Felipe VI
Felipe VI (Spanish: [feˈlipe ˈseɣsto];[c] Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces, holding the military rank of Captain General,[3][4] and also plays the role of the supreme representation of Spain in international relations.[3][4]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de Borbón and the second or maternal family name is Grecia.
Felipe was born in Madrid during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco as the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark. Felipe was officially created Prince of Asturias in 1977, two years after his father became king. Felipe was formally proclaimed as prince in 1986. He was also made honorary soldier of the Spanish Army at the age of 9. Felipe was educated at Santa María de los Rosales School and went to Lakefield College School in Canada. Later, he studied law at the Autonomous University of Madrid and he obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
To prepare for his future role as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Felipe joined the Spanish Army in 1985. During the next two years, he completed his military formation at the Navy and Air Force. After completing his civil and military studies, he undertook official duties representing his father in different social and institutional events, such as chairing charity foundations or attending inaugurations of Latin American leaders. At one of these events with the press, Felipe met TV news journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, whom he married in 2004. They have two daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofía.
Felipe ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 upon the abdication of his father.[5][6][7] His reign has been marked by his dissolution of the Spanish Parliament in 2016 (so that new elections could be called), strong condemnation of the Catalan independence referendum that led to the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and moves towards greater transparency in royal affairs. According to a poll conducted in 2020, Felipe has moderately high approval ratings.[8]
Early life and family[edit]
Felipe was born at 12:45 (CET) on 30 January 1968, at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital at Madrid, being the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark.[9][10][11] He was baptized on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, with water from the Jordan River.[12][13] His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons.[14] His godparents were his paternal grandfather, the Count of Barcelona, and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie.[13][14][15] Additionally, he is the third cousin once removed of King Harald V of Norway, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, and second cousin once removed of King Charles III of the United Kingdom.
Shortly after his birth Felipe was styled infante. The dictator Francisco Franco died just over two months before Felipe's eighth birthday, and Felipe's father ascended the throne, as the latter had been appointed as Prince of Spain back in 1969. In his first official appearance, Felipe attended his father's proclamation as king on 22 November 1975.[11]