Engagement of Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz: November 1, 2003


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Thanks for sharing the pics.

Queen Sofía is so beautiful, warm and elegant in all of them! Her eyes are full of love and emotion.

They didn't publish the photos five years ago may be because la Casa Real thought they were very private. But everybody seem natural and happy and it is a pleasure to watch them as a family.
 
Why would the "insider" - if there is one - come from Letizia's side. It makes most sense that the source is from inside Zarzuela and again it shows that something is wrong / old fashioned / not structured there.

Since the Kings themselves thought that they could fool the media by putting together this horrible photoshopped christmas card in 2005 - trying to sell it as a "real" picture but having to admit lateron that it was put together - nothing that will ever come from their communications department will ever surprise me.

Instead of hiding these pictures away some of them should have been published as official pictures in HQ by casareal since they only published ordinary agency picutures on the engagement website.

How weired, even on the occasion of the engagement or the wedding they hesitated to promote the couple by publishing some pictures in an "official" way. Remember, it took almost eight months after the wedding until Letizia was included in the official family pictures and until she got her own picture on the website. How embarrassing.
 
i don't know what the big deal is. i like that the pictures came out 5 years after because it made it less like a publicity stunt and makes people realize that in spite of the public shock of the engagement and the very grandiose wedding, the feelings of the couple were real as it still is at present.

it would have been dubious if they showed it days after the gathering happened. it would seem like they wanted to prove something.
 
klau23 said:
i don't know what the big deal is. i like that the pictures came out 5 years after because it made it less like a publicity stunt and makes people realize that in spite of the public shock of the engagement and the very grandiose wedding, the feelings of the couple were real as it still is at present.

it would have been dubious if they showed it days after the gathering happened. it would seem like they wanted to prove something.
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the big deal is that hola did publish private pictures that were not authorized for publication by zarzuela for ANY media.

it's about money and equality. the spanish press is extremely sensitive when it comes down to exclusive shots of the royal family, especially when the princes(s) is involved. pictures given the label "official" by zarzuela can be published by any agency but in this case these pictures leaked and hola hit a jackpot.
 
Im defenitely buying that issue! :) There are great pics of the Princes, and the little Infantas!
 
Duke of Marmalade said:
the big deal is that hola did publish private pictures that were not authorized for publication by zarzuela for ANY media.

it's about money and equality. the spanish press is extremely sensitive when it comes down to exclusive shots of the royal family, especially when the princes(s) is involved. pictures given the label "official" by zarzuela can be published by any agency but in this case these pictures leaked and hola hit a jackpot.
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Hola bought the pictures. Hola's director said they paid 15,000 Euros for the pictures. It does seem someone was doing Hola a favor. Perhaps that's the reason Paloma B. suspected someone from Letizia's family, esp. Henar, since Henar had been interviewed by Hola to promote her designs. But Henar was not at the lunch, she didn't have the pictures, only the guests there had.
Anyway, since so many copies were made for the guests. It's possible the staff made an extra copy and sold it later. I just think it's not right to point fingers at anyone without any evidence.
 
Well, published or not published I'm glad these came out. At least we knew that the King was not grumpy to Letizia at all. Many thanks to whoever published it.;)
 
madeleine victoria said:
Well, published or not published I'm glad these came out. At least we knew that the King was not grumpy to Letizia at all. Many thanks to whoever published it.;)
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You are correct about the King -- makes the media that wanted to start false rumors and those that fell and gossiped with glee about them
look a bit nasty now. I am sure that the photos could have been obtained many different ways, even off someone's computer that downloaded and emailed to friends.
 
The King and Queen did every effort to welcome Letizia to the family and make her feel very confortable, five years ago the King shows no sympathy towards Letizia anymore, he can't even lower it when on pictures with her granddaughters while he's all smiles when whith Cristina and Elena's kids.

I'm glad those pics came out so we can see it was never a "lineage" problem as everyone in the Royal Family treat her like part of it, from Cristina covering the couple on Barcelona (Celestina) to the same King putting the watch himself on Letizia's arm, today is a different story.
 
RaniaRocks said:
The King and Queen did every effort to welcome Letizia to the family and make her feel very confortable, five years ago the King shows no sympathy towards Letizia anymore, he can't even lower it when on pictures with her granddaughters while he's all smiles when whith Cristina and Elena's kids.

I'm glad those pics came out so we can see it was never a "lineage" problem as everyone in the Royal Family treat her like part of it, from Cristina covering the couple on Barcelona (Celestina) to the same King putting the watch himself on Letizia's arm, today is a different story.
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Some claimed that the King didn't like the engagement, he looked grumpy at the engagement, now they changed their mind after seeing the pictures ? LOL :lol: We don't have the pictures behind the doors to verify if today is a different story :cool:. Even it's a different story, it's hard to say whose fault it's or no fault (just personality conflicts). Juan Carlos is very controlling, even in Sofia's book, she claimed that her hubby didn't take different opinions well. On the top, he is bit out of dated, and unlike the other RFs, the SRF lacks space between the two generations in terms of finance and work, more potential for the issues among the members.
 
Of course, we all see what the pictures revealed, and if the pictures are good enough to say they have the best of relashionships i guess they are also good enough to say the contrary.

For instance I do beleive that Cristina and Letizia had a very good relationship at the very begining of the princes's affair/engagement/wedding and at some point something must of been happened because the level of friendship between couples is practically nule at we are speaking, especially between Cristina and Letizia so we can see how the Queen is trying to do their best to give the couple support in public while Cristina and Elena has formed a team appart with their families (Cristina, Urdanga, the kids and Elena and her kids).
 
RaniaRocks said:
Of course, we all see what the pictures revealed, and if the pictures are good enough to say they have the best of relashionships i guess they are also good enough to say the contrary.
For instance I do beleive that Cristina and Letizia had a very good relationship at the very begining of the princes's affair/engagement/wedding and at some point something must of been happened because the level of friendship between couples is practically nule at we are speaking, especially between Cristina and Letizia so we can see how the Queen is trying to do their best to give the couple support in public while Cristina and Elena has formed a team appart with their families (Cristina, Urdanga, the kids and Elena and her kids).
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Don't exactly know what you meant. What I had heard was that JC was unhappy or grumpy at the engagement based on pictures, in fact he was not from the pictures at the lunch. I'm sure each family has its own problems. It doesn't really matter to me how close or not close they are as long as they are doing their jobs.
I really don't know if Cristina and Letizia ever had a good or bad relation or no relation, becauser mostly when they were together, Letizia was with Felipe (to me, she was tagging along her hubby to meet his sister) who had a very close relation with his sister Cristina. Now it seems Felipe and Cristina no longer spend as much time together. We don't know what exactly happened (if anything had happened), it might not have to do with Letizia. It's not so uncommon that siblings have disagreements (I can think of Inaki's business here), or even 'fight' for resources or money. Royals are no exception. On the other hand, perhaps nothing had happened, Felipe is just much busier with two kids, don't have much time hanging out with his sisters. I don't see my younger brother as much after he got married, it's very normal in the families with siblings.
 
I don't think we will ever know what goes on behind closed doors within families (yours and mine included) or are we supposed to. Personal life is to be set apart from public life -- mine is. I do not get a kick out of learning that siblings or parents or marriages are falling apart. Most normal people don't. Those that do and take delight in the fact that other families are not 100% happy at all times are really lacking in something basic -- maybe happiness themselves. I don't know of any family that agree all the time with each other behind closed doors and jealousy is the biggest factor most of the time. Someone always has too much to say about how another is living their life. Families seem to be like that at times.
 
I liked her engagement outfit but,I would have prefered she wore a nice elegant dress.I thought the white suit was too business like for me.
 
I didn't find thread about Felipe and Letizia's relationship before the engagement. I didn't follow them very much, but I remember I was surprised when the engagement was announced. Could anybody tell something about their relationship? Where and when they met, how long were they dated? Are there any photos about this time?
Or where can I find a thread about it?
Thanks
 
fortimo said:
I didn't find thread about Felipe and Letizia's relationship before the engagement. I didn't follow them very much, but I remember I was surprised when the engagement was announced. Could anybody tell something about their relationship? Where and when they met, how long were they dated? Are there any photos about this time?
Or where can I find a thread about it?
Thanks
Click to expand...

There is no thread about F+L relationship before the engagement, because nobody knew about it. Theυ dated almost one year in secret, and suddenly one day in October or November 2003, Zarzuela announced the engagement and immediately Letizia moved in the Palace.
About their first meeting, either they met in a dinner organized by a journalist, and theυ met again when Letizia was covering the wreck of Prestige ship in Galicia, OR the opposite, I never managed to know which one of the two meetings was the first one.
The only picture existing with both of them, is a few days before the announcement, when Felipe is to the "Prince of Asturias" award, and Letizia is "presented' to him, they pretend to be not familiar to eachother. You can see this picture under post no 8 of this same thread, at this excat moment they relationship was secret, they pretend to be stranger to eachother.
Many journalists presents to this event, were under the shock, because these two fainted to be stranger to eachother, and less than 5 days after this, they were engaged.

They never been cought on picture in a private moment before the engagement, never. It was a secret very well kept.
 
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fandesacs2003 said:
There is no thread about F+L relationship before the engagement, because nobody knew about it. Theυ dated almost one year in secret, and suddenly one day in October or November 2003, Zarzuela announced the engagement and immediately Letizia moved in the Palace.
About their first meeting, either they met in a dinner organized by a journalist, and theυ met again when Letizia was covering the wreck of Prestige ship in Galicia, OR the opposite, I never managed to know which one of the two meetings was the first one.
The only picture existing with both of them, is a few days before the announcement, when Felipe is to the "Prince of Asturias" award, and Letizia is "presented' to him, they pretend to be not familiar to eachother. You can see this picture under post no 8 of this same thread, at this excat moment they relationship was secret, they pretend to be stranger to eachother.
Many journalists presents to this event, were under the shock, because these two fainted to be stranger to eachother, and less than 5 days after this, they were engaged.

They never been cought on picture in a private moment before the engagement, never. It was a secret very well kept.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer! This is really strange. Very mystic. I remember he was dated with Eva Sannum, I don't know exactly how long - I think more years, and I assume they loved eachother very much, and than suddenly it was ended. And we heard not so long after this, that he engaged Letizia... And the spanish media/paparazzis didn't know anything??
But it seems they are in love, they are a very good team for the monarchy, have wonderful children, so maybe this one year with secret dating was enough to know, that Letizia is the best...
 
fortimo said:
Thanks for the answer! This is really strange. Very mystic. I remember he was dated with Eva Sannum, I don't know exactly how long - I think more years, and I assume they loved eachother very much, and than suddenly it was ended. And we heard not so long after this, that he engaged Letizia... And the spanish media/paparazzis didn't know anything??
But it seems they are in love, they are a very good team for the monarchy, have wonderful children, so maybe this one year with secret dating was enough to know, that Letizia is the best...
Click to expand...

Felipe was dating Eva Sannum for years and was very in love with her, he was rumored to really want to marry her. They were a lot of objections because Eva Sannum was not Spanish, and also has worked as a lingerie model. Nevertheless it was also rumored that the Palace started, slowly to think to accept the idea, and the first occasion of Eva to appear into these circles was the wedding of Haakon to Mette Marit, August 2001 (or 2002, I'm not sure), as Eva was invitee by herself (not as an escort to Felipe of course). I've read at this time that Zarzuela had long negotiations with the Norwegian protocol, in order to be sure that Queen Sofia will never during the wedding celebrations be in the same room with Eva, as this could be taken by the Press as an acceptance of Eva.
Everything went well, but Eva appeared magnificent, in an electrical blue gown, with all her back "on air". In another picture, she was pictured with Felipe and other people carrying a glass of cognak. Both these appearances have been judged inappropriate for a future Queen of Spain, the the PM told to King JC that this marriage won't have the approval of the Parliament (or PM?) and Felipe had to break with Eva.

http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.gr/2010/08/top-10-worst-dressed-royal-wedding_21.html

Eva was true lady. It has been said that a huge press editor offered her a important amount of money to tell the press details of her love story with Felipe, but she never never talked about.
After this sad story, Felipe decided not to let anyone interfere into his life, and this is the reason he protected his new love story with Letizia, by keeping all secret. He also protected Letizia not to suffer as Isabel Sartorius and Eva Sannum did before, they had tons of journalists camping out of their homes day and night. Letizia did'nt suffer because she immediately became royal fiancee, living at the Palace and protected by body guards.
Journalists were researching all personnal and family details of past and present of Isabel Sartorius and Eva Sannum, but hey did not manage to do this with Letizia and this saved the relation and allowed this wedding.
 
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Thanks for the infos, I didn't know that this love with Eva was so serious and that the wedding of Haakon and Mette-Marit was maybe the test for her as future CP's of Spain... Sad story. It could be very hard for Felipe and Eva to make end for this relationship, and I can imagine, how much Felipe wanted to protect Letizia and their love.
 
fortimo said:
Thanks for the infos, I didn't know that this love with Eva was so serious and that the wedding of Haakon and Mette-Marit was maybe the test for her as future CP's of Spain... Sad story. It could be very hard for Felipe and Eva to make end for this relationship, and I can imagine, how much Felipe wanted to protect Letizia and their love.
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Indeed. He was so hurt by the previous stories, that he really did his atmost to protect Letizia, and he succeed.
Well done, because if he had'n do this, his realation with Letizia would not end to a marriage. Not because Letizia is bad, just because noone was good enough for the Prince of Asturias, and press can always find failures.
 
fandesacs2003 said:
There is no thread about F+L relationship before the engagement, because nobody knew about it. Theυ dated almost one year in secret, and suddenly one day in October or November 2003, Zarzuela announced the engagement and immediately Letizia moved in the Palace.
About their first meeting, either they met in a dinner organized by a journalist, and theυ met again when Letizia was covering the wreck of Prestige ship in Galicia, OR the opposite, I never managed to know which one of the two meetings was the first one.
The only picture existing with both of them, is a few days before the announcement, when Felipe is to the "Prince of Asturias" award, and Letizia is "presented' to him, they pretend to be not familiar to eachother. You can see this picture under post no 8 of this same thread, at this excat moment they relationship was secret, they pretend to be stranger to eachother.
Many journalists presents to this event, were under the shock, because these two fainted to be stranger to eachother, and less than 5 days after this, they were engaged.

They never been cought on picture in a private moment before the engagement, never. It was a secret very well kept.
Click to expand...

According to the official story, they met on 17 Oct 2002 at a dinner of a journalist. Letizia came along with the collague, apparently didn't know about Felipe being there, who had asked for this meeting to be arranged since he knew Letizia from TV and was keen to meet her.

They did not start dating seriously until spring of 2003. Six weeks before the engagement, Letizia started achoring the TVE evening news, there have been lots of rumours that Felipe had his hand in it because at this stage it was already clear that an engagement would take place and Felipe wanted the Spaniards to get familiar with Letizia's face or give her a wider audience, so the public would warm up with her quickly once the engagement would be confirmed.

King & Queen weren't too happy about it, but they had given everything to fight off Eva Sannum, and because the public didnt have a chance to comment, Felipe got what he wanted.
 
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Well Duke, you always call Felipa a "Mama-Boy"
it seems he has got some characteristics of his father too:whistling:
 
fandesacs2003 said:
The only picture existing with both of them, is a few days before the announcement, when Felipe is to the "Prince of Asturias" award, and Letizia is "presented' to him, they pretend to be not familiar to eachother. You can see this picture under post no 8 of this same thread, at this excat moment they relationship was secret, they pretend to be stranger to eachother.
Many journalists presents to this event, were under the shock, because these two fainted to be stranger to eachother, and less than 5 days after this, they were engaged.

They never been cought on picture in a private moment before the engagement, never. It was a secret very well kept.
Click to expand...

It's really interesting to go back and read the first pages of this thread to see how stunned people were with the announcement. I wasn't aware of this forum at that time so missed the whole thing.
 
I must admit I found reading this thread rather amusing.....the anger because he was not marrying a foreign princess like Madeleine of Sweden (a blonde Protestant) or at the very least a Spanish aristocrat; some suggestion that she must be pregnant because they were engaged in November and rushing to marriage in May (that one defied logic); questions about how intelligent a mere journalist could be; and anger because the Catholic Church did not have a problem with a woman who had previously been civilly married and divorced being allowed to marry in a Catholic church....apparently some people were more Catholic than the Pope. It was made even funnier because the angriest and most outraged posters seemed not to be from Spain at all.
 
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