MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Photos of Crown Prince Felipe's journalist fiancee -- covering the war in Iraq dressed with a black veil inside a mosque or presenting the evening news in elegant suits -- were splashed across newspapers Sunday as Spain rejoiced in the couple's engagement.
Spaniards called Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano a "perfect contemporary queen of the 21st century."
"The future queen is a Spanish woman who is very representative of our time: Young, professional, a traveler, independent and with personal and professional experiences in common with millions of its compatriots," Madrid daily El Pais said in its editorial.
"Letizia Ortiz has started the way to become the first Spanish contemporary queen who does not come from a royal family or the aristocracy," the paper added.
The Spanish Royal Palace announced Saturday that the 35-year-old heir to the Spanish throne will wed Ortiz, 31, a well-known anchorwoman for Spanish national television, next summer at Madrid's Almudena Cathedral.
The couple are expected to make their first public appearance Thursday at the Zarzuela Palace.
"The Television Queen," read the front page headline of Madrid daily El Mundo.
"The fact that the prince has chosen a journalist whose face is very familiar is a sign of modern times," it said.
Although Ortiz is divorced, Spain's dominant Roman Catholic Church is not expected to oppose her remarriage because the original wedding was not held in a church.
"Nearly a million Spaniards have gone through a similar situation, so being a divorcee is not a reason to bar her from marrying a prince," El Mundo observed.
In a quick poll conducted by El Mundo, 70 percent of respondents said they support the marriage and 30 percent are against it.
Felipe's bachelorhood has been the subject of keen national speculation
The news of the engagement stunned Spaniards. The couple's secret courtship had only started months ago after they reportedly met each other at a common friend's house in September 2002.
Ortiz, a daughter and granddaughter of journalists who was raised in a middle-class family, is seen as a smart and aggresive television reporter. She has experience in working in different Spanish media as well as covering important breaking news stories abroad such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and the recent war in Iraq.
She is expected to leave her job at Spanish television, the newspapers said.
Spain's royal family is held in high regard by most Spaniards, and Spanish media have been very interested in the love life of the tall, dashing prince who is the youngest of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's three children. As their only son, he is the first in line to inherit the Spanish throne.
His last courtship with a Norwegian fashion model girlfriend was widely criticized because the woman had modeled sexy lingerie, was a Lutheran, and had not finished her university studies.
But this time monarchists eagerly welcomed the prince's decision.
"The prince has made the right choice. It has taken him some time, but he's right. And it was not easy. He had to marry a woman he felt in love with and that met all the conditions to be in the difficult role of being queen of Spain," said Luis Maria Anson, editor of the conservative daily La Razon.
__________________
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Thank you Dennism for the pics. She really is a beauty, so far I am really impressed with her on the surface level at least LOL! She also strikes me as a really serious person with intelligence and guts. It will be interesting to see how she copes with the world's attention focused on HER. What a table turn for a journalist
Great pictures, Josefine! Despite the relationship being hush hush til now and my thoughts that Letizia might not be prepared for the public onslaught of interest in her, I can see from these pictures that as a television journalist/on-air personality, Letizia has a lot of poise and seems used to a certain level of public attention. Now, of course, there'll be much more attention, but she is at least used to it to some small degree.
7 months isn't too short a time to know someone, but is she going to have to change her lifestyle? She won't be able to work as a TV journalist any more, will she?
Originally posted by Alexandria@Nov 3rd, 2003 - 3:17 pm Great pictures, Josefine! Despite the relationship being hush hush til now and my thoughts that Letizia might not be prepared for the public onslaught of interest in her, I can see from these pictures that as a television journalist/on-air personality, Letizia has a lot of poise and seems used to a certain level of public attention. Now, of course, there'll be much more attention, but she is at least used to it to some small degree.
I think that keeping the relationship secret until the engagement is a plus. They had the time and privacy for dating, learning each other etc. etc. without press attention.
Royal bride-to-be Ortiz ends contract with TV station
MADRID (AFP) - Spanish television journalist and royal bride-to-be Letizia Ortiz has ended her contract with broadcaster RTVE by mutual accord, the station announced.
Ortiz, 31 and a divorcee, is to wed Prince Felipe de Bourbon, heir to the Spanish throne, in June. The pair announced their engagement at the royal palace on November 6.
RTVE director general Jose Antonio Sanchez said the station and Ortiz had agreed she would leave the company where she has worked for the past three years as news presenter and special correspondent with effect from Wednesday, November 19.
Ortiz, whose romance with the prince was a closely-guarded secret until last month, although they had been dating for almost a year, presented her last news bulletin on October 31.
On Wednesday it emerged that around 300,000 euros (357,000 dollars) have been allocated for the cost of the wedding after members of parliament allocated a 7.513 million euros budget for the royal household for next year, a rise of only 300,000 euros on 2003.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WITH HER FATHER AFTER FINISHING HER MASTER IN AUDIOVISUAL COMMUNICATION.
Letizia's mom has a beautiful smile ...
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WITH HER PARENTS AFTER FINISHING HER MASTER IN AUDIOVISUAL COMMUNICATION.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WHEN SHE WAS NOT FAMOUS, PICTURED WITH SPANISH CYCLING STAR MIGUEL INDURAIN.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA IN MAY 1997, WHEN SHE WAS IN THE OPENING OF THE TV CHANNEL OF EFE AGENCY AND IN THE OPENING OF THE TV CHANNEL OF THE BLOOMBERG AGENCY.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA AT SCHOOL.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA AT SCHOOL.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD, PERFORMING A THEATRE PLAY WITH OTHER STUDENTS WITH SPAIN FLAG ON HAND.
Polfoto 21-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA COVERING THE AFTERWAR IN IRAQ LAST SPRING, WITH OTHER JOURNALIST.
Polfoto 21-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA COVERING THE AFTERWAR IN IRAQ LAST SPRING, WITH OTHER JOURNALIST.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WHEN SHE WAS TWO YEARS OLD.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WITH OTHERS HER PARTNERS IN THE PAPER "LA NUEVA ESPANA".
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA COVERING THE DISASTER OF THE SINKING OF THE OIL BOAT "PRESTIGE" IN THE COAST OF GALICIA.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA HAVING FUN WITH OTHER STUDENTS OF HER SCHOOL.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA IN THE HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE SHE STUDIED AT NIGHT IN THE LAST YEAR.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, THE FILM "HASTA AQUI HEMOS LLEGADO", WHERE LETIZIA PLAYED A LITTLE ROLE OF A TV PRESENTER.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIAIN 1999 READING THE SPEECH THAT STARTS THE LOCAL PARTY OF RIBADESELLA, WHERE SHE IS FROM.
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA WITH THE PRIZE "TP", RECEIVING IT ON BEHALF OF TVE CHANNEL FOR THE COVERING OF THE "PRESTIGE" DISASTER".
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA IN HER COMMUNION, 16-MAY-1981.
Delightful photos, Alexandria. Thank you for digging them up.
Quote:
Alexandria Posted: Nov 23rd, 2003 - 6:55 pm
Polfoto 23-11-2003 - PHOTO ALBUM OF LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO, FIANCEE OF THE PRINCE FELIPE OF SPAIN. PICTURED, LETIZIA IN A PHOTO MADE IN HER SCHOOL. AFTER THE CLASSES, SHE WENT TO DO THE SCHOOL WORKS TO THE RADIO STATION WHERE HER FATHER AND HER GRANDMOTHER WORKED.
My favourite so far. :)
__________________ "Every decision is right for its time."
Imagine Scandinavia-Letizia Ortiz at an exclusive TV interview when she was 23 in Mexico while she was completing her education and it was viewed in Spain for the first time. The future Crown Princess of Spain was 23 years old when she did a TV interview talking about her wishes and fears as a young woman and future journalist that was in Mexico on scholarship.
Wow, I think that's quite a change. I like her heaps better with lighter hair. She looks less older for some reason too - I mean she was 23 when she had that darker hair, but the dark-haired Letizia looks older than how she looks now. Cool, I never knew changing hair colour could make such a difference!!!!
(p.s. of course if this was Mary Donaldson it would be "o she's fake, she's not comfortable with herself"...LOL... actually thinking about it now, it's not really funny).
She looks less older for some reason too - I mean she was 23 when she had that darker hair, but the dark-haired Letizia looks older than how she looks now. Cool, I never knew changing hair colour could make such a difference!!!!
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