Relationships between Members of the Spanish Royal Family


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I don´t know about this, Letizia might have thought that it would be natural for her family to stay with her future in-laws, but the same goes for Infanta Cristina as for her father, she may have to welcome her brother´s wife but she wouldn´t have to put up with her family. There was a rumour about Letizia´s mother getting some royal house, but I haven´t heard anything more about that so it might just have been a rumour.
I don´t think that Letizia´s family are the kind of people that the the royal family would normally mix with on a social level, but I don´t believe that Queen Sofia doesn´t have friends in Spain besides her sister, I am sure she has many friends but I am also sure that she is very much aware of her position as the Queen of Spain and royal protocol.
??????? Letizia's parents have never vacationed in Mallorca with the SRF, neither were the parents of the Infantas (more than 10 years since Elena was married in 95). On the weddings or baptisms, the families of the in-laws (Letizia's or infantas') have never stayed at the official residence. Just as you said, if Cristina didn't want to deal with Letizia's family, why did she expect her brother to have to deal with her hubby's family ? Those rumors of Letizia not letting Cristina's in-laws staying at the official residence is rather bizarre. Letizia's mother still lives at her own house. The national wealth even threatened a lawsuit against the tabloids for spreading those ridiculous rumors.
It was in Sofia's biography that she had no friends (non-family members) in Spain. She didn't have friends, only had acquaintances in Spain. One good thing is that nobody can invent stories on her told by her friends or friends who knows her friends LOL.
 
The arrival of the Queen to Spain was not easy, she did not escape to the critiques. Her rejection to having court generated more than one anger between the nobility and the high classes. The beginning were not easy and it seems that she decided to shelter in her family. She probably knows many people, but the persons in whom really she trusts are her sister Irene and her cousin Tatiana.

The press speaks about the friends of the King in Madrid or in Mallorca, it is known that he is going to have dinner to a restaurant with them, that he visits their houses or their estates to hunt. There is no news of the Queen going out to have dinner, going to a concert or passing a day with her grandchildren ... accompanied of some close friend.

The members of the royalty have to be careful and discreet with their friendship, and the King has committed more than one mistake in this sense ... but of there to what happens with the Queen it is to go very far.

For example, the press has commented often that the Princess continues supporting very much contact with her friends, she is going to have dinner or to the cinema with her friends, or they pass the day with the children ... nevertheless, these friends are very discreet (in spite of being many journalists). Another example they are the Bulgarian Princes, friends of the Prince and the Infantas but that are never indiscreet .. in spite of the pressure of the press.
 
How could you now that? Just because they aren't almost non photos of her with her friends?
She has her sister Princess Irene, Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł and why not Letizia?
Irene is her sister and Tatiana is a non spaniard. What about spanish friends? She's the queen consort of spain.
 
I wonder why Sofia has no friend....

In Spain we know that queen Sofia hasn't close spaniards friends, only her family. Some articles from serious press (Tiempo magacine p.e.), talk abaut the good relationship between queen Sofia and her in laws Paloma Rocasolano, Enriqueta(pa)) and Menchu (Letizia's grand mothers), she talked telephone with their frecuently.

Pilar Urbano, Sofia's biographer, write an article abaut the relation between princess Letizia and queen Sofia, some months after princes Asturias' wedding. If you understand spanish, you can read it .

(sorry for mi inglish)

http://www.esmas.com/vanidades/nobleza/391578.html
 
Irene is her sister and Tatiana is a non spaniard. What about spanish friends? She's the queen consort of spain.

Maybe not having close friends in Spain was deliberate on Sofia's side and might be a smart move on her part.
 
I don't go for the gossip pilates story either and one doesn't have to be the Queen's biographer to figure out that they share the same interest at literature and arts. Queen Sofia is not the type of woman who will entrust her daughter in law with her most intimate thoughts or darkest secrets but will share everything with her that will benefit Letizia's current and future role. Both women are professional and make the best of a situation that is non-negotiable. Felipe has made his choice and everyone has to live with it in good and bad times, the SRF are used to walk the line therefore I believe Letizia has the hardest part of all by becoming part of a system that does not adapt to her but forces her to adapt. If the spanish monarchy will fail because the CP couple is not up to the challenge Queen Sofia will probably consider herself as failed.

Queen Sofia has been doing the Pilates for many years (no wonder she has a very nice figure for her age and can still walk on those 4-inch heels), thus she introduced the Pilates to Letizia. They live next door to each other, so they often do the Pilates together, I don't see why it's so hard to believe. I do Yoga with a couple of my colleagues/friends and we don't share the most intimate thoughts or darkest secrets. I actually think JC and Sofia should just let go all the darkest secrets (if there is any) when they are gone, there is no need even to tell their own children.
 
I truly believe that this goes for all the Kings and Queens who had to accept their commoner daughters in law........I still believe that the whole institution of Monarchy is changing and it may even become obsolete in another generation or two.
I tend to agree that with the "non-royals" now marrying into the Royal families, the Monarchy as we know it is to be no more. Just look at the future King of England, as an example. Queen Victoria would not have been amused! I don't think that they will become obsolete but I do believe that the days of feeling they are supreme by birthright, will die out. Some people will always find them superior because of their genealogy, but most will not.
 
Lula. When Sarah Ferguson joined the BRF there was talk that the Queen enjoyed her company a lot because Fergie would talk to her about the "outside world" which the Queen was not familiar with, and she found the details interesting and amusing. This may also be happening with the Queen and Letizia if Letizia still keeps in touch with the "outside world"
There is no doubt things have changed and ideas evolve. My personal issue is that there are some institutions that "updating" and "modernization" bring them to the level of the common man and as a result, they lose their luster, mystique or whatever kept them there in the first place. Monarchy and religion are two such institutions. This is my own humble opinion. The Spaniards will have the last say of course.

Doesn't Letizia have any friends? The rest of European CP Viktoria, Mette-Marit, Maxima and Mary have many friends but we never hear of Letizia's friends. The only one person about whom I heard is Sonsoles Onega.
 
I tend to agree that with the "non-royals" now marrying into the Royal families, the Monarchy as we know it is to be no more. Just look at the future King of England, as an example. Queen Victoria would not have been amused! I don't think that they will become obsolete but I do believe that the days of feeling they are supreme by birthright, will die out. Some people will always find them superior because of their genealogy, but most will not.

Exactly what I think Winnie - "commonerized" monarchies will make themseves redundant in the long term because they will be no different from the ordinary citizen, and that doesn't only apply to Spain. Royal duties can be done by elected members of a government in a republic or by all kind of civil cervants, no country has to fund a royal family for that purpose. A King with a divorce battle past, commoner Queens either divorced or with shady pasts and a follow-up generation who doesn't show much interest in their future as heirs because they have been brought up like commoners will only speed up this process.
 
That is what I thought of when Alexandra Frederiksborg married Martin: She was after all married to Joachim for nine years but not one well-known noble attended her second wedding. She must have met lots of other royals or nobility during her marriage but it seems that there developed no close friendship during those years. Is all that invitings (f.i. to WA´s 40th birthday) just politeness or is it not wanted that they become friends in private? Or did they all drop the friendship not to get in trouble with the Danish royal family?
 
That is a very good question and to be honest I would love to know. However, I think my chances of finding out are slim to none!
 
That is what I thought of when Alexandra Frederiksborg married Martin: She was after all married to Joachim for nine years but not one well-known noble attended her second wedding. She must have met lots of other royals or nobility during her marriage but it seems that there developed no close friendship during those years. Is all that invitings (f.i. to WA´s 40th birthday) just politeness or is it not wanted that they become friends in private? Or did they all drop the friendship not to get in trouble with the Danish royal family?


Is this the reason why King Abdullah of Jordan didn't attend Felipe and Letizia's wedding in 2004? On the other hand QR and KA don't spend the summer in Spain anymore since when Letizia married into the Spanish Royal family. They didn't attend Expo in Zaragoza. We know that they were in the US . Although I think they just wanted to find a reason in order to not attend Expo.
 
Doesn't Letizia have any friends? The rest of European CP Viktoria, Mette-Marit, Maxima and Mary have many friends but we never hear of Letizia's friends. The only one person about whom I heard is Sonsoles Onega.

I do not know how many friends Letizia has but I can only presume that she is in a difficult position on a few fronts. She definitely cannot keep in close contact with her old friends because her situation changed dramatically when she married into the Royal family. On the other hand she needs time to feel secure herself before she can have a true friendship with the Infantas. With regard to the other newcomers into royal families I am sure there is competition and jealousy among them no matter how many kisses they blow at each other when the photographers are present. Last but definitely not least she lost a sister and the other either moved or is moving far far away.
I do not know what sort of relationship she has with her own mother and it is heart warming to see that Q Sofia is, for many reasons, warm towards Letizia.
All of the above plus the fact that so far she did not give a prince to the Crown, must cause her some sort of distress (IMHO). Hopefully she is strong enough and Felipe is caring enough to help her out.
 
Is this the reason why King Abdullah of Jordan didn't attend Felipe and Letizia's wedding in 2004? On the other hand QR and KA don't spend the summer in Spain anymore since when Letizia married into the Spanish Royal family. They didn't attend Expo in Zaragoza. We know that they were in the US . Although I think they just wanted to find a reason in order to not attend Expo.

Guido, I find this assumption far fetched. These days all the royal families have commoners either reigning or waiting in line (Except for Leichtenstein) KA's mother is a commoner,so King Abdullah is half commoner. Q Rania is a commoner. If they start snubbing each other because one commoner was better than the other before they became royals, they will have to stay away from each other for at least another generation. Assuming their children will marry another half commoner/half royal or the whole royalty idea will be as they say " All hat and no cattle"
 
The Princess of Asturias supports friendship before her wedding and has new friendship. The Princess has friends, journalists some of them, but these always have been very discreet ... it is not strange to read in the press that the Princess goes to the cinema or to having dinner with a friend. Also she has entered in touch with the friends of the Prince, there are many news of the Princes in dinners, birthdays or friends' weddings.

In general, the good friends of the Princes do not presume to be. The Princes are in the habit of being discreet in their exits, are not in the habit of coming to big parties or very crowded places.
 
All of the above plus the fact that so far she did not give a prince to the Crown, must cause her some sort of distress (IMHO). Hopefully she is strong enough and Felipe is caring enough to help her out.

It's very obvious to see for some time now that Felipe does (and maybe has to do) his utmost to support his wife up to the degree that he is holding her hand all the time and that one could fear that she collapses in case he takes his hand away. It always looks as if he has to buoy her to get her through the day. In the first one or two years of her marriage Letizia looked much more confident IMO but for some reason then transformed into the shadow of her former self that we can see today. She probably thought she could conquer the SRF with her personality but wasn't prepared for an institution where she is only a representative without having any say. The only person who publicly cares about Letizia apart from Felipe is Queen Sofia, neither the King nor both Infantas seem to care much. I can't provide any sources but on old forums or threads it was always stated that the Infantas tried to help in the beginning but were kind of put off by Letizia as she thought she knew better. Especially with Cristina there must have been a clash at some point as there are many pictures showing them either non-interacting or even openly ignoring each other with faces of thunder ... I recall one picture from late 2004 where Letizia touches Cristina's arm with the result that Cristina gives her an annoying look.

I am curious if there will be a photoshoot or who will attend the good-bye dinner this year ... remember what happened last year ;)

http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img/feed/actualidad/20070828/7216e62b3f52cg.jpg
 
That is what I thought of when Alexandra Frederiksborg married Martin: She was after all married to Joachim for nine years but not one well-known noble attended her second wedding. She must have met lots of other royals or nobility during her marriage but it seems that there developed no close friendship during those years. Is all that invitings (f.i. to WA´s 40th birthday) just politeness or is it not wanted that they become friends in private? Or did they all drop the friendship not to get in trouble with the Danish royal family?
That is a real interesting question --although we will never know. I just assumed that she didn't invite any of her "prior life people". If you know what I mean. If I were her, I would have distanced myself and new life as far away from the old as possible. She must not have cared for the old and its players as she certainly got rid of it. Who were her close friends from her first marriage?

It is interesting to think about what the Royals have to go through and keep true lasting friendships. I read once that Queen Eliz II has had what she calls a close friend that she only met once! This women is an American that started writing to the furure queen prior to her marriage. They still write and this woman was once invited to an event in America in which the Queen attended years ago. They wrote back and forth thru marriage, children, deaths, etc. I often wonder if she kept all the letters that the queen wrote over the years. Would that make a great book -- although being a good and trusted friend I doubt we will ever see it (I wonder if this woman is still alive). Does anyone else remember who I am talking about?

Is this the reason why King Abdullah of Jordan didn't attend Felipe and Letizia's wedding in 2004? On the other hand QR and KA don't spend the summer in Spain anymore since when Letizia married into the Spanish Royal family. They didn't attend Expo in Zaragoza. We know that they were in the US . Although I think they just wanted to find a reason in order to not attend Expo.
Oh I think that you are spinning your own "want-to-be" story now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Is this the reason why King Abdullah of Jordan didn't attend Felipe and Letizia's wedding in 2004? On the other hand QR and KA don't spend the summer in Spain anymore since when Letizia married into the Spanish Royal family. They didn't attend Expo in Zaragoza. We know that they were in the US . Although I think they just wanted to find a reason in order to not attend Expo.
The friendship in the past has tended to be between Queen Noor and Queen Sofia. However, it's also apparent that Princess Alia shares quite a warm relationship with the Spanish royals.

The King may not have attended the Spanish CP wedding in 2004, but he was represented by his wife, mother, brother and sister-in-law. I'm fairly sure he had a valid reason at the time for not going. Moreover the Spanish royals were in Jordan days later for Prince Hamzah's wedding.

So far as the Expo is concerned there was no official announcement that the Jordanian royals would attend; the story originated from a magazine (Hola maybe?!).
 
Oh, D of M, I don't for one minute believe that Letizia holds Felipe's hand for just support or that she is going to faint. I believe she loves to hold his hand and he hers. That is one of the reasons that I enjoy seeing this couple -- brings back memories of me and my late husband. To hold hands in public is a joy. Plus my husband was sought after enough that I enjoyed rubbing it in others faces.
 
In respect of Sofia and Letizia's relationship I think they get along quite well. They have often been photographed together laughing and joking, not just in an official cpacity but privately as well.

For example, last year the "infamous" bikini shots of Letizia showed her and Sofia sat together, looking quite easy in each other's company. If they were not friendly then these sorts of shots would not appear? After all they live together (almost) so there is no real need for them to relax together.
 
It's very obvious to see for some time now that Felipe does (and maybe has to do) his utmost to support his wife up to the degree that he is holding her hand all the time and that one could fear that she collapses in case he takes his hand away. It always looks as if he has to buoy her to get her through the day. In the first one or two years of her marriage Letizia looked much more confident IMO but for some reason then transformed into the shadow of her former self that we can see today. She probably thought she could conquer the SRF with her personality but wasn't prepared for an institution where she is only a representative without having any say. The only person who publicly cares about Letizia apart from Felipe is Queen Sofia, neither the King nor both Infantas seem to care much. I can't provide any sources but on old forums or threads it was always stated that the Infantas tried to help in the beginning but were kind of put off by Letizia as she thought she knew better. Especially with Cristina there must have been a clash at some point as there are many pictures showing them either non-interacting or even openly ignoring each other with faces of thunder ... I recall one picture from late 2004 where Letizia touches Cristina's arm with the result that Cristina gives her an annoying look.

I am curious if there will be a photoshoot or who will attend the good-bye dinner this year ... remember what happened last year ;)

http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img/feed/actualidad/20070828/7216e62b3f52cg.jpg
Wow, I never saw that picture before. Letizia looks so happly and Cristina so jealous. Shame, but life changes all the time.
 
That's an icnredibly unflattering photo of Cristina.

I've always been a fan of Infanta Cristina but her behaviour in the past year or so has really disappointed me. I have no idea whether there has been some major argument between Letizia and Cristina, nobody here does. However, Cristina's inability to keep private matters out of the public arena has disappointed me; Letizia undoubtedly comes across as the "better" party for maintaining her dignity in public.
 
I don´t know Little Star, we have all had acquaintances (I don´t say friends for a reason) who manage to annoy us and then look serene and then we become the "bad guys" for reacting. In this case of course I don´t know. Anyway Infanta Cristina just towers over Letizia that can make her seem to look down on her, well literally she does look down on her....lol
 
I know it was widely discussed for years but please can someone make a summary how it could happen that Felipe married Letizia? I´m still wondering: Who of the royal family was against the marriage and if Felipe is in fact a mummy´s darling (or a daddy´s darling?) is this the reason why only he and Sofia support Letizia? And: Is it really important concerning the Spanish constitution whether Leti is divorced since they always again said he has to marry a roman-catholic noble woman.
And: How is the latest information what will happen in case Leti gives birth to a boy?
 
I know it was widely discussed for years but please can someone make a summary how it could happen that Felipe married Letizia? I´m still wondering: Who of the royal family was against the marriage and if Felipe is in fact a mummy´s darling (or a daddy´s darling?) is this the reason why only he and Sofia support Letizia? And: Is it really important concerning the Spanish constitution whether Leti is divorced since they always again said he has to marry a roman-catholic noble woman.
And: How is the latest information what will happen in case Leti gives birth to a boy?

The old law required Felipe to marry a royal (a noble woman was not good enough either), but this old law had been abandoned by the government in the 70s (78 ?). Letizia is as eligible as any other royal woman in Europe to marry Felipe by the new law.
There were too many stories floating around, Felipe's biographer said that the King had no problem with the marriage, Sofia needed some time; Sofia's biographer said that Sofia supported the wedding, without her, there would not have been a wedding; Jaime Penafiel said that Sofia was backing up her boy to send his father an ultimatum; a couple other gossip writers said that Cristina was the one supporting her brother, and etc. Anyway, I guess no outsider knows exactly the whole story, probably only the closest family members know what really was going on.
The succession law hasn't been changed yet. If Letizia gives birth to a boy, he will be ahead of Leonor to inherit the throne.
 
Yes, Prince Felipe only need King permission and not opposition from Spanish parlament to marry. Nothing about origin or condition of his future wife is write into the 1978 spanish constitution, is the law.
 
http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img/feed/actualidad/20070828/7216e62b3f52cg.jpg

This is a pic, I see the video and realy Cristina look behind because she is a step ahead to Letizia and she is go back. Cristina don't get hangry with Letizia, is only a pic for an instant manipulated. This pic is bad for Cristina, imo, not for Letizia.
I am so glad that you said this and that the picture was taken from a video. We all know what we look like if you "stop & start" videos of ourselves -- frightening! People look mad (when they are not) silly (when at a serious event) etc.
 
So that clearly mean that we shouldn't believe to the photos which we see.
 
That is what I thought of when Alexandra Frederiksborg married Martin: She was after all married to Joachim for nine years but not one well-known noble attended her second wedding. She must have met lots of other royals or nobility during her marriage but it seems that there developed no close friendship during those years. Is all that invitings (f.i. to WA´s 40th birthday) just politeness or is it not wanted that they become friends in private? Or did they all drop the friendship not to get in trouble with the Danish royal family?

Paul Burrel was in Spain promoting his book about Diana in 2004 and he was asked for the advice he could give to Letizia, he said that Letizia should treasure her friends before the marriage, those people would be about the only real friends she got. From Diana's experience, the BRF's family friends, Charles' friends, wives or girlfriends of Charles' friends who had befriended with Diana didn't turn out to be her friends at the end. I'm not surprised if this had happened to Alexandra, I think the same would happen to the commoners who currently are married to the royals if the marriages end in divorce.
 
Back
Top Bottom