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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. |
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. |
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before=The King of Spain[[Juan Carlos I of Spain|Juan Carlos I]] |title=[[Line_of_succession_to_the_Spanish_Throne|Line of succession to the Spanish throne]]| |
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after=[[Infanta Leonor of Spain|HRH Infanta Leonor]]}} |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 03:36, 31 October 2005
Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia; born January 30, 1968), styled HRH The Prince of Asturias, is the third child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain. As the heir apparent and the Prince of Asturias, he is first in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.
Birth
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Extended royal family
Children of the late Duchess of Badajoz:
The Duchess of Soria and Hernani
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Felipe (in English: Philip),was born in Madrid. His birth, after that of his two sisters, the infantas Elena and Cristina, ensured male succession to the Spanish throne.
At birth Felipe was given the titles of Infante of Spain, Prince of Gerona, Prince of Viana, Duke of Montblanch, Count of Cervera, and Lord of Balaguer.
The symbolic names given at his christening including the names of the first Bourbon to reign in Spain; his grandfathers (Juan de Borbón, Count of Barcelona and Paul of Greece); his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII; and All Saints (Todos los Santos) as it is customary among the Bourbons.
His godparents were HRH the Count of Barcelona, Juan de Borbón, and his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenia.
Activities in Spain and Abroad
| Styles of The Prince of Asturias | |
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| File:Felipe Coat of Arms.PNG | |
| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
Since completing his academic studies in the United States, which include the completion of a Master Of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University, 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 despatches 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
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 Soling class and obtained an Olympic Diploma.
Marriage
On November 1, 2003 his engagement to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning television journalist formerly of CNN, was announced. The couple married on the morning of May 22, 2004 in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, Spain, 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.
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 Infanta Leonor of Spain is the second in the succession to king Juan Carlos after prince Felipe and her birth will probably lead to a revision of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 to abolish the precedence of male heirs over their older sisters.
Public protest
After the March 11, 2004 Madrid bombings, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, along with his 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
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.