rchainho
Heir Presumptive
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taken by Reuters:
Princess Letizia is pregnant with her first child Sunday, 08 May 2005
Princess Letizia, the future Queen of Spain, is pregnant with her first child who will be born in November, the Royal Palace said on Sunday.
A glamorous former television presenter, Letizia Ortiz, 32, married Crown Prince Felipe, 37, on May 22 last year, and news of a pregnancy has been eagerly awaited in Spain.
"The Prince and Princess of Asturias are delighted to announce they are expecting the birth of their first child next November," the Palace said in a statement.
"Their Majesties the King and Queen wish to express their great happiness at this joyful announcement.
Felipe, two metres (6 ft 7 ins) tall, dark, dashing and blue eyed, married elegant divorcee Ortiz in a fairytale wedding that symbolised a new dawn for Spain just over two months after the tragic March 11 Madrid train bombings.
Spain had been gripped by Letizia fever ever since the couple announced their engagement in November 2003, and since the glittering wedding pictures of the newly-weds have dominated the covers of Spanish magazines.
After Sunday's announcement, all national media immediately switched to blanket coverage of the royal pregnancy, with state radio broadcasting full biographies of Felipe and Letizia to the sound of romantic piano music.
If the couple were to have a girl, she could be the first Spanish princess to have the same right as a boy to accede to the throne, under a plan announced by the Socialist government in March.
While not banning women from the throne as Japan does, Spain gives precedence to the male line. The government is seeking an opinion on a possible change to the rule from the State Council -- a body made up of elder statesmen, former ministers, judges and civil servants.
There is no suggestion that Felipe would step aside in favour of his two older sisters, but a change would affect his children.
Felipe's elder sisters Elena and Cristina have five children between them -- four of them boys -- and one on the way.
At the official announcement of his engagement, Felipe was asked how many children he wanted. "Well, we can't say with complete certainty. The intention is perhaps more than two and fewer than five," he answered, to the apparent astonishment of his fiancee.
Sun May 8, 2005 REUTERS
Princess Letizia is pregnant with her first child Sunday, 08 May 2005
A glamorous former television presenter, Letizia Ortiz, 32, married Crown Prince Felipe, 37, on May 22 last year, and news of a pregnancy has been eagerly awaited in Spain.
"The Prince and Princess of Asturias are delighted to announce they are expecting the birth of their first child next November," the Palace said in a statement.
"Their Majesties the King and Queen wish to express their great happiness at this joyful announcement.
Felipe, two metres (6 ft 7 ins) tall, dark, dashing and blue eyed, married elegant divorcee Ortiz in a fairytale wedding that symbolised a new dawn for Spain just over two months after the tragic March 11 Madrid train bombings.
Spain had been gripped by Letizia fever ever since the couple announced their engagement in November 2003, and since the glittering wedding pictures of the newly-weds have dominated the covers of Spanish magazines.
After Sunday's announcement, all national media immediately switched to blanket coverage of the royal pregnancy, with state radio broadcasting full biographies of Felipe and Letizia to the sound of romantic piano music.
If the couple were to have a girl, she could be the first Spanish princess to have the same right as a boy to accede to the throne, under a plan announced by the Socialist government in March.
While not banning women from the throne as Japan does, Spain gives precedence to the male line. The government is seeking an opinion on a possible change to the rule from the State Council -- a body made up of elder statesmen, former ministers, judges and civil servants.
There is no suggestion that Felipe would step aside in favour of his two older sisters, but a change would affect his children.
Felipe's elder sisters Elena and Cristina have five children between them -- four of them boys -- and one on the way.
At the official announcement of his engagement, Felipe was asked how many children he wanted. "Well, we can't say with complete certainty. The intention is perhaps more than two and fewer than five," he answered, to the apparent astonishment of his fiancee.
Sun May 8, 2005 REUTERS