People
Letizia, Queen of Spain (born Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano; born 15 September 1972)
Biography
At ten, Letizia was already appearing on the radio herself, taking part in a children's program called El Columpio. She attended La Gesta School in Oviedo before her family moved near Madrid, finishing her schooling at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute.
Letizia studied journalism at Madrid's Complutense University, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in audiovisual journalism, and spent part of her training in Guadalajara, Mexico, writing for the local paper Siglo 21. Back in Spain, she interned at the Asturian daily La Nueva España, then worked for the newspaper ABC and the news agency EFE.
On 7 August 1998, Letizia married Alonso Guerrero Pérez(born in 1962), a writer and high school literature teacher, in a civil ceremony, after a 10-year courtship. The marriage ended in divorce the following year.
Letizia's career accelerated quickly afterward. She reported for Bloomberg's Spanish affiliate, then moved to the network CNN+, and eventually to Televisión Española, Spain's national broadcaster. In 2000, she covered the American presidential election from Washington, D.C. In September 2001, she broadcast live from Ground Zero in New York in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
In 2002, sent to report from Galicia after the oil tanker Prestige broke apart and spilled oil along Spain's northern coast, Letizia met Felipe, then Prince of Asturias, at the scene. The following year she reported from Iraq after the outbreak of war there, and in August 2003 was promoted to anchor Spain's most-watched evening news program, Telediario 2.
On 1 November 2003, Felipe and Letizia's engagement was announced. He proposed with a diamond ring set with sixteen baguette-cut stones; she gave him cufflinks in white gold and sapphire, along with a book. Letizia gave up her recently earned anchor position without hesitation.
The couple married on 22 May 2004 at Madrid's Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena, the first royal wedding in this cathedral, and the first time for almost a century since the capital Madrid celebrated a royal wedding.
Letizia arrived fifteen minutes late in driving rain, wearing an ivory gown with a wide pearl collar and a long veil, and walked down the aisle to a Handel organ concerto.
Her bridal gown was designed by Spanish fashion designer Manuel Pertegaz, who had once been offered the chance to take over the house of Christian Dior after Dior's death in 1957, and turned it down to keep building his own name instead.
Letizia's bridal veil, made of off-white silk tulle and hand-embroidered with detailing, was a gift from Prince Felipe to his bride.
Letizia became Princess of Asturias that day, and went on to represent her father-in-law, King Juan Carlos I, at events across Spain and abroad. Her daughter Leonor was born in 2005, and a second daughter, Sofía, in 2007.
In 2007, Letizia's youngest sister, Érika, died of a drug overdose. Letizia has rarely spoken publicly about the loss.
On 19 June 2014, King Juan Carlos I abdicated, and Felipe became King Felipe VI. Letizia became Queen of Spain that same day, the first divorced commoner ever to hold the position in the country's modern history.
As queen, Letizia has become one of the most scrutinized dressers in Europe, named the world's most stylish royal by The Telegraph.
In 2024, she paired a houndstooth double-breasted blazer with plain white trousers and a pair of sneakers made from recycled plastic. The following year, at Madrid's ABC Journalism Awards, fittingly enough for a former newswoman, she wore a strapless black midi dress with a straight neckline and a chunky pearl necklace, an outfit widely compared in the press to Audrey Hepburn's in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
