King Felipe and Queen Letizia celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary (2024)

FAQs

Is the wife of the king of Spain called Letizia? ›

It is an important day for one of the world's most glamorous royals asQueen Letizia of Spain, the radiant wife of King Felipe VI, as they celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. Born on 15 September 1972 as Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, the queen came from a middle-class family in Otezia, Northern Spain.

The wedding of Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz was held on 22 May 2004 in the Almudena Cathedral at the Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain.

Felipe, then 36, exchanged vows and gold rings with Letizia Ortiz, a 31-year-old divorced journalist, at Madrid's Almudena Cathedral on a rainy May 22, 2004 in a lavish ceremony attended by statesmen and royalty from around the world.

In 2004, Letizia married Felipe, then Prince of Asturias as the son and heir apparent of King Juan Carlos I. The couple has two daughters, Leonor and Sofía.

She was born on 31 October 2005. Infanta Sofía is the younger daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. She was born on 29 April 2007. King Juan Carlos I is the former king of Spain, reigning from 1975 to 2014.

Royal Palace of Madrid, large 18th-century palace in downtown Madrid that is the official residence of the Spanish royal family, although the family does not live there but in the Palacio de la Zarzuela on the fringes of the city.

Alongside her engagement ring, the Queen hardly wears any ring these days, not even her super elegant gold wedding band; as once she asserted that she had to meet a lot of dignitaries every day and with the endless handshakes – the rings hurt her hand!

The Zarzuela Palace (Spanish: Palacio de la Zarzuela [paˈlaθjo ðe la θaɾˈθwela]) is the residence and working offices of the reigning monarch of Spain (King Felipe VI), although the official residence of the Spanish royal family is the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Marking 20 years of wedded bliss is a pretty big deal, and an occasion certainly worthy of a celebration. If you and your spouse are about to hit this incredible milestone (or you know a couple who is), picking out a meaningful 20th anniversary gift is a great way to honor the occasion.

Is 20 years marriage a milestone? ›

Many couples treat the first anniversary as a special milestone as well as every five years spent together (aka the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th and 30th anniversaries). Three decades marks a small change in what's considered a milestone year. From here, it's every 10 years (40th, 50th, 60th anniversary and so on).

See also: Queen Elizabeth II — a life in pictures

This makes Felipe and Elizabeth third cousins once removed, and Felipe was actually 567th in line to the British throne before his relative's death. In the case of Prince Philip, his ties with Juan Carlos and Sofia were even closer.

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.

The royal couple became King and Queen of Spain in 2014 when Felipe's father, King Juan Carlos, abdicated the throne. Letizia's new title proved to be historic for Spain, making her the first Spanish-born queen consort since 1878 and the first Spanish queen to have been born a commoner.

Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: September 2022 (January 2024) The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarchy as "The Crown" and the constitutional title of the monarch is simply rey/reina de España: that is, "king/queen of Spain".

The infanta's moniker (the title "infanta" means legitimate daughter to the king but not heiress to the throne) honors Queen Sofía's Greek heritage — she's the daughter of King Paul of Greece — and means wisdom.