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Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
The
Infante Don Felipe, Prince
of Asturias
(Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de
Todos los Santos de Borbón y de
Grecia) born
January 30,
1968), is the third child of
King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofía of
Spain. As the
Prince of Asturias he is the
heir apparent, meaning he is
first in the
line of succession to the
Spanish throne. As heir to
the Spanish throne he bears the
official titles of Prince of
Asturias, Prince of
Viana, Prince of
Gerona, Duke of
Montblanc, Count of
Cervera and Lord of
Balaguer. If Prince Felipe
becomes king as expected, he
will be known as King Philip
VI of Spain.
Birth
Felipe was born
in
Madrid. His birth, after
that of his two sisters, the
infantas
Elena and
Cristina, ensured a male
successor to the Spanish Throne.
His full name is
His Royal Highness Prince Felipe
Juan Pablo Alfonso y de la
Santísima Trinidad y de Todos
los Santos de Borbón y Grecia.
The symbolic names given at his
christening, by the
Archbishop of Madrid
Casimiro Morcillo Gonzalez
included the names of the first
Bourbon to reign in Spain;
his grandfathers (Infante
Juan, Count of Barcelona and
Paul of Greece); his
great-grandfather King
Alfonso XIII of Spain; and
All Saints (Todos los
Santos) as is customary
among the Bourbons. At the time
of his birth he was titled as
Infante of Spain.
His godparents
were his grandfather HRH
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona
and his great-grandmother HM
Queen Victoria Eugenia.
Activities in
Spain and Abroad
The Prince of
Asturias attended high school at
Lakefield College School in
Ontario,
Canada and studied in the
Autonomous University of Madrid,
where he earned a degree in Law.
He also completed several course
subjects on Economics. He
completed his academic studies
by obtaining a Master of Science
in Foreign Service degree from
the
Edmund A. Walsh School of
Foreign Service at
Georgetown, where he was the
roommate of his cousin,
Pavlos, Prince of Greece.
Prince Felipe has fulfilled his
institutional commitments in his
capacity as Heir to the Crown,
chaired many official events in
Spain, and participated in key
events in different sectors and
aspects of Spanish public life.
Since October
1995, he has made a series of
official visits to the
Spanish Autonomous Communities
with a view to gaining in-depth
knowledge of Spain and making
contact with other Spaniards.
He holds regular
meetings with constitutional
bodies and the main state
institutions in order to keep in
touch with their activities. He
also attends meetings of the
various bodies of the Central
Administration and of the
Autonomous Communities as
required by his national and
international institutional
activities.
He grants public
and private audiences to a large
number of people with a view to
receiving up-to-date information
on national and international
affairs. In particular, he holds
meetings with people close to
his own generation with
outstanding careers in
political, economic, cultural
and media circles.
When HM the King
is unable to attend, he presides
over the annual presentation of
dispatches to Officers and
Non-Commissioned Officers of the
Armed Forces and participates in
military exercises held by the
three services.
He has made many
official visits to European
countries and to
Latin America, as well as to
countries in the
Arab world, the
Far East, and
Australia. He shows special
interest in all matters related
to the
European Union, the
Middle East,
North Africa, and
Latin America.
Since January
1996, the Prince of Asturias has
represented the Spanish State at
the swearing-in ceremonies for
Latin American Presidents.
He has also
played a very active role in the
promotion of Spain's economic
and commercial interests and of
Spanish language and culture in
foreign countries. He frequently
presides at economic and trade
fairs held by Spain abroad (Expotecnia,
Expoconsumo, and
Expohabitat), and is
especially interested in
promoting the creation of
Centres and University Chairs to
disseminate the history and
current situation of Spain in
the main foreign universities
Participation in
the Olympics
Felipe de Borbón
with
Vicente Álvarez Areces
He was a member
of the
Olympic
sailing team at the
Barcelona Games in
1992, which recalled his
mother's position on the Greek
sailing team in 1960. He also
took part in the opening
ceremony as the Spanish team's
standard bearer. He finished in
sixth position in the Sailing
class and obtained an
Olympic Diploma. He
stands 197 cm (6' 6") in height.
Marriage and
children
The bachelorhood
of Prince Felipe was an issue in
the Spanish press for several
years. His name was linked with
several eligible women, but only
two with any conviction: Spanish
noblewoman Isabel Sartorius and
Norwegian model Eva Sannum.
Neither was viewed favourably,
either by the Spanish people or
the Royal Family.
When he finally
began a serious relationship,
nothing was suspected before the
official announcement. On
November 1,
2003 the Prince's engagement
to
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an
award-winning television
journalist formerly with
CNN, was proclaimed.
The couple
married on the morning of
May 22,
2004 in the
Almudena Cathedral in
Madrid, with members of
several European
royal families attending.
Ortiz had previously been
married to Alonso Guerrero, a
teacher and author; they were
divorced in
2002. The wedding was
watched by more than 25 million
television viewers in Spain
alone, and was broadcast
throughout the world. Letizia
Ortiz then gained the title
HRH The Princess of Asturias,
but is often referred to as
Princess Letizia.
On
May 8,
2005, the Spanish Royal
House announced that the couple
were expecting their first child
in November. Princess Letizia
gave birth to a girl at 2:35 AM
on
October 31,
2005. The newborn, HRH
Infanta Leonor of Spain, is
the second in the succession to
King Juan Carlos after Prince
Felipe, and her birth may lead
to a revision of the
Spanish Constitution of 1978
to abolish the precedence of
male heirs over their older
sisters.
On
September 25,
2006, the Royal House
announced that the couple are
expecting their second baby in
May 2007.
[1] On
28 November
2006, it was revealed that
the child will be a girl
[1].
Public protest
After the
March 11, 2004 Madrid bombings,
the Prince, along with the
Prince's sisters
Elena and
Cristina, became the first
members of the Spanish royal
family ever to take part in
a public protest.
Social Work
In addition to
his official activities, Prince
Felipe is Honorary President of
several Associations and
Foundations, such as the Codespa
Foundation, which finances
specific economic and social
development activities in Ibero-America
and other countries, and the
Spanish branch of the
Association of European
Journalists, which is composed
of outstanding communications
professionals. Most noteworthy
is the Príncipe de Asturias
Foundation, where he presides
annually the Awards ceremony of
these highly prestigious Awards,
at the international level, that
carry his name.
Within the
framework of these institutions
which work towards aims of
general interest, he focuses his
interest on activities in the
fields of development projects,
voluntary work,
the environment,
universities, the integration of
young people in the workplace
and business, relations between
business circles and society and
social communication.
On the occasion
of the
United Nations declaration
of 2001 as the International
Year of Volunteers, the UN
Secretary General,
Kofi Annan, named Prince
Felipe an "Eminent Person" so
that he could contribute on an
international level towards
enhancing the importance of
voluntary workers.
Titles & Arms
The
coat of arms of the Prince
of Asturias
Felipe has been
heir to the throne since the
proclamation of his father in
1975. In
1977, Felipe became
Prince of Asturias, the
Spanish equivalent of
Prince of Wales.
On
April 21,
1990, he became the first
Bourbon to hold the
Catalan title of
Prince of Girona. Formerly
no other Bourbon had ever held
nor even used this title. He is
also titled
Prince of Viana,
Duke
of Montblanc,
Count of Cervera and
Lord
of Balaguer.
On
30 January
1986, at the age of 18, he
swore allegiance to the
Constitution and to the King
in the Spanish
Parliament, fully accepting
his institutional role as
successor to
the Crown.
By Royal Decree
284/2001 of
16 March, HRH the Prince of
Asturias’s
Guidon and Standard were
created. The Decree describes
his
Coat of Arms, his
Guidon and his standard
[2].
Titles and
Honours
-
His Royal
Highness
The Infante Felipe of Spain
1968-1977
-
His Royal
Highness
The Infante Felipe, Prince
of Asturias 1977-present
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe%2C_Prince_of_Asturias"
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