What they showed us
Humiliated by her husband’s extra-marital affairs, often displayed in one of the tabloids, Queen Emeritus Sofia of Spain knows that she can count on the support of her son and daughter-in-law. Moreover, in April 2018, it is together that they celebrate Easter in Palma de Mallorca. On the forecourt, Felipe and Letizia of Spain, their two daughters Leonor and Sofia and Queen Emeritus Sofia display a beautiful unity. The atmosphere seems relaxed. Everyone smiles and lends itself to the game of photographers. But once the mass is said, the agreement cracks…
What they hid from us: The violence of Letizia
The images should never have made the rounds of Spain and yet in the kingdom, they are now cult. While the Easter service has just ended, the cameras broadcasting the mass have not yet cut their broadcast. It is then that they capture a heated altercation between Letizia and her mother-in-law. Queen Sofia approaches her granddaughters to give them a hug, but King Felipe’s wife intervenes and turns the two little girls away from their grandmother. A few minutes later, on the forecourt, she tries a new rapprochement to pose in front of the photographers with the infantes. But again, Letizia opposes it. She violently pushes away her mother-in-law’s hand resting on Princess Leonor’s shoulder and thwarts the shots even if it means being dry with the queen emeritus. When the Spaniards discover the images, it’s a shock. “No grandmother deserves to be treated like this” they are indignant. The rumors that said the two scrambled women seem to be confirmed…
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Sofia deprived of her granddaughters
Outside of official events, Letizia and Sofia have been avoiding each other for months. Between them, tensions are so high that King Felipe’s mother is no longer allowed to see her granddaughters, Leonor and Sofia. “The staff have strict orders in the absence of the royal couple not to let in the queen emeritus” even reports a member of the staff. So much so that two years after the Easter 2018 incident, the King of Spain is forced to take a break from his official duties to restore order in his family.
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The first “middle-class” queen
The animosity between the two women is not new. Worldly commentators may repeat that Queen Sofia has always supported her daughter-in-law, the fact remains that when Letizia arrived in the royal family, the wife of King Juan Carlos did not see it with a good eye. his humble origins. Daughter of a nurse and a unionized journalist and granddaughter of a taxi driver, Letizia the commoner would not have the pedigree of a queen according to Sofia. Very critical, the queen emeritus would not fail to point out “the rudeness” of her daughter-in-law as soon as the opportunity is given to her. Seeing Letizia molded in Zara jeans, going on a shopping spree in the major European capitals with her girlfriends does not please her. Not more than the rumors on a possible abortion besides. Opposed in every way the two queens would still not have reached a cordial agreement today.
Lea Hasvry