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From the diamond wedding of the eldest king of Spain Juan Carlos with Queen Sofia to the anniversary of the marriage of the current King Philip with Queen Letizia, there are only eight days in May (on the 14th and 22nd). But what a different wedding they were!
Juan Carlos, Prince of Asturias, son of the heir to the Spanish throne lost by the royal family, first met his second cousin Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark in 1954 during a cruise to the Greek islands. The trip aboard the M/S Agamemnon was organized by Sophia’s mother, Queen Frederica – formally – to promote Greek tourism to the younger generation of European royalty. In reality, the Queen of Greece wanted to introduce the young offspring of European monarchs to each other.
Even then, the youth became more and more capricious. Now it was not enough just to find spouses from a good family for their children. It was necessary to make them like each other. On board the ship, to the sound of waves and the cries of seagulls, the foundation was laid for the further acquaintance of 16-year-old Juan Carlos and Sofia. Seven years later, the couple met again at the wedding of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Prior to this, the Greek princess was predicted to be the wife of the Norwegian crown prince, and now King Harald. But when they collided at a wedding reception at the Savoy Hotel in London, Sofia and Juan Carlos looked at each other with completely different eyes.
Their further relationship developed rapidly: three months later, after spending several weeks sailing in the Aegean Sea, the prince proposed to his beloved. As she told later, Juan Carlos threw her a box, saying: “Catch it, Sophie!” The box contained a ring made from melted down ancient Greek coins. “Now let’s get married, okay?” The prince suggested. On September 13, 1961, in Lausanne, at the house of Juan Carlos’s grandmother, the Spanish Queen in exile, Victoria Eugenia, the engagement was announced.
Their wedding took place on May 14, 1962 in the bride’s homeland in Athens, because Juan Carlos, being a prince, was deprived of his kingdom. Only seven years later, the dictator Franco appointed him heir to the Spanish throne. Juan Carlos became king six years later – after the death of Franco. The uncertain position of a prince from a deposed dynasty made this choice of Sophia highly controversial. But not only the misalliance – from the point of view of the parents of the princess from the ruling family – was an obstacle to this marriage. The groom was Catholic and the bride was Orthodox. The Spanish relatives insisted on getting married in a Catholic cathedral, while the Greek ones demanded that the princess marry according to the Orthodox rite. In the end, the relatives of the young managed to reach a compromise. At the suggestion of the Pope John XXIII had two weddings: according to the Catholic and Orthodox rites. They were followed by a civil marriage ceremony.
The designer of the wedding dress was the then famous couturier Jean Desse, a Greek by birth. It was truly royal: made of antique brocade and lamé, with patterns in white on white, strict, simple cut, with a fluffy skirt and a long train. In early May 1962, the Australian newspaper The Australian Women Weekly reported, citing its sources, that the princess received a dowry of £100,000, for which the Greek royal family had to mortgage two palaces. In addition, before the wedding, Queen Frederica and her daughter flew to Paris and ordered dresses from Desse for Sophia for seven thousand.
She chose from the Jean Dessay spring collection in Paris. “But,” said the princess, “my wedding dress must be made in Athens.” The fashion designer entrusted this order to Greek seamstresses, the newspaper wrote.
Queen Frederica gave Sofia a five-meter lace veil. At one time, she wore it to her own wedding. She also gave her daughter a tiara of platinum and diamonds, which is known as the “Prussian” because it was made in 1913 for the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Victoria Louise.
On May 14, 1962, 137 representatives of European royal houses, including five kings and seven queens, gathered in Greece. Since the First World War, so many monarchs and their families have not gathered together, and even on such a joyful occasion. The first wedding took place according to the Catholic rite in the Cathedral of St. Dionysius the Areopagite. In the morning, a luxurious procession moved out of the royal palace: it consisted of limousines that carried foreign monarchs. The fact is that there were so many guests of royal blood that they had to split up for weddings. Most chose the Catholic rite. Following them, accompanied by horse guards, rode the next motorcade with members of the royal families of Spain and Greece, as well as eight bridesmaids – all princesses. The last in a luxurious gilded carriage, accompanied by her father and brother, Sophia drove up to the cathedral. Juan Carlos was waiting for her at the altar with his best man Don Carlos Maria Alfonso Marcel de Bourbon-Sicily and Bourbon-Parma, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria.
After the wedding, the bride and groom went to the royal palace, and then to the Orthodox Cathedral, decorated with thirty-five thousand roses in the colors of Spain: red and yellow. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon on the island of Corfu, and then went on a trip around the world and into life together.
Their son Prince Philip – the current Spanish king, then still the Prince of Asturias – became the first heir to the throne to marry a commoner. He met journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in 2002 in Galicia in the north of the country, where Letizia was filming a report on the oil tanker Prestige that sank off the coast of Spain. They hid their relationship to the last, so when the royal family announced the engagement of the prince on November 1, 2003, it came as a shock to many.
Letitia, the daughter of a journalist and a registered nurse, has made a career in television. Before meeting Philippe, she worked for the Spanish version of the economic channel Bloomberg, then moved to the news network CNN. By the time she met the prince, she had been married. This could not be imagined in 1962 by the future parents of the groom. However, on 22 May 2004 at Cathedral of Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena in Madrid, Philip and Letizia became husband and wife. The bride’s silk dress was decorated with a high collar trimmed with white embroidery depicting lilies and ears of corn – details of the coat of arms of the Prince of Asturias. It was created by the Spanish couturier Manuel Pertegas. On Letizia’s head was the tiara that her mother-in-law, Queen Sofia, wore on the very May day when she married Juan Carlos. This is the only attribute of the Spanish royal wedding that has not changed, although 42 years and 8 days have passed. But the main thing has also remained unchanged. At the wedding, Philip said: “I am a happy person, because I have fulfilled my dream. I married the woman I love.” His father could have said the same in 1962. Marriage for love is a tradition of the Spanish royal family.
In March 2020, King Philip VI decided that his father, former head of state Juan Carlos I, would not receive funds from the royal court budget. Philip VI himself refuses his father’s inheritance due to a corruption scandal. And although, after a two-year exile, the latter returned to his homeland, the son prefers not to communicate with him.
Source: Hellomagazine
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
