Spanska Kungliga Familjen

Commonwealth Network

The Spanish Royal Family

Her Majesty the Queen.

Dona SOFIA DE GRECIA Y HANNOVER was born in Athens on November 2nd, 1938. She was the first born daugther of the King and Queen of Greece, Paul I and Federika. Her family belongs to one of the oldest Royal Houses in Europe and is related to the Czars of Russia, the German Emperors and Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

She spent part of her childhood in Egypt and South Africa, as her family was obliged to go into exile during the Second World War. She returned to her country in 1946, completed her education at the prestigious German boarding school of Schloss Salem, and, having returned to Athens, specialized in paediatrics, music and archaelogy. She took part as a reserve for the Greek sailing team in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

On May 14th 1962 she married Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, and in subsequent years her three children were born: Infanta Elena on December 20th, 1963, Infanta Cristina on June 13th, 1965, and Prince Felipe on January 30th, 1968.

In addition to taking part in institutional events, the Queen devotes a great deal of attention to social and charity activities. She is the executive president of the Queen Sofia Foundation, which in 1993 has sent the major part of its funds to help Bosnia, and honorary president of the Royal Board on Education and Care of Handicapped Persons, and the Foundation for Aid for Drug Addicts. She takes special interest in this latter problem, taking part personally in conferences and meetings on the subject both in Spain and abroad.

Her help for the underprivileged is not confined to resolving specific situations, but also extends to progress in the field of research and to encouraging initiatives and cooperation agreements designed to prevent them from arising or to palliate their effects.

With regards to culture, Queen Sofia's fondness for music is well known. The Queen is an honorary member of the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Valladolid and, together with the King, from Cambridge.

H.R.H. the Crown Prince Felipe De Borbon.

Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, the third child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, was born in Madrid on January 30th, 1968.
His birth, which ensured the male succesion to the Crown was a dynastic event whose importance was emphasized in the symbolic names he was given at his shristening of Felipe, Juan, Pablo and Alfonso de Todos los Santos, the names of the first Bourbon to reign in Spain, his paternal and maternal grandfathers, the Count of Barcelona and King Paul of the Hellenes, and his great grandfather King Alfonso XIII, and in the fact that his godparents were the head of the Spanish Royal Hosehold and Queen Victoria Eugenia, who set foot on Spanish soil for this purpose for the first time since 1931.
He began his education at Santa Maria de los Rosales school, a modern institution where he could fit in without any special distinctions, where he remained until 1984.
Heir to the Throne since the proclamation of his father as King, 1975, in 1977 he received the title of prince of Asturias, together with those of Prince of Girona and Viana, the titles vested in the first born of the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarre, the union of which in the 15th century gave rise to the Spanish Monarchy.
Having completed his secondary studies, he did a year s preparation for university at Lakefield College School in Canada, and then began his military training at Academies and Colleges of the three services for a period of three years.
In 1987 he did his practice voyage as a midshipman on the Navy training ship the Juan Sebastian Elcano, during which he was received by the Presidents of Argentina, Brazil, the United States, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
On January 30th, 1986, at the age of eighteen, he took the oath of loyalty in the Cortes to the Constitution and the King, thus taking on his full institutional role as heir to the Throne.
From 1987 to 1993 he studied at Madrid's Autonomous University,, where he took his degree in law, and also attended courses on economics. At the present time he is doing a master s course on international relations at the University of Georgetown, in Washington.
In the last few years he has made several official visits to European countries and Latin America, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Morocco.
He is honorary president of the Spanish Section of the Association of European Journalists, the Autonomous University Foundation and the Prince of Asturias Foundation, where each year he presents the prestigious international prizes bear his name.
He takes part in several sports, such as skiing, motocross and, especially, sailing. He was a member of the Olympic sailing team in the Barcelona Games in 1992, and took part in the opening ceremony as the Spanish team' s standard bearer.

H.R.H. the Infanta Elena.

Infanta Elena Maria, Isabel, Dominica de Silos de Borbon y Grecia is the eldest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia. At the present time she is the second in line for the succession to the Crown, after her brother the Prince of Asturias.
She was born in Madrid on December 20th, 1963. On the 27th of the same month, she was christened in the Palacio de la Zarzuela by the Papal Nuncio. Her godparents were her paternal grandmother, Maria de las Mercedes de Borbon y Orleans, the Countess of Barcelona, and His Royal Highness Alfonso de Orleans y Borbon.
She completed her secondary education at Santa Maria del Camino School, and then qualified as a schoolteacher at the ESCUNI University College, which is part of Madrid's Complutense University. In 1986 she qualified as a primary school teacher, specializing in English language.
Having completed this stage of her education, she worked as an English teacher at Santa Maria del Camino School, and pursued further study by doing a specialist course in sociology and education at the University of Exeter, in Great Britain.
Subsequently, she completed her education at the University of Comillas, in Madrid, where she graduated in education in June 1993.
After coming of age, she began to perform institutional activities as a member of the Royal Family, on the occasion of visits to Spain by foreign Heads of State. She has made official visits to several countries, from Japan to Argentina, to preside at cultural or economic events involving Spain.
In addition to her institutional activities as a member of the Royal Family, she supports and takes part personally in many activities of an educational, cultural and sporting nature. She is honorary president of the Spanish Peadiatrics Society, and of Special Olympics Spain, which promotes the participation of the mentally handicapped in sports activities, and of the Spanish Anti-AIDS Foundation.

Official Announcement of the Wedding of the
Infanta Elena and Jaime De Marichalar.

On Wednesday, 23rd November, the King's Household issued a communique announcing the engagement of Her Royal Highness the Infanta Elena to Jaime de Marichalar Saenz de Tejada. The announcement came as a surprise to many people, since the couple had conducted their relationship with the greatest discretion.
The formal request for Infanta Elena's hand in marriage was made on the following Saturday, the 26th, in the presence of both families. During the ceremony, which went off in an atmosphere of cordiality and good humour, the couple went out to meet the photographers and journalists who were waiting in the Palace gardens, and talked to them.
A few dyas later, another communique from the Royal Household set the time and place for what is to be the wedding of the year 1995. Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar will be married in Seville on March 18th.
Infanta Elena, the eldest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, is second in the line of succession to the throne, after her brother Prince Felipe. The bridegroom is the fourth son of Amalio de Marichalar, Count of Ripalda, and Concepcion Saenz de Tejada. Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar are the same age, 31, and first met in Paris in 1987, where he works as an economist.
The engagement confirms the wish expressed by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia that their children should marry the persons they themselves choose, and that they should not be necessarily members of other royal families.

A Biographical Sketch of Her Royal Highness
the Infanta Cristina.

Infanta Cristina, Federica de Borbon y Grecia is the younger daughter of the king and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia, and holds third place in the line of succession to the throne, after Prince of Asturias and Princess Elena.
She was born in Madrid on June 13th, 1965, and was christened at the Palacio de la Zarzuela by the Archbishop of Madrid. Her godparents were Don Alfonso de Borbon, the Duke of Cadiz, and her Royal Highness Cristina de Borbon y Battemberg.
She was educated at the Santa Maria del Camino School, and from 1984 began to study for a degree in politics at Madrid's Complutense University, where she graduated in 1989.
In 1990 she obtained a master's degree in international relations at the University of New York. A year later she did a short course at the UNESCO in Paris. On her return to Spain she kept up her links with this international organization through its Spanish Committee, taking part in a number of projects carried out in collaboration with Spanish bodies and institutions, paying special attention to UNESCO activities in Latin America.
At the present time, she has started out on a period of co-operation in the social and cultural activities of the Caixa Foundation, in Barcelona, the city where she now lives.
Ever since she came of age she has been performing institutional activities as a memeber of the Royal Family, accompanying the Prince and Princess of Wales during their official visit to Spain in 1987, attending the ceremony for the presentation of the Nobel Prize to Camilo Jose Cela in 1989, and presenting the Gold Medal of the Spanish Institute to the Secretary General of the United Nations in 1990.
As from 1989 she visited a number of European and Latin American countries to preside at the opening ceremonies or take part in activities of a mainly cultural nature involving Spain. She is honorary chairperson of the Spanish Committee of UNESCO, and of the Infanta Cristina Foundation for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped, and takes part personally in sailing courses adapted to handicapped persons.
She takes part in several sports, including skiing and, above all, sailing, and has participated in a number of national and international events. She was a member of the Olympic sailing team in the Seoul Games in 1988, where she was the standard bearer for the Spanish team in the opening parade.

Her Royal Highness Cristinas Wedding.

Cristina & Inaki with family

Inaki & Cristina

The King & Queen