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Felipe VI (, Spanish: ;[1] born 30 January 1968) is the King of Spain. He ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 following the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos I.[4][5][6] As heir apparent to the throne, he previously bore the title of Prince of Asturias, and worked to support philanthropic causes and to promote international fellowship among Spanish-speaking countries.
In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces,[7][8] and also plays a role in promoting relations with Hispanic America, the "nations of its historical community".[7][8] He is married to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, with whom he has two daughters, Leonor and Sofía. Leonor, the elder, is his heir presumptive.
Felipe was born in Madrid,[9] the third child and only son of Infante Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark.[10] His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon King of Spain (Philip V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and of All the Saints (de Todos los Santos) as is customary among the Bourbons.[11] His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.[9][11] Shortly after his birth he was styled infante, although his father was not yet king. The ruling dictator General Francisco Franco died just over two months before Felipe's eighth birthday, and Felipe's father ascended the throne. In his first official appearance, Felipe attended his father's proclamation as king on 22 November 1975.[10]
Felipe was formally created Prince of Asturias, along with the subsidiary titles of Prince of Girona and Prince of Viana, on 22 January 1977. On 1 November the same year, he was ceremonially installed as Prince of Asturias in Covadonga.[11] In 1981 Felipe received the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece from his father, the Chief and Sovereign of the Order.[11] On 30 January 1986, at the age of 18, Felipe swore allegiance to the Constitution and to the King in the Spanish Parliament, fully accepting his constitutional role as successor to the Crown.[10]
Felipe attended school at Santa María de los Rosales,[10] a modern school where he could fit in without special treatment, which his daughters currently attend. Felipe attended high school at Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece.[12]
Felipe undertook his constitutional duties assiduously as heir to the throne, hosting many official events in Spain and participating in all events of different sectors and aspects of Spanish public life as required. Since October 1995, Felipe has represented Spain on a series of official visits to the Spanish Autonomous Communities, starting with Valencia,[10] during which he made contact with Spaniards from all walks of life. Felipe has held regular meetings with constitutional bodies and state institutions keeping up-to-date with their activities.[11] He also attends meetings of the various bodies of the Central Administration and of the Autonomous Communities as required by his national and international constitutional obligations. Felipe has welcomed as many public and private audiences as possible to maintain Crown interaction in national and international affairs. In particular, he has held meetings with people of his generation who have built successful careers in political, economic, cultural and media circles. As part of his military training, Felipe trained as a military helicopter pilot.[11] On occasions when King Juan Carlos was unable to attend, Felipe presided over the annual presentation of dispatches to officers and non-commissioned officers in the Armed Forces as well as participating in military exercises held by the three Armed Services.[11]
Felipe has made many official visits to Europe and Latin America, as well as to countries in the Arab World, the Far East, and Australia, maintaining a special interest in all matters relating to the European Union, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Since January 1996, Felipe has represented the Spanish State at many Latin American presidents' inauguration ceremonies.[11] As Prince, he visited every country in Latin America except Cuba, and made over 200 foreign trips in total.[13] Felipe has also played a very active role in promoting Spain's economic, commercial and cultural interests and the Spanish language abroad. He frequently represents Spain at world economic and trade events (e.g. Expotecnia, Expoconsumo, and Expohabitat), and is especially interested in promoting the creation of Centres and University Chairs to advance the study of Spain both historically and in the present-day at major foreign universities.
Following the 11 March 2004 Madrid bombings, Felipe, along with his sisters Elena and Cristina, took part in a public demonstration.[10]
Felipe speaks Spanish, Catalan, French, English and some Greek.[14]
Felipe was a member of the Spanish Olympic sailing team at the Barcelona Games in 1992. Felipe took part in the opening ceremony as the Spanish team's flag bearer. The Spanish crew finished in sixth place in the Soling class and obtained an Olympic diploma.[15]
Felipe has been a supporter of Atlético Madrid since watching them win the 1976 Copa del Generalísimo Final.[16]
Felipe, himself 197 cm (6 ft 5 1⁄2 in) in height, has attended Spanish, European, and Olympic basketball championships.[17][18][19]
Both his mother and uncle were on the Greek sailing team at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome (his mother as a substitute), and Felipe's father and sister were also Olympic sailors for Spain.[20]
Felipe's bachelor years were a source of interest to the Spanish press for several years. His name was linked with several eligible women, but only two notable girlfriends: Spanish noblewoman Isabel Sartorius, around 1989 to 1991, daughter of Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca, who was viewed unfavourably by the Royal Family due to her mother's cocaine addiction,[21] and Norwegian model Eva Sannum, who modelled underwear.[22] When Felipe finally began a serious relationship, nothing was suspected before the official announcement of the Prince's engagement on 1 November 2003 to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning television journalist formerly with CNN who had been married previously. The couple were married on the morning of 22 May 2004 in the Almudena Cathedral, Madrid, with members of several European royal families present.[10] The wedding was broadcast globally with over 25 million watching on television in Spain alone.
Felipe and Letizia have two daughters: Leonor, Princess of Asturias, born on 31 October 2005, and Infanta Sofía, born on 29 April 2007.[10]
Felipe has seven godchildren:
In addition to his official activities, Felipe serves as Honorary President of several associations and foundations, such as the Imperial Munitions Board, which finances economic and social development in Ibero-America and other countries,[11] and the Spanish branch of the Association of European Journalists, comprising outstanding communications professionals. Most noteworthy is the Príncipe de Asturias Foundation, where he presides annually at the international awards ceremony of the highly prestigious Prince of Asturias Awards bearing his name.[23][24]
Felipe was appointed a "UN-Eminent Person" by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2001, during its International Year of Volunteers,[25] and continues to make contributions internationally towards enhancing the importance of voluntary work.
On 2 June 2014, King Juan Carlos announced his intent to abdicate in Felipe's favour. Since the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (Parliament). According to Jesús Posada, the President of the Congress of Deputies, Felipe could have been proclaimed king as early as 18 June.[26] On 4 June, El País of Madrid reported that Felipe would indeed be proclaimed king on 18 June.[6]
Felipe ascended the throne at the stroke of midnight on 19 June; his father had signed the formal instrument of abdication just hours earlier.[4] The next morning, after receiving the general's sash from his father, he was formally enthroned in a low-key ceremony held in the Cortes. He swore to uphold the Constitution before formally being proclaimed king by Posada.[27] Upon his accession, he became the youngest monarch in Europe, being nine months younger than King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
As king, Felipe has fairly extensive reserve powers on paper. He is the guardian of the Constitution, responsible for ensuring it is obeyed. While he is nominally chief executive, it is expected that he will follow his father's practice of taking a mostly ceremonial and representative role, acting largely on the advice of the government. He indicated as much in a speech to the Cortes on the day of his enthronement, saying that he would be "a loyal head of state who is ready to listen and understand, warn and advise as well as to defend the public interest at all times".[27] A poll conducted by El País, however, indicates that a majority of Spaniards wish that Felipe play a greater role in politics, with 75% of the 600 surveyed people stating that they would approve if he personally pushed the political parties to reach agreements on national problems.[28] According to an El Mundo newspaper poll, Felipe had a greater approval than his father prior to his reign.[29]
In June 2014, Felipe and Letizia became the first Spanish monarchs to receive and recognize
"The Spanish royal arms differenced with a label of three points azure and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece As crest the crown of heir to the throne, decorated with four half-arches."
Upon ascending the throne, Felipe assumed the same titles held by his father.
Though Juan Carlos held no official title or post in Spain, Felipe was registered in the Civil Registry as Infante when he was born, with the style of Royal Highness. About a year later, General Franco recognised Juan Carlos as the future successor to the headship of state and bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Spain. Thus, Felipe became second-in-line in the line of succession to the vacant throne. Juan Carlos became king in 1975, but no title was conferred on Felipe as heir apparent until 2 January 1977, when he was created Prince of Asturias, the title normally held by the heir to the Spanish throne, by a Royal Decree which also entitled him to use "the other historical titles corresponding to the heir of the Crown".[34] Legally granted in 1977, Felipe started using the Aragonese-Catalan title of Prince of Girona publicly on 21 April 1990, during a trip around Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia, becoming the first Bourbon to use this title.[35] Later, he did the same thing with the Princedom of Viana in Navarre, and the titles of Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer in their respective places. If the former Kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre had separate naming styles, he would also be known as Felipe V of Aragon and Felipe VII of Navarre along with Felipe VI of Castile.[36]
In February 2015, Felipe announced that he would cut his salary by 20%.[33]
[32], under-secretary for Relations with States. The visit followed one by King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía on 28 April.Antoine Camilleri, accompanied by Mgsr. Pietro Parolin Cardinal Secretary of State on 30 June 2014, in the Apostolic Palace. They subsequently met with Pope Francis In their first overseas trip as monarchs, Felipe VI and Queen Letizia met [31] Felipe also changed the protocol in order to allow people to take the oath of office without a crucifix or Bible.[30]
Felipe VI of Spain, Rome, House of Bourbon, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Anne, Princess Royal, Queen Victoria, House of Windsor
Spain, France, House of Bonaparte, House of Orléans, House of Savoy
Felipe VI of Spain, Madrid, Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Prince of Viana
Madrid, Andalusia, Portugal, European Union, Barcelona
Juan Carlos I of Spain, Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Sofía of Spain, Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, Order of Charles III
Spain, Spanish Empire, Politics of Spain, Foreign relations of Spain, Felipe VI of Spain
Madrid, Felipe VI of Spain, House of Bourbon, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, Juan Carlos I of Spain
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