Future and Popularity of the Spanish Monarchy

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by electrivicki@Apr 9th, 2004 - 2:11 am
Spaniards prefer a royal princess as princess Magdalena(the favourite princess in Spain),

In Spain a divorced woman as future Princesa de Asturias is something impossible,repugnant...

That still doesn't give any evidence or factual information.

[electrivicki]

All people I know hates Letizia,she's not a princess.In Spain we want a real princess as future Princesa de Asturias,even she's a divorced woman!!!

[Meg]

I am Spanish and I don’t agree with you Electrivicki. I think much people in Spain is satisfied with Juan Carlos and wish for Prince Felipe wedding. Of course, traditionalist monarchist are against the wedding (because Letizia is not a princess)and republicans are against the monarchy itself. However, Spain nowadays is a country that loves gossip (country of marujos and marujas). People enjoy watching Royal news in magazines and television. I don’t know what will happen if Prince and Letizia would be ugly and nasty, but he is handsome and she is beautiful so people is delighted with this Cinderella story.

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by electrivicki@Apr 10th, 2004 - 3:54 am
All people I know hates Letizia,she's not a princess.In Spain we want a real princess as future Princesa de Asturias,even she's a divorced woman!!!      

Well, you're getting Leitizia. So you'll simply have to deal with it or move!

Thanks for your comments Meg. Somehow considering the lack of evidence and all, I had an idea that not every single soul in Spain hated Letizia. It seemed a bit strange to me.

[electrivicki]

Bluetortuga,you don't understand my sense of humour ...

I doubt Meg is spaniard .She don't know there are millions of republicans in Spain :P :P :P :P :P :P ,The difficult is to find monarchist,here

And Letizia means the ending of spanish royals,she's so vulgar ,people hate her..that's the truth,everybody say this in Spain,maybe "las marujas"...like her....

[Meg]

I’m Spanish you can believe me and I don’t know any real republican. I mean I don’t meet many people who take much care about the subject. Most of the people I know are not enthusiast of Monarchy, but they tolerate it because has worked well or not so bad. I agree with you Electrivicki, there are few traditionalist monarchist, however some people admires Juan Carlos, they are juancarlistas.

Monarchy exist because of people’s affection to the King. People likes Letizia because she is asturiana and came from the middle class. In my opinion this people could be wrong at the end. Royal family have privileges, but apparently, they don’t have duties. People is starting to think. If everybody can be a Queen. Why everybody can not be a King?. Perhaps you are right and Prince marriage is the end of the Monarchy. Time will give the answer.

[electrivicki]

"People is starting to think. If everybody can be a Queen. Why everybody can not be a King?. Perhaps you are right and Prince marriage is the end of the Monarchy. Time will give the answer."

This is my idea...,¿Letizia as a queen?..please..don't make me laught ,ja,ja,ja,and,don't forget their parents are divorced,¡TOO!,she's going to be the first DIVORCED QUEEN..it's incredible and repugnant..

Letizia as a future queen is an insult to Spain..I don't say but the truth

[TODOI]

I always thought Felipe would be the only Royal Prince to marry another Royal so I was surprised that he is marrying a commoner who is also a divorcee, and I'm also suprised his parent approved!

[asma]

Originally posted by TODOI@Apr 13th, 2004 - 10:38 pm
I always thought Felipe would be the only Royal Prince to marry another Royal so I was surprised that he is marrying a commoner who is also a divorcee, and I'm also suprised his parent approved!

I agree.

[Daria]

I was said that , at the beginning, Felipe's parents (especially the Queen) disagreed with his choice, but finally they had to accept it as Felipe was very subborn.

[wlb825]

Well, all I have to say is tha he looked so much inlove today... she looked happy but nothing close to him. I woke up at 3am to be able to wacht the weeding life...as we know she wore the same tiara as Queen sofia for her wedding the dress was pretty but I don't know she didn't look happy to me.... I'm happy for him and I hope she makes him as happy as he look today.

[Dulce Elena]

In many cases, the son never outshines the father. Let's hope that Felipe will outshine his father!!! Juan Carlos and Sophia are very magnetic, strong-willed personalities. I love Queen Sophia and Queen Elizabeth. A lot of people find them cold and distant or unapproachable, but I feel like they are very warm people who are bearing heavy burdens under which they must remain composed. They are both super-queens and we might not see their kind in the future.

As for Spain being anti-monarchy, every country with monarchy has people who are for and people who are against, and it's generally the same old arguments. I think the Spanish people revel in their history, and while they might not be ga-ga over the royals, gushing emotions about them in every breath, I don't believe they are anti-monarchy.

Letizia is a sore spot because Letizia is not very well-rounded. She has a very shady history. Consider that she&#39;s divorced, engaged to another only to dump him for Felipe - not to mention there are rumours that she has had an abortion (during her first marriage, and the baby wasn&#39;t her husband&#39;s), that she slept around for her job...Eva and Gigi and the other women were always painted scarlet by the Queen, but generally because they were models and, thus, considered "looser." Letizia was no model and yet the rumours about her are more hurtful and hateful than about any other of his other girlfriends. Why? Letizia i&#39;m sure is a nice girl, but also a girl who looks as if she will get what she wants any way she can. >>Consider the engagement announcement as case in point.<<

As many rumours as there are about her, I can&#39;t help but respect strong women who get what they want no matter what the cost. But she has to know that she is going to be a Queen & that she should be above suspect or reproach. So far her PR has been very bad and her behaviour around Felipe & the Royal Family deplorable. Maybe she will prove me wrong, but I side with Sofia and Juan Carlos in admitting she wasn&#39;t the ideal woman for the job.

[gogm]

I had not read this til after the wedding, but it is very interesting. Its not just the the future Spain&#39;s monarchy being debated, but the future of Spain.

Felipe and Letizia face a truly daunting task - they will have to fill some of the biggest shoes in Europe when he succeeds to the throne. Letizia will have to fill Sofia&#39;s shoes as reigning queen. She&#39;s signed up for the job and she has no easy way out. Sophia has done a wonderful job and it looks like everyone is agreed about Juan Carlos. One reasonwhy monarchy persists in Europe is that it represents nationhood and, beyond that, social contract in the fullest meaning of the words. A social contract binds people of all classes together. There is something more important than my getting ahead in a social contract environment. Monarchs and aristocrats are supposed to contribute by leading the common defense - this is why Crown Prince Felipe and the other royal men wore their uniforms. The USA never really established one and whatever it had is being abrogated by those at the top. It will be interesting to see what will happen to the monarchies if pan-Europeanism really takes hold.

There is a discussion about whether the Spanish press is controlled. I&#39;m an American and I live in a country with an increasingly controlled press. Control of the press does not need to come from a government or a monarchy. It can also come from an oligarchy of powerful people who don&#39;t want the little people to get upset over things like who pays taxes and who doesn&#39;t, unilateralism in foreign policy, or whether their country is taking on the Islamic world. We&#39;re supposed to focus on "reality TV" and a local murder story in Modesto, California that is a national rather than local news story. This is censorship in action. While the Bush regime is not yet directly involved, it is the principal beneficiary. George Bush II benefitted from press coverage in 2000 that was 2/3 to 1/3 favorable to him instead of his (rightfully elected) opponent. The press also ignored the fraudulent voter screening scheme in Florida that is well-known outside of the USA.

Getting off of the soapbox, it has only recently come out that George V was euthanized, that Edward VIII was probably deposed with considerable input from the aristocracy because of his strong pro-Nazi leanings, and that maybe he was an out an out traitor in the early days of World War 2. The UK press cocooned their monarchy. I gather Anthony Armstrong Jones had a role in peeling away the cocoon and the antics of Charles and Diana did away with it all together. I have seen that back in the 30s, a lady was no referred to as "Lady Jane", but as "The Lady Jane". Very deferential.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, maybe the Spanish press seeks to protect the monarchy as the symbol of nationhood understanding the strong centrifugal forces at work. Modern democratic Spain is a marvel, it is as dynamic and creative as it ever was in the age of Velazquez.

In any and all events, I wish the people of Spain, Crown Prince Felipe, and Crown Princess Letizia the best.

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by Sean.~+Jan 30th, 2004 - 1:57 am--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sean.~ @ Jan 30th, 2004 - 1:57 am)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-electrivicki@Jan 29th, 2004 - 11:10 pm
¿Proofs?

There isn&#39;t freedom of expression in Spain.The spanish monarchy works as a dictadure....

The* british newspapers can opine against british royals...HERE,THAT&#39;S IMPOSIBLE

¿Do you understand me?....my english is bad,but I think you can understand me...

I understand you. If you want to write to me in Spanish (via PM), I can understand that too. I just have a problem with arguments by assertion. You claim that millions of Spaniards hate the monarchy. I can see that being the case with Basque separatists, but not with the rest of Spain (and I follow world politics very closely). Thus perhaps you can provide links to articles, published polls, discussion forums on the subject, etc. in order to back-up your argument.

mucho gracias,

Sean

ps. that&#39;s a very interesting sig. you have [/b][/quote]
Sean, I am in agreement with you on this issue and was shocked by the personal signature as a Spanish speaker (although not a native). That was not something I expected someone to say of themselves to the world.

[Lord Williams]

Personally, the way Sheba was treated a few posts back is rude in my opinion..."please stay on topic"

[donnaK]

Originally posted by Dulce Elena@May 23rd, 2004 - 4:34 pm

Letizia is a sore spot because Letizia is not very well-rounded. She has a very shady history. Consider that she&#39;s divorced, engaged to another only to dump him for Felipe - not to mention there are rumours that she has had an abortion (during her first marriage, and the baby wasn&#39;t her husband&#39;s), that she slept around for her job...Eva and Gigi and the other women were always painted scarlet by the Queen, but generally because they were models and, thus, considered "looser." Letizia was no model and yet the rumours about her are more hurtful and hateful than about any other of his other girlfriends. Why? Letizia i&#39;m sure is a nice girl, but also a girl who looks as if she will get what she wants any way she can. >>Consider the engagement announcement as case in point.<<

She was divorced, that&#39;s the fact. Other than that, all those rumors around her are purely rumors, nobody had found anything to back it up. Jus because she had a successful career, it doesn&#39;t mean she had slept around. I doubt someone like Jaime Penafiel would have let her take an easy way if there was any truth to what you just said.

[carlota]

i don&#39;t really know if letizia is or isn&#39;t the most suitable one, but we all have to agree that there are many other crown princesses that weren&#39;t at all suitable. i think that the future of the spanish monarchy would depend mostly of the reactions of the people against the new couple, mainly because people really like sophia and juan carlos, because the did a lot to win their place and have done many things for spain. but we&#39;ll have to wait. maybe felipe is as good (or better&#33 as his father... and i&#39;m sure that letizia will try to follow sophia&#39;s exemple accurately

[Julian]

I have nothing against Letizia, rather I like her so far and think if you put her in context as coming from a middle-class/professional background, there&#39;s nothing either "shady" or a big deal about her at all. On the other hand, I can understand if either Queen Sofia or King Juan Carlos were having private thoughts (or converstions with their son) wondering why he had to choose from someone with not the ideal background. That&#39;s to say, not a bad or shocking background, but not the background of a young woman raised in an aristocratic or royal background who understands instinctively and easily the role of a future queen. Still, I&#39;m sure that Felipe might easily have replied that royal and noble matches do not necessarily guarantee future success, and furthermore other princes of reigning houses are marrying women from as far away as Hong Kong and Australia, Cuba, Argentina and Brazil, with no or little knowledge of royal life in their backgrounds. And European women with illegitimate children or past secret affairs with gangsters. Of course Q. Sofia and K. JC already know all these facts, along with the fact that they already objected to previous possible matches between their son including one with a woman did have a noble pedigree.

[Dulce Elena]

Firstly, Penafiel is not a journalist. Secondly, she has a home field advantage because now that she is Princess, people will tread on eggshells around her. Especially, since she is JUST married. I&#39;m sure that if there is any valid suspicion (I&#39;m not saying there is, simply that the tabloids always have their noses to the ground to trail the scent) they will wait until after the Honeymoon and give her some time before they attack, if they ever do. Besides, I think everyone -- journalists included, just FINALLY wanted to see Felipe married &#33;&#33;

[lucys]

In reading this discussion (which I think I&#39;ve been reading on and off in some variation or other on this board and others since Felipe announced he was getting married) I&#39;d like to share this thought: There is no such thing as a perfect princess--there are only degrees of better or lesser. Princess Diana appeared by all measures to be the perfect candidate for princess and the British monarchy hasn&#39;t exactly come out of her complicated legacy untarnished.

Only time will tell if Princess Letizia, or Princess Mary or Princess Metta-Marit or any of these new princesses will prove to be a good thing for their respective crowns and only time will tell if they will prove able to fulfil the role that they need to fill in their respective countries.

Digging up the past and, more specifically, spreading rumours about the past at this point--when the marriage has been consecrated before God--is simply malicious and ill-intentioned. Letizia is now Felipe&#39;s wife and should be given the opportunity to prove herself worthy of the trust he has placed in her. Only if in some future date she were to fall short is this kind of criticism merited.

I just spent two months in Spain and had many many conversations about the wedding and about Letizia and I got the feeling that while she certainly has both avid fans and avid detractors, most people seem to like her and are willing to do just that--give her time to gain her footing and prove herself.

But this is all just my opinion.