UK coverage - some of what I wrote in another post here:
Getty Images will of course publish many videos and pictures, ITN SOURCE will also publish some videos, Daily Fail vill publish articles with many pictures and we may see some clips on BBC One/ITV television news.
But the big question (to me) is whether BBC News Channel (Launched 1997) and Sky News (Launched 1989) will have live coverage.
Coverage by BBC News Channel and Sky News on previous state visits:
State Visit from Japan in May 1998: Live coverage from the carriage procession, the state banquet and other events.
State visit from China in October 1999: Live coverage from the carriage procession, the state banquet and other events.
State visit from the United States in November 2003: Live coverage from the arrival at Buckingham Palace, the state banquet and other events.
State visit from China in November 2005: Live coverage from the carriage procession, the state banquet and other events.
State visit from the United States in May 2011: Live coverage from the arrival at Buckingham Palace, the state banquet and other events.
State Visit from Ireland in April 2014: Live coverage from the carriage procession, the state banquet and other events.
State visit from China in October 2015: Live coverage from the carriage procession, the state banquet and other events.
There was also live coverage on the Internet for the American, Irish and Chinese state visits in 2011, 2014 and 2015.
Other state visits: Nothing, and I think (unfortunately) that BBC/Sky will not see Spain as important enough to have live coverage.
And that has nothing to do with the palace allowing it or not - When the Norwegian royal family visited the UK in 2005, Norwegian television sent live from the events, and the coverage was generaly very large. In the UK? Nothing at all.
I believe there will be coverage on the Spanish TV too. I was watching the newscast this morning on TVE's international channel and they had a long report on the upcoming state visit with details about the schedule.
I think we have to wait which royal members will receive an royal order and who not. Honestly i dont think W&C will receive an order, as much i remember also Princess Diana received no Order during the spanish state visit in 1986.
Princess Diana didn't get any Spanish order in 1986, but the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles did. By contrast, only King Juan Carlos got a decoration from the Queen, and it was "only " the Royal Victorian Chain. Juan Carlos was not made a Knight of the Garter until 1988, when Queen Elizabeth II also got in return the Order of the Golden Fleece (previously, she had received the grand cross with collar of the Order of Charles III in 1986).
As of now, there is no "higher" Spanish decoration that Queen Elizabeth II could get. Prince Philip or Prince Charles, on the other hand, already have the grand cross of the Order of Carlos III and , as Lula explained, cannot be awarded the collar, which is reserved to Heads of State. Unless either Philip or Charles get the Golden Fleece, which is very unlikely, the next possible candidates for a Spanish order would be Camilla and/or the Cambridges. My bet is on at least Camilla getting the grand cross of Isabella the Catholic, which would be lower than the order her husband has.
I must say I am really interested in this particular state visit. Back when Spain was still a major European and world power (basically from the 16th century until the early 19th century), England (later Britain) and Spain were frequently at odds with each other, when not openly at war. In the 19th century, however, Spain lost most of its colonial empire and began its long decline, which intensified further in the early 20th century. Spain was no longer a threat or a competitor to the all-powerful Victorian Britain, which turned its attention then to other more "important" nations that could be potential threats like France, Russia and, later, Germany.
Nowadays, although the UK is still a more influential military and geopolitical power than Spain, I see the relationship between the two countries back on a more level playing field, especially with the UK leaving the EU and getting weaker in the process. It is still not an especially warm relationship though, particularly with the lingering Gilbraltar issue and now Brexit, and I am eager to see how the two sovereigns (the very experienced Queen Elizabeth and the young, but highly trained King Felipe) will handle that tension.
