva Sannum, Isabel Sartorius, Gigi Howard. The Princess of Asturias has (remarkably) fulfilled the immediate goal that she had put after herself, when she moved in La Zarzuela: to make more likeable and accessible a personage who was bred in a crystal bubble. Don Felipe will never have the chaste personality of his father and great-grandfather, because that is physical and metaphysical impossible, but he’s on the way to tie with them in cordiality.

Don Felipe will count on the collaboration of Letizia to surpass the two (impossible?) missions that he has after himself: to maintain Spain united and to maintain the monarchy. Almost nothing, if we consider that the generations of our parents were not particularly monarchic, but just "Juancarlistas". The spaniards of tomorrow are not “Juancarlistas” anymore, nor will they be “Felipistas”, simply because they are not monarchic. Their creed is on meritocracy. The longevity of the institution depends on its credit on proving its utility, as a vertebrate and cohesion element of a Spain that is going to explode any of these days. The knowledge that, as a good journalist, she has of the Spanish reality will be useful to someone who will reign in a much more complex and unstructured Spain.

Letizia Ortiz will have to get rid of that legend that augurs a bad final for her, because "she is too ready to be Queen". After seeing what I saw, I believe that she can leave us all open-mouthed. The time will give a sentence. But it has not surprised me anyway… and I’m very pleased for that.

 

[rchainho]

why letizia won't go the the usa? They said because of the pregnancy. She isn't going well with the pregnancy? Mary shows very well in her pregnancy.

 

[lapopdiva]

why letizia won't go the the usa? They said because of the pregnancy. She isn't going well with the pregnancy? Mary shows very well in her pregnancy.

sooooooooooo?? Letizia is not mary, and mary is not letizia.For Every woman the pregnancy is different.

 

[Meredith]

rchainho
why letizia won't go the the usa? They said because of the pregnancy. She isn't going well with the pregnancy? Mary shows very well in her pregnancy.

sooooooooooo?? Letizia is not mary, and mary is not letizia.For Every woman the pregnancy is different.

I agree with lapopdiva. Every woman feels the pregnancy differently.

Letizia said herself that she's having a generous share of morning sickness and nausea. Some women are lucky enough to not feel a thing (I have a couple of friends that didn't)

So, please stop comparing Letizia to Mary. They are two different people and neither one of them needs this kind of thing.

Just open your mind and wish a happy and healthy pregnancy to both. I bet that's all they want.

 

[lula]

The Prince goes away to Washington Friday and returns to Spain in the madugada one from Saturday to Sunday. Altogether almost more hours in the airplane that in firm ground, and to that adds the hour change. Normal that a pregnant woman does not make that trip. And I agree each woman and each pregnancy is diferent.Y on the trips, Letizia fulfills its acts in Madrid, but the trip to other communities, like Teruel, needs a trip in helicopter, and the helicoptero and you feel nauseous them are not a good combination.

 

[carlota]

[/i]


I agree with lapopdiva. Every woman feels the pregnancy differently.

Letizia said herself that she's having a generous share of morning sickness and nausea. Some women are lucky enough to not feel a thing (I have a couple of friends that didn't)

So, please stop comparing Letizia to Mary. They are two different people and neither one of them needs this kind of thing.

Just open your mind and wish a happy and healthy pregnancy to both. I bet that's all they want.

i also agree. moreover, mary has only done 2 or 3 acts since she officially announced she is pregnant and letizia has done all that trip in balears...

 

[Alisa]

i also agree. moreover, mary has only done 2 or 3 acts since she officially announced she is pregnant and letizia has done all that trip in balears...

Actually Mary's done 5. When Mary was 3 months pregnant she carried out the entire visits to Australia, Japan, and the brief 2 day visit to Thailand, and Mary didn't have to cancel a single engagement. This also supports Meredith's opinion (and mine too) that different women react to pregnancy differently.

 

[Sancia]

why letizia won't go the the usa? They said because of the pregnancy. She isn't going well with the pregnancy? Mary shows very well in her pregnancy.

All women aren't necessarly fine during the beginning of a pregnancy. I think it's normal to show differently in this very special moment. I find this remark quite stupid: women aren't robots, there isn't ONE way to react during a pregnancy. That's very hard for women not feeling well to hear things like "you know, Mrs X is going very well, not like you"...

 

[lula]

No pregnancy is just as another one. And but Mette Marit watches that announced it in a moment because it was bad.

In addition, Mary is now of 4 months not of 5, and tendra the luck to have a very good pregnancy. She went to Australia where one week was of official visit and another one of rest with her family; and later she traveled to Japan. She returned to Denmark and she spent more than one week since the pregnancy announced until it appeared in public. Organizing therefore the trip would allow her to make trips shorter, in stages and private airplane. It had activities, but also more or less long periods of rest.
To travel in private airplane is not just like to travel in helicoptero 8 times in 5 days or to travel 24 hours in airplane in 2. It is not as much to travel as to organize the trips so that the pregnant woman has her periods of rest.