On Monday, I covered the photos of the Spanish royals attending Easter Mass in Mallorca. I thought the story was going to be “Queen Letizia wore trousers with buttons down the leg,” because I love talking about fashion and buttons and royals. But as it turns out, the Spanish royals’ happy-family church photo-op got DARK. Very dark. This isn’t “girl drama.” It’s not even lady-drama. It’s full-on QUEEN DRAMA. You see, something weird happened when former queen-regent Queen Sofia tried to pose for a few photos with her granddaughters, Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia. Queen Letizia walks in between her mother-in-law and the cameras and what happened next was very strange. I’m including two videos, of varying quality:
What I like here is that King Felipe was THERE, right away, in real time. He didn’t hang back at all. Almost as if this was a normal thing for him, physically and emotionally getting in between his wife and his mother. Almost as if he’s had a lot of practice. As for what the beef was about… I can’t figure out if Letizia knowingly walked in between the cameras and her mother-in-law. At first, I thought she didn’t realize that Sofia was trying to pose with the girls, and Letizia was just walking there to fuss with her daughter’s hair. But after viewing it a few times, I think Letizia knew what she was doing. I think this was some kind of argument about how Sofia treats her granddaughters, or how Letizia is raising them, or something like that. I also think it’s notable that Queen Sofia seemed to be the one who got MAD very quickly.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Yesterday, I thought the pics of Letizia were of Caitlyn Jenner and now I can’t unsee it (though Letizia is much prettier).
Anyway, this looks deliberate to me. And Sophia looks pissed in that video inside the church.
Add Melania to this group. They all look alike to me.
I saw a picture of Cindy Crawford yesterday and really thought it was Caitlyn Jenner.
They share the same politics, so they share more than a physical likeness. Maybe it was more than just physical. lol
Oh Cindy’s not conservative, too? Yuck.
Queen Letti has had some serious fillers lately. Puffy McSmooth Face
I watched it a few times. They were shaking hands as they were leaving the church. It seems like that was discussed as not the time to take photos, keep it moving so everyone can exit the church. Grandma pulls the girls in for a picture, Mom just wants to keep everyone moving so she intervenes. I am sure if you stop for one photo with one photographer, all the rest pile in and start taking pictures and then no one gets out of the church. There’s clearly no love lost between Mom and Grandma and the tension is well known by the girls. But I think it was more “this is not the time to do this, cut it out and let’s move”.
I noticed Felipe on the side trying to soothe the situation. Re-watch the video for him. The family dynamics are interesting.
Letizia pretends to brush the kid’s hair but she pushes Sofia’s arm away and Sofia puts it back quickly. The girls seemed more upset by their mother’s actions than their grandmother’s.
One of the daughters actually removes the hand of her grandmother off her arm. Then the grandmother kind of pushes her towards screen-right by her neck. Then the daughter again removes her grandmothers hand.
Yeah in that second video especially because there is more footage of inside and outside of the church it looks like the girls don’t get on with their grandmother or really didn’t want to take a pic with her. At least in this instance. Also both my MIL and my own mother annoy the heck out of me when it comes to my kids, although my own mother more then MIL.
Yeah, it didn’t seem to me as though it were Letizia throwing off the arm of Sofia, but one of the daughters, and she did it twice.
Except Leonor moves her grandmother’s hand twice.
Everything was fine though with the grandma and the grandkids before Q Letizia came in. Q Sofia was pulling both girls hard left and right to get a photo while their mother is blocking them from getting a photo left and right too and that maybe irritated them hence the pushing of their grandmother’s hand.
No it wasn’t. Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia were greeting people before their grandmother grabbed them for a photo op. Leonor pushed her off twice. She shouldn’t have had to do it more than once.
The princess (Leonor, I think?) definitely did not like having her grandmother’s arm wrapped around her neck, that’s for sure. It’s clear to me in the video – especially when she practically flings Q.Sofia’s arm off of her. I don’t know what the dynamic is there, but she obviously did not like being in that situation.
Where did you see that? I just saw the little girl kept trying to move her grandmother’s hand
That’s exactly what she’s referring to. She attempted to free herself from her grandmother. She shouldn’t have to do it more than once. Though Queen Letizia may have thought she was protecting her girls, she was escalating the situation.
Read Princess Marie Chantal’s tweets
Evidently according to her the truth is finally being shown about Letizia.
Marie Chantal is trash. Why should anything she says matter? She is a supporter of the criminals Cristina and Inaki, sucks up to the royals, and has never liked Letizia. Marie Chantal has no room to criticize Letizia since her own in-laws are a pile of trash. Marie Chantal commenting on something that doesn’t concern her shows HER true colours, not Letizia’s.
I was disappointed to see Letizia like this, I like her but I
I’ believe Marie Chatal knows Letizia up close and personal having attended various Royal events, weddings, events etc
A person should not pick at a Senior citizen in public or private ,it just comes off petty and mean.
Team Sofia in this instance.
Princess No Country needs to mind her business. She should have kept her tweets to herself. Thirsty.
Mia – considering you don’t even see Letizia’s face in any of the videos, how are you so sure she was being mean to Sofia? Because Sofia became angry? Sofia is no angel herself. She has manipulated the media to protect her disgraced daughter and son in law, and is not above using Leonor and Sofia as PR tools.
She should know better. She used to be in the same place as Letizia: criticized for every little thing. That she can’t see how her behaviour will reflect on the royal family, especially her young grandchildren who are now also being criticized because of what their grandmother started, is Sofia’s problem and not Letizia’s.
But it’s par for the course to criticize Letizia. I’d be surprised if she’s not blamed even once for things she didn’t even do.
MIA, where can I find those?
Marie Chantal is awful. I wouldn’t trust anything she says. Given how frail her FIL looked at Prince Henrik’s funeral, she is probably counting the days until she goes from being a fake princess to a fake queen.
@Mia, word in royal circles is that Marie-Chantal is not well liked. She’s thought of as a snob who throws her weight around because she comes from money and expected it to substitute for a personality. But shhh you didn’t hear it from me!!
Anyway, the way her and the Greek royals regularly glom onto whichever of their royal relations that they can find says more about them than it does about Letizia. The Greeks are well rid of them, I feel.
Marie Chantal is married to Sofia’s nephew. Her opinion is less than unbiased.
a videofrom a very different angle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZg_WhK70es
if the greeks are trash and wannabe princes, beware, soon the Spanish royals including current queen and her daughters might be in the same beggar situation if they keep falling deeper with all these scandals and outbursts.
Actually, the daughter takes her grandmother’s hand and removes her arm from her shoulder. She’s siding with her mother. It’s an awful position to put your young children/grandchildren in.
hmmm… what i saw was kids posing (no one really likes that unless they really like it) and sofia had her hand on the shoulder. when letizia went to fuss, Sofia removed her hand and the grand daughter’s hand was there too and inadvertently follow the action. i am sure she is aware of the dynamic and will “choose” her mother’s side understandably. but letizia, wow, she really was extra. I mean, she was rude.
@ennie. I agree with you. I believe that now that this is in the open we are going to read a lot of things about Letizia that would not have been published before. See, the press in Spain has covered a lot of things for years in order to protect the monarchy. I believe that it is going to be ugly. Her friendship with Lopez Madrid and her messages will be back. I wonder what Felipe is thinking.
There are reports that LEtizia fills up her daughters’ agenda so they do not have time for Grandma Sofia. PEñafiel, a royal corniest says how the paternal Grandma has complained that even when living in the same area in the zarzuela palace, she is not allowed to see the girls, while Paloma Rocasolano, Letizia’s mother is there all the time, I think that in fact the maternal grandma lives there with them.
A friend of her was saying how LEtizia was desoleé because of the viral video, but that it was a normal motherly reaction, and I don’t believe at all, not even if they say that Sofia was breaking protocol, as Letizia herself was walking fast in front of her husband and not taking into account the older, slower Juan Carlos and Sofia.
I think Sofia does not see the girls much, up to the point of trying to get a one time opportunity for a picture with her granddaughters. It is very sad, and totally pathetic from Letizia. She seems to grab LEonor’s ear and pull it just before the girl threw her grandma’s hand.
This goes beyond a one time thing. LEtizia did not go to a big ball that Marie Chantal organized at a double party for her husband and daughter , and she is quite fond of fashion and everything, but she chose not to go… this reeks of bad relations. AS I read, she seems to enjoy being Queen of Spain, but elsewhere other people in that level do not like her, and I don’t mean that it is because she is a commoner.
Jamie Penafiel? Anyone who believes his word is as silly as he is. Few years ago he was criticizing Sofia for not helping his daughter overcome an addiction as if Sofia owed it to him. Now he’s back to blaming Letizia and making money off of her. He’s trash and a bottom feeder. Only the gullible and the malicious take him seriously.
it still must be true that she does not see them. Otherwise the greek side would not have complained. Cuando el rio suena, agua lleva.
May I move my post from the MM-post over here?
http://www.queenletiziastyle.com/blog/queen-letizia-sports-sailor-style-for-easter-celebrations-in-mallorca
Please scroll down a little bit and look at the photos of the family after easter mass starting in 2004. Especially where the children are and how Letizia is on the outside in some of the photos.
They weren’t married yet. Got married in May 2004.
You can see a photo of almost every Easter Mass since 2004.
So interesting that in almost every photo Q.Sofia is basically laying claim to the kids with her body language. Maybe Q. Letizia is over it.
That’s how Sofia is. It used to be nice to see because she was so affectionate and such…but the past few years she’s been overdoing it like she’s clearly playing for the cameras, kissing and grabbing the girls when photographers are around. Leonor and Sofia are also at that stage where it’s getting to be embarrassing having your grandma grab and kiss you in public. In this video, the girls both looked for their mother as their grandma pulled them around, clearly seeking comfort in Letizia’s presence.
That’s the impression I got too, PlainJane. She wants to keep QL on the sidelines.
Exactly. She needs to respect that she is not the parent of those kids and play by the parents’ rules. And respect that Letizia IS queen consort now.
I wonder what the press would say if Queen Elizabeth and Kate… Behavied like this?
You could see the girls very obviously move away from Sophia and closer to Letizia in that second, sharper clip.
They clearly didn’t want Grammy pawing all over them, especially that neck grab!
It happened to us with my brother. He wouldn’t visit us, so the very rare occasion we got to see his children, we took as many pics as we could, it was pathetic from us and from them. My sister in law complained, but I understand that it was my aloof brother’s fault, not hers.
Felipe should do something about this. Letizia owes her in laws as many public photos as they wish to take. They are all getting paid for public appearances, those elder people (in their 80s) are the former representatives before them, they renounced so they could live in privilege, and to top it all, Sofia yearns to see her granddaughters. It is said that Felipe and Leitizia do not let them share activities with their cousins, that they are very apart from them, they do not share with their extended paternal family in Spain or elsewhere.
Mia, imagine if Kate tried to do this with Diana! Sofia is very well respected in Spain, it backfired big time for Letizia,
@ennie but maybe there’s a reason queen sofia is estranged from her grandchildren, if that is the case. we don’t know who she is privately. she may be elderly but elderly people are perfectly capable of rude behavior. elderly women aren’t all sweet little grannies. some are entitled, selfish, and hurtful to others. some will always view their son’s wife competitively. some will think grandma is just as important as mom. some will push past any boundaries people set. etc.
personally, in looking at situations like that, i tend to default to the side of the person who had to put boundaries in place. people usually don’t do that lightly.
Good perspective. It appears the drama over the granddaughters has been going on for years! For deep background on Letizia as consort, see:
http://www.royalfoibles.com/spains-machiavellian-future-queen/
The author thinks that at one time, Sofia and Letizia were allies. Clearly not now!
Sofia is the queen-consort of a dishonored king who abdicated in shame. 2/3’s of Spain wanted him gone. He was complict in his daughter’s fraud and went elephant hunting for $10,000/day while Spain faced financial collapse. It was agreed that they would withdraw from public life for the sake, the survival, of the monarchy. THAT is what this is about. It would be better if this was just a Queen smackdown, but it is very political for the Spanish monarchy. Sofia knew what she was doing, she’s been maneuvering a comeback for she and Juan Carlos; they’ve been all over the press lately.
Yeah, lets keep on disrespecting this elder woman first her husband and now her daughter in law and her grandchildren.
Old people can be jerks just like young people can. Her age doesn’t matter in this situation. Her behavior does.
magnolia, then how is that she is Sofia so well liked in Spain and respected for doing her job well all these years ? (except that the royal family in general would be better off doing something else not living off taxes, but that includes LEtizia now.
Disrespecting her? Sofia isn’t entitled to use the children as little meat-puppets to shore up her image, whether they are her grandchildren or not. She is treating them like props and ignoring their mother’s wishes. She is the one being incredibly disrespectful.
So you know that the corruption stuff isn’t a question, right? A better question is, why do the people of Spain still like Sofia despite the rampant corruption between her, JC, Cristina, and Inaki?
Ennie, The former king and queen of Spain are not doddering old sweethearts. Do a Google search and read their stories. They are Trump-level vile. If the corruption doesn’t turn your stomach, maybe the elephant hunting (!!!) will. If they were my in-laws, I wouldn’t let my kids near these people.
This is a next season of Feud I would watch.
Or “The Crown” after they finish with the BRF! The whole family seems really interesting and kind of shady too.
@Susannah One of the king’s sisters lost her princess privileges due to corruption, the former king was caught hunting elephants with his mistress and there’s the amazing Duchess of Alba.
Leticia herself has very shady friends. She is not so innocent.
HAha! I don’t know a thing about how this family gets along, but it’s very clear that
1) MIL wanted a photo with the girls and
2) The mom was very deliberately getting her ass in front of the camera, moving around to cover the girls as much as possible.
As an outsider, this looks to me like a public spectacle and unaccountably rude. Perhaps they had a “no pictures” agreement and the MIL pulled one off anyway. I feel sorry for the girls.
Or Grandma may be nuts behind closed doors and the mom had told her repeatedly that she is not going to take any pictures w/her kids. Grandma then found a camera and began posing for pics?
No clue how likely this is.
There was a photo about seven or more years ago of Letizia glaring and in the face of the Queen, appearing to have words with the Queen. At the time some Spanish reporter in the know with peeps at the scene said Letizia was confrontational and telling the Queen off. When the photo and story hit the press.
The Palace friendly press explained it away as the photo and video being taken at a odd angle which gave the illusion of a disagreement between the ladies, but now I believe it.
I think the women do not get along.
Also Princess Marie Chantal is backing Felipe’s mother and saying the truth is slowly coming out (about Letizia. ) Something like that,…. paraphrase.
Belle Epoch
I agree with what you said.
I think just let MIL get the photo and leave her be. She’s old. She could be cranky but so what, let her have a photo and move on.
Letizia should never get in the way of the Senior citizen. It’s a scandal waiting to happen.
The photo from years ago was on the old Royal forums ,and it might still be around, but I don’t know where now.
Felipe seems like such a gentle man…I would like to know what Felipe may or may not have said to both his wife and mother.
Also, it would have been illuminating had anyone got a shot of Letizia’s facial expression from the other side….
mia, the picture is in Twitter, just look for the words: Letizia dedo
Under normal circumstances, I’d say let the MIL get her photo. But in this case, no. Letizia isn’t stupid. The former king and queen nearly destroyed the monarchy with their repugnant behavior. If I wanted to ensure my daughter’s succession to the throne, I’d minimize the photo ops with Evil Granny and Gramps to every extent possible to remove whatever fuel from the fire that I could. I mean, they have to do some photo ops, to pretend they’re all just getting on fine and yay monarchy! But come on. Everybody knows why Q. Letizia is Q and Sofia is ex-Q. And Leonor is getting old enough to understand that, and form her own opinions.
Tense AF! I want to know everything about what just happened there.
I see the grandmother having a death grip on her granddaughters? If you watch only the granddaughters’ body language you can see that even as Sofia pulls them in *very* tight, the girls both are angling to get away from her grip.
But, lightpurple above disagrees with me, so it is interesting how we all interpret differently!
I watched the video yesterday and the two from today and I see it the same way as you do- the grandmother pulled the two girls away and one of the girls twice had to throw her grandmother’s arms off her.
Whatever is going on between the queens, it looks like the little princess agrees wth her mom- or at least, is not a big fan of her grandmother. This is definitely projecting but I hate when kids (especially little girls) are not allowed autonomy over their own bodies. If they don’t want to be embraced and hugged by whoever, they shouldn’t have to! So power to the little princess. Royal duty or not, nobody should touch you if you don’t want them to.
You’re definitely projecting, as I think the girls look more irritated by their mom than the grandmother. The little girl is fussing away from her mother in that video.
To me it looked like the Princess pushed off the grandmothers hand twice and grandma keeps trying to grab her to be in the photo. She grabbed both girls for a photo and it looked uncomfortable to me.
No she’s not projecting. Th little girls were off to the side and grandmother comes and grabs them and moves them where she wants them for the picture.
I think the girls looked fine with the grandmother until the mom came over. *shrugs*, we may not ever know what the heck went on.
I thought it was the other way around.
Red, it’s interesting that’s how you interpreted it. The girl in the long sleeve flowered dress removes her grandmother’s hand from her shoulder twice. I came away thinking the girls didn’t like being man handled by their grandmother.
And the one little girl snatches her grandmother’s hand off of her twice… that’s a weird AF moment.
Red is right that the little girl didn’t push her grandmother’s hand off her shoulder until her mom was standing in front of her. Her grandmother corralled the girls, then moved them left, then right and she didn’t object at all. Then her mom walks up and she twice pushes her grandma’s hand away somewhat aggressively.
She either felt like she needed to take her mom’s side or she didn’t have the guts to push her grandmother’s hand away until her mom was there to back her up.
Odd that some of you think the girls were fine or were throwing mom off. Watch the videos again and just watch the girl on the left and how grandma is with her. Just because mom stood in front doesn’t mean that girl reacted to her, she seems to be reacting to grandma.
It definitely looks like Leonore is pushing her grandmother’s hand away – twice. Sofia looks irritated when he grandmother pulls her close for a picture.
This is totally a rorschach test, but after I watched approx. 47 times I think the girls are initially compliant with their grandmother but their body language is uncomfortable, due to the manhandling (see the granddaughter in green going from smiling to stiff). Letizia doesn’t seem to realize there is a photo at first she’s just shaking hands and then it looks like she notices her daughters’ discomfort and approaches like ‘hey, you seem uncomfortable and don’t want your grandmother manhandling you’ .
Grandmother is instantaneously annoyed about the photo block and clutches grandchildren tighter and starts shuffling side to side with them. Leonora, enjoying even less the manhandle-shuffle and feeling safer with her mother there, then tries to remove her grandmother’s hand TWICE.
My takeaway is that Letizia was prioritizing her children’s needs over the desires of her MIL to get a separate photo. (My own in-laws always want to grab my very young kids the minute they see them before the kids are warmed up to them and my kids always cling to me for dear life and cry, so that’s why I see a protective mama here).
“My takeaway is that Letizia was prioritizing her children’s needs over the desires of her MIL to get a separate photo.”
Yes, my thoughts exactly.
That is what I saw as well. At first I couldn’t tell why Letizia was blocking the shot, but you clearly see one of the girls try to remove her grandmother’s arm from her… which is when it escalates. These girls are old enough to understand the tension between mother and grandmother as well. They know what is going on.
The girls were also shaking hands with people when they were pulled away abruptly. Leonore is the next in line for the throne, I imagine that she’s starting to take some of her duties as such seriously. Someone elsewhere pointed out that they were probably confused because they’re expected to be polite to everyone (which is why they were shaking hands with the people present), but grandma just stayed preoccupied with her own tasks and didn’t realize and pulled them away from that without thinking.
I don’t want to say that people are blowing this out of proportion, but honestly? Grandmas gonna do what grandmas gonna do. I think Letizia probably just noticed the two girls abruptly leaving and wanted to know what’s going on because otherwise, that’s the type of behaviour that’s construed as rude and standoffish.
All in all, to me, it looks much worse than what it really is. The Spanish RF have a LOT of scandal, but this isn’t the worst of them.
Agreed the princess pushes Sophia’s hands away 2 times. It’s way clearer in 2nd video. The little princess smiles up at her mom when she sees her come close.
Kate, I agree with your interpretation.
look closely at Letitia’s hand because when she sneakily touches Leonor’s perfectly combed hair she seems to pull her ear or hair , then, the girl moves her hand, I’d say to stop her mother from pulling.
This picture is going cost LEtizia a lot.
I don’t know why Queen Letizia didn’t realize that the trio is trying to get a photo together. It was so obvious. And why is she fussing about Princess Leonora’s hair? You could see how Queen Sofia and Princess Leonora’s hands pushed her hand off. Idk. It was just weird. And King Felipe trying to grab Q Letizia to the side. I’ve always thought Leonora was more of King Felipe’s favorite while Infanta Sofia is Letizia’s favorite.
This is disappointing. I’ve always thought this royal family was tight knit and genuinely liked each other. Didn’t they stopped having kids because if it’s a boy, it’s going to be the Heir to the throne and will bump Leonora down.
That is not what happened though. Leonor moves her grandmother’s hand off her twice. Felipe also glares at his mother and she tries to look stunned.
You can clearly, I mean clearly see the girl remove her grandmother’s hand from her shoulder twice. It is not QL removing Sophia’s hand off the girl.
Princess Leonor did move her grandmother’s hand, but it seems it was after her mother started blocking the picture. Maybe the Princess was reacting to her mother’s clear displeasure.
I agree Mandy.
Oh Letizia-I feel you. At my son’s bar mitzvah party (at our home) MIL got drunk for the 8 millionth time, and when I asked her quietly if she could switch to water, proceeded to start screaming at me in front of all of our guests. Good MIL times. I’m not sure what the circumstances are here-but my automatic sympathies are with Letizia and her daughters.
My husband’s parents died when he was young so I never had any in-laws, and honestly I didn’t miss what I never had. My sister had the in-laws from hell so I saw all of that strife up close.
Wow. That sounds awful and embarrassing.
To me, it looked like Letizia was trying to say the daughters’ didn’t want to pose or something to that effect. Felipe intervened and took his wife’s side, and the little girl then felt free to push the grandmother’s hand away. I think she fiddled with her hair as a cover to be able to say something in public.
These two don’t like each other. It is clear in family photos, and at one point Letizia goes to embrace the grandmother, and she acts like she doesn’t see her and walks past. She totally saw her.
My husband’s aunt is a domineering snobbish piece of work. Her husband is European and has lofty connections, and she thinks this gives her some sort of authority over other people. She dominates her children; they marry who she approves of, her daughter’s whole life is about catering to her and being her companion. Her daughter’s husband works for her father and is bossed around, and their only child’s upbringing is dictated by her.
Unfortunately, she likes my husband so we see her more than I would like and she purposely speaks another language in front of me, so I feel left out. For some reason, she feels she should have had a say in his life too, and she loves his first wife.
Rant over but I tend to see it from that POV and side with Letizia.
My take was that maybe Letizia told the girls they didn’t have to pose for photos but they got trapped by their grandmother. Letizia tried to rescue them but Sofia wanted the photos. It’s traditional to take photos but Letizia was trying to protect her girls.
I do, too. I had an MIL who did not respect any kind of boundaries, emotional or otherwise. This gramma is all about gramma, and not sensitive to others’ feelings, imo.
protect the girls? from grandma and the official royal photographer?
They didn’t look comfortable. That is what I mean.
my MIL likeds to mainline gin at holidays, argue about everything and then tell people to “just shut up” as loud as possible. if want to join us this year for a hanukkah/christmas combo bash without our bat shit MILs….i’m into it.
I don’t think it’s that her daughter’s didn’t want to pose. A photo op is the norm for their Easter celebrations, and as royals, the girls clearly know what their duties are.
I think they were doing other things, vis-a-vis greeting the people present at the Mass, and grandma interrupted that, hence the reaction.
Maybe the queen is a fellow polka dot hater…
Or even worse, a button hater!
what’s the purpose of having a Royal Family if they behave exactly like the rest of us? Or even worse? At least I avoid to question my mother-in-law’s relationship with my children in front of them. She is not an easy person to deal with but I don’t find productive nor decent to engage in public catfights.
I mean, I bet they have plenty of private occasions to discuss.
Exactly!
My MIL is all into Spanish royalty and showed me the video yesterday. I analyzed the video and thought that Sophia was the one trying to grab the girls and Letizia wasn’t having it. Sophia was kind of yanking then around which would annoy me. My MIL is of course on Sophia’s side saying the poor woman just wanted a picture with her grandchildren.
Of course QS wanted a PR shot with the grandkids; she’s tarnished her images by staying with JC for the position and her support of Cristina and Inaki. What the grandkids wanted didn’t concern her. Letizia was in the right IMO.
Can you explain? If you don’t mind. I am in the dark about them.
Except for Felipe, he used to hang out in New York with Pavlos and a crew from the Upper East Side in the 90s. Older relatives were out on the scene at that time before either was married.
His cousin went to Rollins College, and my cousin knew him. There was a Spanish contingent there at the time. If I remember I believe his name is Jaime. That is my extent of knowledge about them. As in not much. lol
MagnoliaRose – Queen Sofia’s son in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, was found to have embezzled millions of euros through a fake company he set up as a charitable organization. It came to light that when the investigation was about to explode in the media, Juan Carlos arranged for Inaki to have a job in one of his friend’s companies, thus Cristina and Inaki moved to the US with their kids for a couple of years, to protect the criminal Inaki and especially Cristina, the favourite. When formal charges were filed, all sorts of messy details came out including the one about Juan Carlos. The image of the former king took a big hit. It got worse when Cristina herself was charged with corruption. Through it all, Sofia has publicly supported her daughter and SIL, making sure to go out with them in public and ensure photos were taken. Meanwhile, Felipe and Letizia were doing the PR cleanup for the family, even when Letizia was blamed left and right by the media before when talks of rift between Cristina and Felipe started making headlines. Turns out Letizia convinced Felipe to distance themselves and their kids from the two, knowing what was happening behind closed doors. Even when Cristina was on trial, it was Letizia who was being gossiped about to cover up Cristina and the disgrace she’s brought upon the royal family.
Juan Carlos never recovered his old image and reputation, and had to abdicate. Some news sources said Juan Carlos was given a choice, abdicate and pass on the throne to his son to ensure the future of the monarchy, Or continue as king and lose the monarchy altogether.
The Spanish royal house has never defended Letizia. She’s been the subject of so many character assassinations it’s truly a wonder how she can be so poised and calm when nobody in that family is her ally. I say nobody because sometimes even I feel that Felipe hasn’t been strong enough to protect his wife.
What Rainbow said! Much better than my explanation.
Letizia and Felipe have been the ones to have to clean up this mess too, because this mess happened in the middle of a major economic crisis in Spain. Remember Felipe’s business casual coronation? And didn’t Letizia have to give up her wedding ring because Inaki picked it up for Felipe and initially put it on his credit card?
I thought his abdication was forced by a perfect storm of the embezzlement scandal AND being airlifted from a super luxe safari holiday with his mistress where he shot some elephants whilst Spain was going through a deep recession?
Bridget – I think it was both engagement and wedding rings.
This was also the time when emails between Inaki and Cristina were exposed and some emails between the two frauds showed them making nasty, sexual jokes about Letizia. Imagine that. Just how vile Inaki and Cristina must be to laugh at sexual jokes about Letizia. It was really disgusting.
LAK – basically all of that. But the main one was his knowledge of Inaki’s criminal actions and taking measures to ensure Inaki didn’t get caught, to the point of sending him away to the US. The main takeaway was “he knew all along” and he did not behave with neutrality. This was the time he became “touchable” when before he was beyond any criticisms. The case went public anyway and the rest is history. Inaki is about to go to jail soon, so expect more PR outings from the former Queen.
Sort of way off topic here, but does Sophia get to keep the title Queen? If not, what is her official title now? I doubt it’s Queen Mother:)
now, google compi yogui and letizia to learn more about the king and queen’s new friends
@Rainbow
Thanks for the explanation. It gives more background to the whole fiasco.
If I were Letizia, I wouldn’t like my MIL either. For the sake of the monarchy, she should be publicly siding with her son. I would be furious if she behaved like that with disgraced criminal relations. That is a huge scandal.
Ah Spanish mother in laws, I know all too well, this video could be my mother in law and I lol.
FYI Sophia is greek…
She’s as Greek as Prince Philip, which means not at all. She’s actually German and Danish through heritage. The Greek part is in title only, not ancestry.
Sofia is Greek. From Tatoi.
Sophia is KingConstantine’s sister.
Look at their family tree. The “Greek Royal Family” (now deposed) are not Greek by ancestry. They are Greek by association and happenstance, no matter where they were born. Their Danish ancestor, Prince George of Denmark, was offered the throne of Greece by politicians in 1863. He married a Russian Grand Duchess. They’re Glücksburg, Hanoverian, Prussian, Russian, Danish.
Similar to the Swedish Royal Family. They aren’t Swedish by ancestry; their distant non-royal French ancestor (Bernadotte) was offered the throne of Sweden. He was one of Napoleon’s generals. That’s why the Swedish Royal Family doesn’t have a Swedish name, they’re the House of Bernadotte.
I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m here for it.
Same lol!
Ha! It’s no Game of Thrones, but the comments sure are entertaining.
I know right. I am learning all sorts of new things, and I am so here for some new royals to gossip about. Anything but DC is welcome. I am going to make a snack and settle in to read. lol
@magnoliarose,
IKR, but I gotta stop this reading stuff or I won’t get anything done today!
Same! Drama and scandal in a royal reality shows!!
Me too! The British royals are boring … I need more escandaloso gossip about all royal families!!! *opens wine*
Never thought the Spanish royal family would get this many comments on Celebitchy, haha.
QUEEN DRAMA! I saw this story yesterday and was hoping we would talk about it.
This whole thing is so hilariously amateur and childish. I love it.
Rarely do we get to see such an inside look like this. Loads happened in such a short amount of time. Queen vs. Queen.
i think it is pretty clear that Letizia was trying to block the shot. Apparently ‘friends’ of her claim she wanted to protect her kids from intrusive photohogs. I mean really. It’s at the entrance of a church.
I am not sure, but from what i can tell Q Sofia has a good relationship with her grandchildren, also those of her two daughters. She spends a lot of time with them in summer in Mallorca. I suppose the Leonor hated being dragged into the middle of this.
The little girl is also pushing her mom’s hand away.
Why deny a grandmother’s photo with her granddaughters?
I may be wrong about my interpretation, but it was petty and ugly.
She pushed her grandmother’s hand away…twice. I don’t think she wanted to take the picture in the first place.
My mistake!
Watch the video again. Leonor is pushing her grandmother’s hand away.
She’s not a little girl, lol. She’s fairly close to being a teenager, and she’s the Spanish equivalent of the crown princess (Princess of Asturias). She’s next in line to the throne. I’m not gonna get in a flap about how she’s an independent child or w/e, but it’s clear that her parents have outlined some priorities wrt her behaviour at public functions. She was greeting people when Queen Sofia abruptly pulled her away to get a photo.
I ink its pointless to speculate because we are all going to project our own circumstances I to the situation. My inlaws are toxic and I don’t see anything wrong with Queen Letitia coming between a situation involving her children that makes her uncomfortable. However I will say Marie-Chantal tweeting “no grandmother deserves this!” girl sit down, you weren’t there so you don’t know what this grandmother “deserves”, Queen Mother or not.
MC is insufferable. Eye roll worthy and a snob. As if her father didn’t exchange a significant amount of money to ensure her title. The Greek family had no money, so it was very 19th century American heiress.
She is probably gleeful to get some attention.
MC is probably ticked off that she is still so disliked within the family while Letizia seems to have a reasonable relationship with them. It probably annoys her that her money couldn’t buy the respect that Letizia gets. They’re both commoners, but MC knows that if she didn’t bring that dowry with her, no prince would have bothered with her!! And here’s Letizia, a woman who was fairly independent, with a past, with a career, who didn’t buy her way into these circles. If I wasted all that money like MC did, only to see someone else getting by w/o spending a cent, I’d be spitting needles too!!
MAcrie Chantal organized a party not long ago, a lot of royals were there, but guess who did not accompany Felipe to the party? her name starts with an L…
Good thing Letizia wasn’t at that eurotrash theme party. Unfortunately Felipe and Maxima were outed as attending – through MC’s and her kids’ instagrams.
@Ennie: so you’re saying it’s a bad thing that Letizia doesn’t get along with someone who is infamously bitchy and one of Europe’s least like ‘royals’?
I know many grandparents who think they are owed access to their grandchildren whenever they want. A sign of toxicity if I ever saw one.
Bingo.
Agree 100%.
Looks like Letiza needs to spend some time at reddit/r/JUSTNOMIL Reddit. There’s nothing worse than a possessive, controlling mother-in-law.
I was literally about to post this. Easily my favorite sub, makes me feel less crazy about my own mother and her bag of tricks lol
I think i need to find this asap. My mil is driving me bananas
Please do Eliza! It’s a very welcoming and supportive community. It’s nice to know you’re not alone in the crazy that can be moms and MILs!
Join! It will open your eyes so she can’t play stupid games with you anymore.
As I have read lately, Letizia is the one who is a controlling mother. I suspect she even has some sort of eating disorder due to her control issues, I hope it doesn’t affect her daughters.
She is naturally tiny, as are/were her mother and sisters. Felipe has said she eats more than he does, she just burns it off through work.
If you watch the longer version, Sofia (princess not queen) is looking to her mother for help. PS was shaking hands with the public, Queen Sofia grabbed her and positioned her for a PR shot.
QS still supports her daughter Cristina and her husband, the cause of so much scandal re. actions with charity money. Letizia has been up against JC and QS support of Cristina and her husband for years, the people who openly shared nasty emails on company time/platform about Letizia (“oh, look, that newscast shows her orgasm face” type of emails).
Letizia protecting her daughters from Queen Sofia and her PR moves is a good thing to me. Non-royal, eurotrash Marie-Chantal is publicly supporting QS and bashing Letizia on social media too. Felipe needs to grow a spine and kick his parents – and his hanger-on cousin Pavlos and wife – out of the picture.
I’ve always wondered how much Letizia resents the burden that was pushed onto her and Felipe. He became king amidst such a mess, and she’s had to work to navigate a very, very tricky path. In fact, I’m surprised that Letizia would have let any cracks show in public as she’s normally so poised, but I know that my mind went straight to the Cristina stuff too.
I think she’s spent years battling Cristina and Inaki behind the scenes, and the weird power Cristina has over JC and Sofia. In the early years, she was criticized all the time for distancing herself, Felipe, and their family from Cristina.
Once the scandal broke, many people realized Letizia had been right all along. Queen Sofia kept publicly supporting Cristina through all of that, which endangered Felipe reign. But there are die-hards and hangers-on like Marie-Chantal who will always support “blood royals” over married-ins. Hilarious when MC is a married-in herself.
MC is also a notorious bitch, and my personal (and probably unfounded theory) is that she would have preferred to be set up with Felipe years and years ago, instead of Pavlos.
Good theory. Alas her daddy’s money was enough to buy her a deposed prince, not a real Crown Prince still in line for a throne.
There are several Crown Princes right around the same age (and more non-CP royal options), there’s no way that they would have started with Pavlos. On the bright side though, he’s never leaving her and her money.
I should have scrolled down as I something about it above.
MC has always behaved as if she is above everyone else even before she married Pavlos. Even though when they were engaged, he was acting as if he was single. He has never been faithful neither were the other husbands the sisters married. In fact, their social climbing was sort of a joke because all of the husbands were impressive in name only.
She tried to float the rumor that Harry had a thing for her daughter. That would have been the ultimate prize for her.
Even at Le Rosey, she was bitchy and haughty. Probably because she is the favored daughter, but she has never been liked. My sister said their New York apartment was ostentatious. Not 45 level but definitely show off, and she said the carpet was ugly. lol
She’s too much.
You can see Queen Letizia kept it pleasant on the surface, blocking the photo but pretending it was to greet the lady and then smooth her daughter’s hair. Queen Sophia though makes it clear from her face and actions that there is discord. Clearly there was some stuff going on behind the scenes, I’d imagine something about an agreement that there will be no posed pictures except once they are outside with the whole family, or how the current King and Queen don’t want their daughters manipulated for photo ops, that Sophia was trying to ignore and hoping she could get away with in front of cameras, and Letizia and Philippe were trying to hold firm.
Do you remember the photo shoot (one of many) of their apartment a few years back? There was a trophy wall covered with glossy magazine covers of Marie-Chantal. Odd they’ve moved back to NYC, when she, her sisters, and her parents renounced their US citizenship years ago.
Marie-Chantal has a tacky AF name, a fake title and will become a fake Queen. Her rank is so low I’m surprised she thinks she can butt in and throw more sh!t at her cousin-in-law’s wife and current Queen Consort of Spain.
Thank you!!!! YES, PS (& Leonore as well, I suppose), were both preoccupied with other things at the time Sofia pulled them away.
I said in another comment that grandmas are going to grandma. This is par for the course with grandparents, they do this, they intrude and don’t notice when you’re busy with other things especially if you’re young. It is what it is, and unless we know for sure that there’s something deeper afoot, trying to posit this as some kind of big standoff between MIL & DIL is pointless.
Sofia wanted a photo with her granddaughters taken by the royal house official photographer. In one video she was practically pushing at Felipe to get to the kids, and was basically manhandling Leonor in order to get the “perfect shot”. Why she wanted her own photo when the photographers were outside waiting for “official pics” is beyond me as she has never done this before. She literally had her arm around Leonor’s neck. The child became uncomfortable and took off her grandmother’s arm the first time. Sofia was unfazed, insistent, and grabbed Leonor again, and once again Leonor was having none of it. Sofia the Little was shaking hands with a woman when her grandmother suddenly grabbed her and took her away.
Letizia seems to not have noticed what was going on until she saw Leonor and Sofia being grabbed and pulled to one side so their grandmother could get a photo. Letizia probably didn’t notice the photographer in the first place since most photographers were outside the church where the pics were supposed to be taken. Don’t know what queen Sofia was thinking breaking protocol and using her grandkids for a photo op.
Queen Sofia got mad and reacted negatively, but of course the blame is on Letizia. It always has been Letizia who gets the blame no matter who is at fault.
You think Kate has it hard? Letizia has been the subject of smear campaigns and vitriol for almost 15 years. Tabloids make a lot of money tearing her down and labelling her vile names. A tv show host once openly called her a pig because Letizia asked a random woman not to take a picture of her daughters at a parade. Letizia is the punching bag for Spanish media and the royal family. Even when queen Sofia’ s favourite daughter, Cristina, disgraced herself with her criminal husband, it was Letizia who was blamed. Why? Because she’s Letizia. She’s the granddaughter of a cab driver who has no royal blood whatsoever, and now she’s the Queen. Many people in Spain can’t accept that. The fact that the royal house has never shielded or defended her has made it 10x worse.
People say Letizia is cold and aloof but you know what? Good for her. Why should she suffer the fools in the media and elsewhere who want a pic or an interview but will call her names and create malicious gossip if they don’t get what they want from her? I’m glad Letizia has nerves of steel to withstand the pile of shit that has been thrown at her ever since she was presented as Felipe’s fiancee. I bet these tabloids and trash like Marie Chantal would have been kinder to someone with a privileged upbringing. It’s good old classism and sexism at play. Felipe never gets blamed as if Letizia is raising her daughters alone.
I was coming on to add that Marie Chantal is such a drama queen herself to post about this on social media!
+1 Rainbow
Totally unfounded here, but I wonder if Marie Chantal resents Letizia. When she and Pavlos were set up, she had been on the hunt for a title and I don’t think a deposed Crown Prince was her first choice. Felipe however is of a similar age, handsome, and is obviously now King of Spain. Could there be a little long seated saltiness because he declined being set up with her? Total speculation here.
Bridget, Marie Chantal is a social climber just like her mother before her. But I doubt she wanted Felipe. All she wanted was a title and her father’s money bought her that. Even her dull children’s clothing company was bankrolled by her father as MC did nothing to earn anything for herself.
And she and Pavlos have always supported Cristina and Inaki. Her comments don’t surprise me. She is trash and always has been. Her mother behaved the same way. I bet she’s jealous of Letizia, though, not only because Letizia is La Reina of an actual monarchy, but Letizia will forever be relevant and part of history. Marie Chantal is nothing but a footnote, whose in-laws refuse to get a proper surname because they’re so entitled and still claiming a defunct title. Constantine, Sofia’s brother, is also trash. He used to bring women to Juan Carlos when it’s his sister being cheated on. When asked what he thought of Letizia as Felipe’s fiancee, his actual words were “I don’t think she speaks English”. He reeks of classism and snobbery…which is rich since he’s been broke forever, never held down a job, and Queen Elizabeth II had to help him and his family financially. He likes Marie Chantal because her father’s money meant Constantine would never have to work again.
Marie Chantal has no room to talk considering her actual family, both immediate and in-laws, is dirtier and nastier than any of Letizia’s actions.
That’s my point though – MC is a notorious social climber, I don’t think Pavlos was the first choice for a set up. I’m not saying that she’s pining for Felipe personally, but I wonder if it’s a little extra sauce to the mix. Pure speculation on my part.
I can answer you, Bridget, because I am familiar with her and her family. YES! Felipe is out of her league. According to relatives who were on the scene at the time he is down to earth but a serious person. They weren’t surprised he married someone like Letizia and not someone like MC.
Her mother is as imperious as her daughter and a social cutthroat. Her antics are nearly legendary. She flaunts her wealth and acts as if she is a member of some imaginary royal family. Seriously people laugh and roll their eyes at her behavior.
The Greek royals are a joke. They were beggars and moochers with a worthless title and no means to make any money yet acted as if they were robbed. Like victims but royal so they should be able to live luxuriously because it was their station. For years they have tried to claim all sorts of treasures and money from Greece, but they want nothing to do with the family.
They didn’t even have a royal family long enough for anyone to hold on to the title. Even the Bourbons don’t do that even though there is all sorts of ridiculous fighting about who is the heir when it is apparent France isn’t interested. They run around with the fleur de lis like the ancien regime will make a grand comeback.
MC deserves what she has because she would be a terrible (real) royal and loathed with a deep passion by the public.
The Greeks get by on social capital and MC’s money. She may be a bitch but the rest of them are pretty well liked.
@Bridget
The father is a bit much. I never heard anyone say anything bad about Pavlos only that it wasn’t a love match but out of duty. He still doesn’t act married. They were going to split some years ago but didn’t and just live separate lives.
She’s teaching her mini-me to behave just like she does.
Oh that’s sad. I didn’t know that Marie-Chantal and Pavlos were an arrangement and not at least originally a love match.
Not a love match. Miller wanted his fabulously wealthy daughters to have spouses to match their bank accounts. He paid big bucks to have Marie Chantal set up with a Crown Prince, but Pavlos was the best they could get (Greece’s royal family has been deposed for a while). Pavlos was a sure thing for her, as the Greeks may be royal but cash poor and MC came with a CRAZY dowry that was a cash infusion to the whole family. It’s also why I can’t ever imagine these two splitting. MC loves her title and Pavlos would never survive the financial implications of divorce. And FWIW, she is pretty awful as a person.
I completely agree it was over the photo. Sofia wanted an official photo and Letizia didn’t want her kids photographed. I really don’t think this is such a scandal.
I only saw the short version but I thought Letizia was trying to diffuse the situation by coming over to stroke her duaghter’s hair. It was the perfect opportunity to give up on the picture, but Sophia seemed insistent.
It’s hard to tell because we can’t see Letizia’s face (at least not in the video I saw) but I think this seems accurate. L touches her hair, then Sofia does and that’s when Leonor pushes her off. It seems like Letizia was picking up Leonor’s signals and Sofia was not.
I had no opinion on Letizia until this video, it hit me in the guts, I cannot stand what she did ridiculously blocking the photo and then cleaning the kiss.
Ennie, did you miss the parts where Sofia was manhandling the girls a bit AND Leonor threw her grandmother’s hand off of her not once, but TWICE? And it was not subtle. Letizia did what a mother SHOULD do. Her daughter clearly did not want her grandmother touching her. She stepped in. As she should.
I think that if they had taken the pic as it was, the girls’ would’ve continued greeting people as they were. I think that Letizia could have gone up to Sofia and tell her softly that she could take other pics out instead of doing that ridiculous thing. It seemed that she pulled her daughtes hair too. Anyway, if she’s educating the girls like that it may revert, good thing for her that Felipe is a gentle man. I loathe what she did, but in the relationship with his parents, he should be a louder voice. If he disrespected his mother in law, I bet he would hear about it.
@ennie. What do you think Sofia could have done differently in that moment as opposed to everyone else changing their behavior?
Queens they may be but there are also humans.
Millions of mother in laws and daughter in laws have issues when it comes to the children/grandchildren. Most importantly, the grandmothers never know when they should stop interfering.
Lenora seems to be the one who pushed her grandmother’s hand away.
I like both queens but I also can see that Sofia is heart of steel. She should be ironwoman to have put up with her husbands scandals. I can also see how Letizia being a commoner and a divorcee could still be an issue with some.
I have more issues with the fact that princess Chantal was gleeful about this and made it into a bigger scandal. She really shouldn’t talk as her and her husband still claim the titles even if Greece don’t have a monarch anymore.
‘Princess’ Marie-Chantal, aka one of the duty free heiresses, is pretty tacky. I’m not surprised that she stuck her nose into this mess on twitter.
I’ve never understood why the press goes after Letizia so badly (except for sexism/classism because she was a divorced commoner). Between the former King’s scandals, Queen Sofia’s anti-gay marriage stance, the infanta Cristina’s embezzlement (I know she was acquitted while her husband was charged, but suurree), etc there is a whole wealth of gossip. But it’s Letizia they pick apart like crazy and it’s over the most superficial things (she’s not smiley enough, her weight, her rumored nose job, etc.).
Sofia was poised to leave JC in the 70s, but her own desire for the position of Queen kept her there. She’s chosen her path, just as she’s publicly chosen to support her daughter Cristina and her criminal husband.
Right on. Sofia is living on public goodwill but I bet she’s not candies and sunshine in private. She is, after all, the bluestof blue bloods. She knows what she’s doing and I get the feeling she’s enjoying Letizia’s humiliation since it covers up Cristina’ s return to Madrid and Inaki going to jail soon.
The funniest thing, when she was Letizia’s age, the media lambasted her for not speaking Spanish, for being cold and distant, for generally not being likable. She was called “the Greek” by many noble houses to signify she isn’t one of them. She has suffered and endured a lot, and her image only changed when Juan Carlos and his womanizing ways came to light. Then suddenly she is the martyr and the downtrodden wife who has dedicated her life to serving her adopted country.
But I bet if Felipe were to turn out to be a serial cheater, the media and hot garbage, royal wannabes like MC would blame Letizia like they always do.
Letizia came off petty, mean picking in a Senior citizen. Team Sofia. I think Marie Chantal has experienced both ladies up close and personal and knows of what she speaks.
Also it makes Letizia look small, picking at her elderly, a Senior citizen mother in law. Let the woman mother in law have her photos and moment w the girls and be gracious.
Queen Sofia also, iirc, has made public comments about things like LGBT rights and domestic violence and such, which were less than progressive and caused some, er, discussion in the Spanish press.
A, she’s older, and as I understand she has good points, like being one of the most important people to not showing up in the bullfighting ring, not small feat in Spain.
We’re supposed to praise her because she supports bull rights but not human rights?
“I can understand, accept and respect that there are people of other sexual tendencies, but should they be proud to be gay? Should they ride on a parade float and come out in protests? If all of those of us who aren’t gay came out to protest we would halt traffic.”
“If those people want to live together, dress up like bride and groom and marry, they could have a right to do so, or not, depending on the law of their country, but they should not call this matrimony, because it isn’t. There are many possible names: social contract, social union”.
I have a Spanish friend who says the press is really harsh on Queen Letiizia. Some of it is fair, but she believes that a lot of the press is unfair, sexist, and partially driven by the fact that she was a divorced commoner before she married into the family. The story is that supposedly Queen Sofia made some comments in a book about how Queen Letizia is raising the kids and the comments came off as passive aggressive criticism. So in that sense, I kind of get Queen Letizia’s anger if she already was having trouble with the press and then her MIL criticized her mothering in public to the press. But acting out in public like this is dumb…unless the entire video is just being misconstrued by the press (which is possible).
Anyway, apparently the Royal Family is a mess. The former King was a womanizing jerk (even if he helped ease the transition from Franco) and King Felipe’s sister was embezzling money and an all around terrible person. King Felipe handled the Catalan crisis terribly…My friend is super critical of the Royal family but says ironically that Letizia, despite getting the bad press, is one of the better members.
Thank you Kaiser for posting. I saw this and was hoping you would post so I can see what others are saying/seeing.
the kids seem to be in on it too, and are clearly on the side of their mother if the way that one little princess flung off her grandmother’s arm is any evidence.
The feud made the second page of a daily Canadian newspaper . The article stated that the Queen Mum doesn’t have free access to her grandchildren and has to request to see them ahead of time, while Letitia’s parents have free access anytime. The article went on to say that the Spanish people are angry and that no grandmother should be treated this way. Looked like the King was trying to calm her down.
I don’t see how Sofia wouldn’t have access to her granddaughters considering they live in the same place? Zarzuela Palace is one big estate where the former King and Queen still live. Felipe and Letizia and their daughters also live in the same estate, just a different house.
Then again, with Sofia and her misguided support for her disgrace of a daughter and her criminal husband who is going to jail soon, Letizia probably wants to protect her daughters from whatever mind conditioning Sofia might do. Sofia has been reckless in her support of her daughter at the expense of her son and his wife. Felipe and Letizia have had to clean up the mess that that royal family has created while Sofia cruises on public goodwill for being the martyr wife of a womanizing king. Who knows what queen Sofia might be telling those kids about their disgraced aunt and their own mother.
this might be all true, but then refrain from all the hypocritical public appearances together. You cannot have it both ways.
If Letitia would have ignored the photo op, it would have passed in a quick moment and this whole mess could have been avoided.
And again, I do not feel bad for any of them. Regardless of her critics, she has a nice life with plenty of trips for plastic surgery. It was her choice to marry into the Royal family. There is nothing holding anybody for leaving the Royal family, abdicating and becoming commoners. Tons of European countries are Republics and manage quite nicely.
It would have resulted in the girls continuing to be uncomfortable, yanked around physically by their grandmother, and used for PR. Letizia was right to step in.
Maria F – except Letizia didn’t even notice there was a photographer? The person is the royal house official photographer. He accompanies the family everywhere and is meant to be in the background. Sofia gesturing to him to take a photo while she yanked her grandkids around is breaking protocol and is probably against Letizia and Felipe’s wishes regarding their daughters’ media exposure. Letizia was right to deny Sofia that photo since her daughters were being used for PR and to sell a good image of the former Queen. Letizia is The Queen now. Sofia should respect the boundaries Letizia has set for her children, both as Queen and as their mother.
If Sofia wanted a photo so badly, why not wait until they got outside where dozens of photographers were waiting as they have been instructed to do? Why was she so adamant in getting the photo taken that after Letizia walked away, Sofia grabbed Leonor’s arm again? Or the fact she grabbed little Sofia by the arm while the young girl was shaking hands with a churchgoer? Sofia’s behaviour was bizarre.
@Maria, maybe Letizia is tired of being pushed aside by Sophia? Maybe after 15 years of Sophia trying to sideline her QL has had enough?
@RAinbow Letizia was breaking protocol since the beginning of the mass, she was walking in front of Felipe, and going out she had to be gestured t wait for Felipe and the elderly Juan Carlos and Sofia. She did this ridiculous thing trying to block a simple photo and making a mess coming out of Easter Mass, the most important mass for them who are called Catholic King and Queen (not that it matters much to her deep inside). She did not care much for protocol, and she usually breaks it when out and about like in Mexico or Japan.
IMO Letizia and Felipe would be right to limit Sofia’s access to their daughters.
Letizia came off petty and mean to a Senior citizen. Let the woman have her photo and move on .
Letizia knew damn well there was a photographer . Cameras there taking a photo.
I would never be mean to a Senior citizen , no matter how bad the in law was. I would ignore it in person, in public and even privately just ignore it.
I have a Senior citizen in law who is horrendous, I ignore and just don’t get in the pettiness.
Letizia has been limiting the access to her daughters for years. The Spanish press has been not reporting all this issues because they have always done that with the Royals. I guess they got tired of covering for her and now we see her in all her splendor. Rumors of this type of behavior have been running for years. Now we just saw it live.
Um, no, @ Mia, respectfully. We shouldn’t infantilize seniors just because of their age. If this woman is a hideous family member (maybe a narcissist) to her daughter-in-law and her grand-daughters, she doesn’t get a pass merely for being old. The truth is we don’t know what’s happening behind the veil of royalty here, but my grandmother was a POS and I’m getting triggered by Sofia’s attitude and tendencies. We don’t know if she’s a monster or if some slights have been blown out of proportion. Sympathy for those young (though rich & privileged) women.
The granddaughter is clearly pushing her grandmother’s arm off so senior citizen or not, she should be respecting her granddaughter’s wishes. My grandmothers never manhandled me like that and my mother would have certainly stepped in if they had. Adults, even senior citizens, need to respect the physical boundaries that children put up.
ahhhhh. tale as old as time.
the mother-in-law vs daughter-in-law feud.
My take is that the girls looked just fine when grandma out her arms around them. But you immediately see Leticia start to pace like a tigress and start to cockblock any photos. Then she puts her hand up to smooth the girl’s hair as an excuse. Grandma has this look on her face of “Why???? What is the problem?” And starts to hold the girl’s tighter which is when the older girl is un comfortable and gets that Mom is angry and starts to squirm away, pushing off grandma’s hand.
An 80-year old grandma should get to take an Easter photo.
Letizia has learned nothing about being a queen. That was an amateur bitch move with cameras rolling on Easter Sunday. It is like she was seething over something during the whole sermon and then let it rip.
The Brits do it all much better.
And she doesn’t look like she is the woman Felipe married.
An 80 year old grandmother who is publicly using her granddaughters for good publicity should be called out on it. Sofia has been in the wrong so many times, particularly in her public support of Cristina and Inaki. Sofia stayed with a cheating husband because she wanted the position of Queen Consort, and boy does she resent Letizia for having that position now.
Sofia still believes she’s the fairest of them all. Deep down, I think she and wannabes like Marie Chantal resent Letizia for not sucking up to them, for not being thirsty about royal life and their hobbies. Letizia probably refused to hang out with Marie Chantal and her tacky parties and doesn’t go out of her way to ingratiate herself to the Royals, something that must offend their ego up to this day.
And really, I soured on Sofia when Cristina came to Victoria’s wedding wearing one of Sofia’s tiaras, a Queen’ s tiara, and waved and posed around like she was the future Queen of Spain. Cristina could’ve worn any smaller tiara but the fact that Sofia allowed her to use a tiara meant only for the Queen of Spain says a lot about Sofia and her favouritism and what lengths she will go to promote her favourite daughter, at the expense of Letizia.
She got to take other pictures with the kids. Queen Sofia is just selfish and petty. She doesn’t care at all about how her support of her husband and daughter have harmed the family.
I usually side w Letizia, I think she’s been an good Crown Princess and now Queen but I agree with Exactly what was said by Svea, Letizia fighting or having a conflict w an 80yr old Grandmother in public over a photo that could have been over and done with in a flash, was a bad move.
It was a bad move on Letizia’s part to make it more than it was, with an 80yr old grandma.
I agree that overall this seems like an amateur move on Letizia’s part, which makes me think there was a lot more going on in that scene that meets the eye. Letizia at a public event like that with all the cameras on them – I would think she would know better than to draw attention like that (and whether Sofia was right or wrong, it seems that Letizia’s actions were what sparked the “incident.”) So my guess is there are a lot of undercurrents there that we just don’t know about.
Agreed. Unless a close relative is a monster, we need to tolerate their oddities for the sake of family peace. I got a lot of awkward kisses and hugs from sometimes pushy relatives when I was growing up. I don’t regret any of it, and I know they cared. Barging in to “protect” halfgrown children from a photo and a hug from their grandma is too much. Not to mention, politically stupid. The cameras were rolling, and the people of Spain don’t want to see this side of their royals.
It wasn’t a hug. It was a grandmother manhandling her granddaughters – against their will – to get a good PR photo.
This was an embarrassing event for all. I am not choosing sides.
This is becoming like the Zapruder film!
😂😂
It’s like everyone was all up about, “Who bit Beyonce is the biggest gossip story of the year!” and the Spanish Royal Family was all, “Here, hold my beer”.
Here I am in mid-America pushing my MIL to come pick up the damn car we’re selling her for dirt cheap because it’s taking up too much garage space and costing us property taxes and insurance and she is too busy with one activity a day to make the drive!
This is what my husband and I call the ‘smile fight’ – our go to when we disagree on what to buy in the grocery store – arguing with a big ol’ grin so as to not appear to be arguing.
Royals – just like us.
I see this as a sort of King Lear moment. Not sure which sis QL is, though.
Team Letizia. QS looks like a Marie Barone! Does something and then gets the “what did I do” face on.
They were going to get an official pic after the service. QS was pulling a fast one!
I loved my grandmothers…I would have never pulled their arms or hands off me. Something smells real bad here.
I was there, so I’m going to give you all a first hand account:
Leti was actually talking to someone but was nonchalantly trying to get over to her kids. But you could tell that she was ready to throw down. There is no disguising that. When she leaned in over Leonor’s head to speak to Sophia, her body language was like “you know I’ll f*ck up about my kids. I don’t play where my kids are concerned. You know this.” But as she leaned in what she actually said was: “you were trying to be slick when I had my backed turned. Take your MFs hands off my kids. I told you no pictures before we left the palace. Keep trying to undermine me. . . keep f*cking with me and I swear I will take off one of these stilettos and nail your b*tch ass to one of these crosses in here. I will get down in here SO-FEE-UH. I’m not to the palace born. Ask somebody if you haven’t heard about me.” And that was when Felipe ran over and put his hand on Leti and was like “ah shit, baby, not here. Please, baby, not here.” Now, I’m not the one to gossip but you can tell that this isn’t the first time some shit like this has jumped off. You can tell by the way Felipe had to hold Letizia back. And you can tell by the way Juan Carlos hung back off to the side. He is used to these type of displays. As a matter of fact, he was watching and grumbling to himself “you can’t take these MFs anywhere; not even to church on Easter. I’ll be damned”
☺️😊😉
LOL I can actually believe this is how it all went down. And no matter what scenario really took place, I’m all on Letizia’s side for having a backbone and standing her ground about her kids not being used for PR. She knows her MIL, she knows of Sofia’s very public support of her criminal son in-law, she alone has experienced what Sofia is truly like behind the “I’m such a martyr” shtick. Letizia has put up with so much B.S. from this family and never said a word when she was being vilified left and right. I’m actually delighted to see that the woman who told Felipe to “let her finish” her own sentences is still there and as alive as ever. Good for her. Letizia is no fool and she doesn’t suffer fools. 😀
THIS!!!! This is what happened. i know it. lmao.
Too funny, too true! LMAO! I saw how Letizia was pacing around and thought, “Oh, snap, is she’s fu*king with the MIL”? Then, when she leaned in towards the kid and MIL knocked her hand away, I was just done! Honestly, I’ve been trying to excuse it, but I really think Letizia was spoiling for a fight. “My name is Letizia, Queen if you’re nasty!” LOL!
LOL! yes, this had to be the way it went down! I cackled at Felipe running over with his “soothe wifey” hand at the ready.
rotfl I love this.
I actually thought this was real… until the stabbing with the stiletto part. 🙂
Lol, I know nothing of these people but your description was so funny on-pointe possible that I truly laughed.
This is the best!
“I will get down in here SO-FEE-UH. I’m not to the palace born. Ask somebody if you haven’t heard about me.” <– THIS RIGHT HERE IS GOLD. GOLD, I TELL YOU. I am forever a fan now!
Thank you for your first hand in depth account. I think your photo might be in Hola! Is that you taking sneaky cell phone photos? 😏
Well I am glad to see I am not the only one with mother-in-law issues. It can be very stressfull to the whole family when you don’t have the support and respect of your mother-in-law. I read that tension started for these two in 2008 when a book was published about the family. The book is based on conversations with Queen Sofia. Queen Letizia was reportedly unhappy with some of Queen Sofia’s revelations regarding her grandchildren and misrepresenting Queen Letiza.
My read is that the two little girls looked uncomfortable with pushy grandma from the start – but only felt bold enough to push her away once they saw their mother was there to support them. It can be difficult for kids to know what to do when an adult makes them uncomfortable. I think the mother (Letizia) was protecting her daughters and letting them know they don’t have to do what grandma wants.
Ok, the girls look uncomfortable the moment their grandmother grabs them for the photo. And the grandmother kept yanking the girls and one of the girls kept pushing her hands up. Everyone keeps saying Letizia should have Just let it happen and not made a Seen Bug Sofia was the one making a scene. She should have asked the girls for a picture instead of pulling them and when Letizia stepped into the frame she could have handled it with more grace. I would have just invited Letizia into the pictures instead of yanking the girls around. If she had done either of those two things there wouldn’t have been a story.
My question is why do the girls look so uncomfortable with their grandmother? Is it a moody preteen thing, a not very close with grandmother thing, a general discomfort with being pulled around thing, or a grandmother is mean behind closed doors thing?
Letizia has proved for years she is not fit to be a queen. Her only interest is surgery. Look at a before and after picture and you will see. She complains about being a queen. She is arrogant. She has friends who are being tried for corruption. She is not well liked in Spain and for being a journalist she is famous to obstacle the press job.
This website seems to like her a lot and she gets a lot of defense here. Fine, but have a look at the big picture.
She is uncomfortable with the royals, she only wants to work 9-5, and she is arrogant. She hides her daughters forgetting that Leonor will be queen. The rest of the Royal houses don’t put all this drama for a picture. She is not well liked and Sofia is. It has nothing to do with her not being Royal. She was very well received in the beginning because she was a commoner. She screwed up very quickly with her holier than thou attitude.
Before defending her, have a look at what she was saying and how she was laughing at Sofia with her girls.
The tension didn’t start in 2008. It has been there since the beginning.
Well @Spaniard, how did this affect the Spanish monarch?
So you then agree that Christina is not worthy being royal since SHE and her husband are criminals?
Or are you okay with that since they are blue blood and not commoner like Letizia?
Queen Sofia proved that she is not deserving as a Queen since she supported her criminal daughter and son in law. A true Queen puts the country and its people before family loyalty.
Lmao such lies. Letizia has never been welcomed by the media or many people in Spain. Explain then why the media criticized her Armani suit during her engagement interview and the only reason was “it was expensive” when Letizia paid for it with her own money? How about editing her “let me finish, love” said gently to Felipe and making it out like she was a harpy who yelled at Felipe with the “let me finish!!!!” headlines?
Or when Jaime Penafiel made a living criticizing her on his column almost daily? And Paloma Barrientos and Vanitatis with a weekly gossip about Letizia? You think they continued to churn out lies malice about Letizia had people actually been welcoming? LOL NO. They know they had an audience eating up all the bad things they wrote about Letizia and the made a ton of money off of making Letizia look bad. And many people in Spain toon the gossip as Gospel just like you’re doing now.
How about the gossip about Letizia being a secret atheist. Or the accusations she had several abortions? Or being blamed for causing the problems between Felipe and Cristina when the fault was all Cristina and Inaki’s?
The 9-5 comment. Oh, where to begin. It was an offhand comment about Letizia saying it would be nice to be able to work just regular hours and enjoy an actual holiday. You’ve seen pics of them in Mallorca? You think that’s a holiday with dozens of paparazzi chasing after them and swarming Leonor and Sofia when they were little? Letizia has the busiest schedule among the Queens and crown Princes/Princess excluding Queen Elizabeth II so clearly she’s not having a 9-5 job.
What stings the most, is that the granddaughterof a cab driver was ambitious and hardworking enough to be one of the top journalists in Spain at the time, and that “newsreader” managed to land the future King of Spain. What’s worse, the media thought they would have access to Letizia as she was “one of them” but turned on her when she didn’t give them what they wanted.
Thing is, it’s so easy to believe all the lies and gossip because that’s all you have. Letizia never says a word to defend herself so it’s always a free for all when it comes to lambasting her.
I am learning so much. This comment section is awesome.
Oh, I agree that Cristina and Iñaki are the worst, don’t get me wrong. I am indignant as many Spaniards that Cristina is going to get away with it. I hope Iñaki goes to prison.
@Rainbow, are you from Spain? I can tell you that she had the support of the Spanish population in the beginning. We were actually happy that it was a love marriage and we liked she was a commoner. I believe you are wrong making this about class.
The press sugarcoated her life to ridiculous extremes for years and in the end there is no way to cover that she is just an arrogant and cruel person.
Look at the little shows she puts every time she is among royals. Look at what she did in the last visit to Japan, embarrassing as hell. She represents our country and she doesn’t look interested in doing it well.
Look at the messages she sent supporting a corrupt businessman, every time she tells Felipe to leave an event, the way she went pass Sofia last year in an event in Palma without even looking at her or saying hello, when she starts applying lipstik in the middle of a conversation or sits alone to play with her phone while in the middle of an event. She has been married into the Crown for 14 years. There is no excuse for her anymore.
I don’t think anyone, friend or foe, has ever accused Sofia of being “mean”. And she seems to be gathering the girls for a photo, not “grabbing” them.
She is grabbing them to get a good PR shot. Perhaps as a pre-emptive strike, because she invited Cristina to a high-level royal event a few days later. An event Cristina (after her actions) has no right to attend. But Sofia and Cristina will keep pushing her forward, even after Felipe publicly removed her as a member of the official Royal Family.
Oh more info to the mix. There is a lot going on here.
Hard to watch. Too much pressure on those girls. Whatever this was, it’s clear that they both hate being caught up in this screwed up adult BS. I applaud them for trying to act normal still though, as they are very aware of the cameras/public scrutiny. Sad.
I thought it was interesting (but not surprising) that both girls have already learned to keep a smile plastered to their faces at all times – even during times of stress. And for the most part, they did.
It would be far more useful to teach them grace and dignity. Those girls are not known for their stellar behaviour.
Wow @Ex-Mel, the kids are being attacked? All for Saint Sofia?
Those kids are known for their excellent public behavior, among the best-behaved publicly of their generation. The behind-the-scenes video for Felipe’s 50th birthday gave a little insight into their private and fun behavior.
I think Queen Letizia’s actions were beyond tacky.
If I tell you that even the Spaniards who are in favor of the Republic are defending Queen Sofia…
Thanks for the dish Spaniard.
Leonore and Sofia at first seemed OK/indifferent to having their picture taken, when Letizia stepped in and words were exchanged that Leonore turned hostile.
I wonder what was said.
Before the mass she breaks protocol and leaves everyone behind. You can see Felipe asking her to slow down and she ignoring him together with the girls.
Then, after the mass is the picture debacle. She is always putting these little shows together to prevent the press to take pictures of the girls. I insist, this is a public event. The photographer is an official one and is confirming with Sofia “now”? Sofia agrees. There goes LZ waltzing in the middle. Then she touches Leonor and pulls her ear and Leonor does her own little show. Then you have several, “please”, and then they go out. Sofia tries again and LZ does the same. Sofia kisses Leonor and LZ cleans Leonor’s forehead and laughs with Little Sofia while saying mockingly “don’t laugh” to her.
Queen Sofia starts leaving and LZ starts saying “where do you think you go?” . King Juan Carlos says to Felipe “we need to talk about this” and Felipe says it is not the moment. Queen Sofia tells Juan Carlos “there is nothing to be done” and they leave. Meanwhile Letizia and her daughters are laughing. Please, tell me if it is not embarrassing.
These comments are giving me life. More please ☕️
Me too! ☕️ ☕️
I thought maybe they had been drinking before the communion wine was served.
Wasn’t there another video clip taken at the same service of Sofia kissing one of the girls on the forehead and Letizia IMMEDIATELY wiping it off the girl’s skin while saying something to Sofia?
whatever went down, the former queen needs to back off. Those are Letizia’s children before they are Sofia’s grandchildren. It looks like Letizia didn’t want Sofia posing with the children and tried to block the photographers’ view. which… fine. her kids, her rules.
Sofia looks like an entitled mother-in-law here.
Looks to me like some are trying to make Letizia the bad guy. Obviously there is an issue for her to block the view of the cameras. They probably had it all agreed on the official photo and then grandma decided to do what she wanted.
It’s very telling how the young girls reacted. QS is probably a piece of work…and you know maybe Letizia is too, but too bad, they are kids and she can do as she wants.
She can’t. She is the wife of the king. Not the queen. ANd there is also the matter of minimal education.
Since when is a Masters degree considered “minimal education”?
academic education is different from what spaniard is implying
What you and Spaniard are implying? That Saint Sofia of the hatred of LGBT and the support of the criminal elements in the family is “better educated”? Or are you the type of racist royal watchers who believe in the idea of her being “better bred” like a race horse?
You come off as quite aggressive. Are animal rights too little a cause to support? really?
I support gay marriage with all the rights marriage conferes. I have VERY conservative relatives and inlaws. Do I hate them? no, I try to talk to them about my personal experience with gay youths, I don’t need to give out details, but very conservative people need to be sensibilized more. I understand your stance, but attacking Sofia for a 10 year old opinion (I googled it) is looking for something to attack her for when everyone is fallible.
OMG I hadn’t read that nota’s post thoroughly, I was accused of being a racist!
what does that have to do with what happened? I did not want to write a lethany saying that people who cant’t read and write can be better educated than others who feel superior. OMG some people aren’t looking for debate, some people are looking to offend.
Those children are beautiful and they look like twins.
I agree. The girls are gorgeous.
Huh. Queen Sophia’s hair is sort of mauve-colored. Never noticed that before.
Anyway, this was all terribly inappropriate. I don’t understand why Sophia was so handsy and aggressive about taking a picture with her grand daughters and I don’t know what possessed Letizia to escalate the situation the way she did. Just let Grandma have the damned picture taken if she wants it so badly!
And that’s Letizia for you.
Evidently, that’s Sofia for you, too. It was rude of Grandma to accost her granddaughter as she was speaking to one of the parishioners. And she was oddly aggressive with both girls – even after they made their discomfort obvious. She knew that she was going to be taking photos with the family outside the church anyway, so the fact that she was clamoring to get a shot in with the girls is a bit bizarre.
Grandma going after the PR shot, days before she invited her criminal-associated daughter to a public royal event. An event Cristina had no business being at given her behavior and past.
Girls manhandled by grandma, mother steps in, mother gets blamed. You’d think Jamie P was on here.
@notasugarhere – Was this meant for me? If so, go ahead and reread my comment. It’s quite clear that I’m blaming mother AND Grandma here. “ISaidWhatISaid.gif”
I had no idea who these royals were and I am now SUPER INTERESTED. Seriously though, the girls are beautiful and it is sad for them to be caught in the middle. I will always side with the Mother in these situations. Her kids, her rules. MIL drama is real.
Only that she is not a common mother, there is a protocol, and she was boycotting a simple picture while mocking aloud and publicly a senior citizen who happens to be a beloved queen.
Her arrogance will be her downfall. Now, they are working overtime to do control damage and it is not working.
As you say, you didn’t know anything about these royals. She boycotted the pic, she cleaned Leonor’s forehead after Sofia kissed her, She was screaming to Sofia “where do you think you are going?”while laughing at her with the two spoiled princesses… She was cruel and rude and caught in camera.
She retreated herself in front of the whole country and we are embarrassed and indignant. We have been waiting for years to see her doing something productive and lay off the botox and surgery. Instead, we get this unwelcome show.
What is her marriage like? Happily married?
15 years she’s been a royal and you’re still waiting to see her be productive? Methinks you’re looking for something that’s been there all along but you choose to ignore it anyway. Letizia has never gone a week without doing a scheduled event so if, after more than a decade of her being active and in the public eye doing her events, you’re still not seeing enough of her, maybe you should look at other media and not just the gossip rags that say Letizia is sooooo lazy…but they have her pics on the front page of their website and magazine while she’s out and actually working. The irony of it all. Even British rag The Daily Mail has coverage of Letizia’s events so I don’t know how a Spaniard like yourself has no access to such information?
And it’s Sofia who broke protocol, by the way. She was the one who walked ahead of Juan Carlos, Felipe, and Letizia to grab the children and pose for an unauthorized photo.
Sofia is no longer the Queen of Spain. Perhaps you should tell her that.
Okay, I’ve seen the senior citizen thing up and down this thread. From more than one person.
Who cares if Sofia qualifies for her AARP card? Rude is rude. I have a few decades to go before turning 65 but good to know that personal accountability can go out the window at that point.
Also, it’s not like she’s in her late 90s or something. At 79, you still know to not clutch at small children because you want a photo op. Her granddaughter was clearly uncomfortable. What kind of grandmother is Sofia to behave like that?
And now the princesses are spoiled too? If the only way for Sofia to be right is if everyone else is terrible, then it’s more likely that Sofia was out of line.
@Rainbow I don’t have to tell her anything. I want that that someone who gets paid by my taxes does her job and a minimum of education. She is an embarrassment.
The picture inside the cathedral is not protocol. Greeting the fellow congregants at the mass, being polite and respectful of the people in attendance and not abruptly ditching them for a photocall–that’s the correct protocol here. They take group pictures for a photo-op outside, not inside the cathedral. That’s just QS’s personal preference, and it doesn’t supercede what their official duties are.
Leonore was mingling with everyone, as she is supposed to do, as the next in line to the throne. Queen Sofia’s personal desires don’t take precedence over what an active royal’s duties are, which is why Letizia rushed over to disentangle them. Imagine if she hadn’t, and someone had said something about Leonore and Princess Sofia being rude and obnoxious and dashing off to pose for photos instead. That could have easily been a story as well.
Methinks you need to stop drinking the Spanish tabloid koolaid and realize that out of an entire family of flops, Letizia is arguably the better one out of the bunch. At least she isn’t a serial philanderer, like Juan Carlos, a homophobic, misogynistic snob like Queen Sofia is prone to be, or a thieving, embezzling fraudster like Cristina and her freeloading husband. I suggest you take what you can get!
ETA: Also, I’ll never understand people complaining about royals and taxes. If you don’t want to pay taxes for them, then the sooner you hassle your government for a referendum then a republic, the better.
It’s funny what we consider “rude”. I think it is rude to shove small children, but I guess we all have our own standards.
Letizia is one of the best married-ins of their generation. Likely because she had Republican leanings before meeting Felipe, and recognizes that you have to make the role something useful.
Since when is having a Masters Degree considered uneducated?
Can you even imagine a throw down like this between Liz and Diana? Nothing Kate or Meghan can ever do is at this level. The BRF is so boring compared to this.
I was thinking about that too, lol!
I interpreted that as a “I have told you to stop doing that and I meant it” sort of way from Letizia to her MIL. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors, but it’s not that far of a stretch to think that maybe Letizia has had to talk to Sophia about not using the girls as props to play grandmother of the year…for all we know Sophia might be a nightmare in private. I just know for Letizia to react that way, she must have had a good reason because she normally always comes off as very composed.
Yes, Letizia probably has good reason to dislike her MIL – if she’s indeed keeping her and the grandkids apart. That’s hard treatment. It may not have anything to do with Sofia being a bad grandmother though. If I were to speculate, I’d say Sofia, a born royal, wouldn’t have thought Letizia good enough for her dear son. Letizia was a divorced journalist, dating a rich and handsome prince. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sofia was cold and haughty, never expecting it to last. Then came marriage and children, and payback time for the harassed DIL. Frankly, I pity Felipe and the kids more than either woman.
On the contrary, Sofia was her biggest support in the beginning. She eased in Letizia into royal life and mentored her. Sofia helped Letizia to be accepted as the fiance in the Royal circles.
I do wonder how Marie Chantal feels….seeing these similar-aged women in the position of Queen – or Crown-Princess, in the case of the Australian Mary of Denmark- a position she is never going to have.
There is Maxima & Letizia already queens, and Mary & Norwegian Mette-Marit warming up in the batter’s box, all the while knowing she’ll forever be a bench-warmer.
What might stick in her craw is that they are all commoners from very modest or middle-class backgrounds and because of her family’s wealth, she might consider her pedigree as being greater.
but…what we think over here (I live in Spain) and what I have been reading in latinamerican magazines and comments from blogs and youtube is actually very different from what i just read in here….
Letizia is not liked at all, she has been caught many times being rude and mean to people, I don’t particularly like the monarchy but Queen Sofia is a thousand times more loved. She has been a good Queen to Spain, she is loved and respected here, whereas Letizia has been caught screaming at workers in shops, telling passerbys to keep walking, saying she despises a couple of monarchy related cities, etc….just take your time to read comments in spanish…people call her tacky and no class and rude. Spanish people are outraged by her treatment to Queen Sofia, who actually fought for her to be accepted….
on a funny note, Letizia is called “fictizia”, lol. (ficticia means fake) among many other names…my personal opinion is irrelevant just wanted to tell you how things are perceived here in Spain and in South America.
Thank you Cora. I subscribe everything you say. Even Republicans are defending Sofia. She has been a good queen. Letizia has been rude and tacky for years. The only news is that she was caught on camera.
hmm…your comments Cora and Spaniard really intrigue me….
So you mean that the interpretation many people have, that the kid was not comfortable with what was happening is fully fictitious because Letizia can only be this evil person.
Interesting for people living in Spain that you both comfortably dismissed the new video from Hola where it shows that the kid didn’t want the gradma to grab her.
Don’t know if i can post it here, but here it goes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wP13lOWWqw
I’m really fascinated by all the hate Letizia gathers.
I am just telling facts, it is the truth, Letizia has been caught diminishing workers and being really nasty that’s why I don’t like her but what surprised me with all the comments was the lack of understanding of how beloved Sofia is, and how even Republicans and anti monarchy groups are furious because Letizia has gone too far this time. Maybe the people here commenting don’t have a proper knowledge of how rude and cold and arrogant Letizia has become, and all the problems with the Infanta’s money laundry scandal, etc….Letizia was caught on the same day , outside the church,”cleaning” a kiss that Queen Sofia gave Leonor from her forehead…and for me that was low.
I am just telling facts, it is the truth, Letizia has been caught diminishing workers and being really nasty that’s why I don’t like her but what surprised me with all the comments was the lack of understanding of how beloved Sofia is, and how even Republicans and anti monarchy groups are furious because Letizia has gone too far this time. Maybe the people here commenting don’t have a proper knowledge of how rude and cold and arrogant Letizia has become, and all the problems with the Infanta’s money laundry scandal, etc….Letizia was caught on the same day , outside the church,”cleaning” a kiss that Queen Sofia gave Leonor from her forehead…and for me that was low.
and I dont’ think she is evil, just rude and someone who couldn’t care less for her own people now that she is Queen. She is arrogant ans Sofia humble, maybe that’s why people don’t like her here. I am Republican (here is not like the US, it just means I want the monarchy gone and a Republic) so I don’t like monarchy in general but I like Sofia because even is the worst possible circumstances she has behaved with a lot of class and dignity. One of the big problems between them (from the press) is that Letizia blocks her from seeing her grandkids, that the 2 little princesses are unbehaved monsters etc….and from the video, I think the little one is rude, and her mother is rude, everything was fine until Letizia approached…
@cora, where does the tale of her protecting her daughter and criminal son-in-law fit in the everyone adores Sophia story? Are the people of Spain really happy with her while she and her husband protect a criminal?
Lady D, apparently Sofia is trying to get her daughter Cristina some titles or jobs back, I imagine that she wants her to live in spain closer to her and participate in some family functions now that her husband is in disgrace. She is her daughter and I thinks is understandable. Felipe gained some popularity when he addressed Spain in regards Catalonia independence, and is a delicate situation., that is why I think Cristina will be ket at bay, appearing in funerals and masses, like the one last week for their grandfather.
The problem for Felipe is that his won wife does not have a strict moral code. She (them?) has been friend with a shady corrupt business character involved in a credit card fraud. LEtizia has been known for defending him and that everything else known about them was “m*erde”. google +Letizia +compi yogui
@cora. Everything was fine for Sofia until Letizia approached. If the kids and their parents don’t want something to happen, the grandmother should back down.
@minime
That was an entirely different angle, and it looks like it was Felipe who told his mother to knock it off. The girls were trying to get away, and it was more aggressive from that angle than the others.
@Cora, “aught screaming at workers in shops, telling passerbys to keep walking, saying she despises a couple of monarchy related cities,”. Is this really true? What does it mean she despises a couple of monarchy related cities?
Yes, it is true. I am like Cora. I prefer the Republic, but Sofia has been a great queen. Never rude, never out of line. I am here to state facts. With all the respect I don’t think many people here know about the Spanish Royals to understand this situation.
People who want the monarchy gone are outraged and defending a queen! If that doesn’t explain how out of line Letizia and her daughters are I don’t know how to explain it.
And yes, she is the mother but Leonor is the heiress. We all saw how well she is educating her. It is true that Letizia doesn’t let the queen see her daughters. You will never see her complaining about pics being taken with her own family and it is evident.
The despise is that she considers that the Royal traditional vacation is awful. SHe boycotts the press that are trying to do their job and cover the royals and complains about not having a real vacation. At the same time she takes multiple secret vacations at the cost of the taxpayers.
I am leaving it here because it seems to me that most people are willing to defend her without knowing the story behind. Please, adopt her! make her your queen! Spain will be happy to see her go!
Ah yes, Saint Sofia who publicly announced her political leanings and bashed LGBT populations. She stayed in the job because she wanted the power; didn’t want to get away from her cheating husband and sham marriage because the title was all that mattered.
A catholic born in the 1930’s in a position where marriage for life is the norm does not wish to divorce because it would affect the image of that very own position? mmmmm
As is Felipe, he strikes me as if he would not divorce for anything in the world. He is too much like his mother, fortunately for Letixzia
She chose to lie to the Spanish people for 50 years, playing the good little supportive wife in a sexist society, while her husband made a fool of her, their family, and ultimately the nation. All because she wanted the royal title. And for this she’s supposed to be praised?
Thankfully Felipe is smart enough to realize he needs a strong woman like Letizia.
Ficticia means fictional, not fake…
And no one in Argentine give AF about the spanish monarchy, let alone two Queens having a stand off inside a church after Easter service.
“Fictizia” is a definite upgrade from the name she was called at the time of their marriage – you know, the one starting with P?
(Which, for the record, I thought was horrible, the most vulgar and unintelligent way of degrading a woman.)
Do you know about the time she made a joke calling herself a “fulana lista”? And she was called Letizia la Fictizia when she was working on TV. A lot of friends she left there too. Ironic mode off.
She is still publicly friends with many female journalists from her pre-Felipe years. Still has the same hair and makeup person from tv as well. She’s kept her close friends close, and they have not betrayed her.
I bet lunch was fun.
lmfao
Team Letizia on this one, all the way.
And reading all your in-law horror stories makes even happier that I didn’t marry that guy who keeps calling me every few years to see if I’ve changed my mind. His parents had so much influence over him and his decisions, part of me wonders if they don’t tell him to call me too. Ugh. Dodged that bullet once, not looking to duck and weave again.
Wow. Really?
I lived in Spain and just had my Madrileño friends over for dinner two weeks ago and asked them about the opinion on the Royals. My friends are “upperclass” but they would never say that about themselves. Their father was a respected senator and architect so there is I’m sure some bias. He parroted the same mess about Felipe being generally well liked and Letizia not but when I asked why he just said “she is seen as very controlling of Felipe”. To be honest though, I get why, her FIL is a womanizer, her MIL clearly cared more about wealth and power than her dignity and they both continue to defend their criminal daughter and SIL. Sorry but any argument as to Letizia’s demerits seems pathetic next to that. To all of those whom are saying “it’s just a picture” no, it’s not, it’s exploitation. The mother gets to decide at the end of the day what is and is not appropriate and she wasn’t okay with it so back the f*** off. The Spanish people don’t own her children and they are still children and should not be used as pawns by their grandmother. My fiancé’s best friend’s mother is a drunk and pulls this stuff all the time with her daughter-in-law and the baby and it drives me crazy, it’s so inappropriate, I tell Charlie that she’s an angel for putting up with her. Luckily she’s back in rehab for another stint and Char gets a break for a couple weeks. If it were me I would have cut her off a long time ago.
Sofia was on the brink of tears. I have never seen anything like it.
Whatever it was, whatever faults she may have, I am sure this dignified, long-suffering, GOOD woman does not deserve this sort of treatment.
ugh, that’s sad. kinda makes this less enjoyable.
I so agree with you.
Long suffering? She chose to stay in a sham marriage because she wanted the position and power. She chooses to publicly support her criminal-associated daughter. She chooses to use her granddaughters for PR. She chose to publicly bash the LGBT community in Spain.
Do her granddaughters deserve to be manhandled by their grandmother? So badly that they looked publicly to their mother for help?
I don’t see a good woman when I see Q Sofia; haven’t for years.
It’s awful – really, truly awful – that you’re demonizing this woman for her husband’s extramarital affairs.
@ Lobbit.. that poster seems to be a female misogynist. Time and time again, she repeats awful things.
^ i’m not even sure why people interact with her.
I’m not buying the speculation that Queen Letizia and Sofia don’t get along. The word has always been that they do, that they get along better than most people realize, and has been confirmed as much by Sofia. I know that Letizia was a big support for Sofia when Juan Carlos was screwing around on her with various call girls and being a general embarrassment to everyone in that family, and Sofia feels similarly.
The Spanish press has disliked Letizia from the day she married into the family. They regularly go out of their way to stir up drama, and this is no different. I don’t buy this narrative for a second from their part.
Also, if you watch the video closely, you can see that the two girls were shaking hands with people before grandma pulled them away for a photo op. I think they were jarred by the interruption, and Sofia probably wasn’t paying attention to what they were doing to begin with. It happens.
They don’t get along, buy or not. Sofia tried to mentor Letizia and ease her into the Royal world. Nowadays Letizia doesn’t let her see the kids and has cut most of the contact with any Royal.You don’t have to believe me. It is all over the press and has been for years. I just think things went too far this time.
The “press” being Jamie P and the crew at cotilleando.
(Sigh)
@ennie. Everytime I have expressed in this web page I dislike Letizia I am accused of being in cotilleando. I understand your frustration. The truth is that Letizia will have a very hard time recovering from this if she does.
Ah, I am not Peñafiel, either.
Letizia isn’t popular in Spain, she isn’t well-liked and she’s clearly been rude so many times in official settings. If another Royal woman behaved in the same way, she would be crucified, and rightly so.
oh. my. god. letizia is a passive aggressive trick! i love it! she totally knew what she was doing; taking her daughters “away” from their grandmother, pretending to fuss with their hair. in front of the cameras no less. was she a commoner before? yeah i’m saying it; that’s why they shouldn’t marry us norms. we have no chill and will break thier’s!
i’m with @kate that this is a “a rorschach test”. the girls aren’t eager but are compliant (they are at that age where this isn’t cool, etc). they were not being manhandled but directed. their mother’s clear meddling was extra and definitely due to previous tension hence her doing it again.
this is a hot mess and as someone said, if they are going to be like the rest of us, what is the point?… except for exceptional gossip of course!
You can tell that the girls have been in this situation before with Sofia and Letizia. She knew something was going to go down between those two and she didn’t want any part of it.
QUEEN THROW DOWN, OMG. I never thought I’d get to see it. Oh man, look at that body language. That is not a happy MIL/DIL relationship, lol.
I personally love when Felipe starts to realize and touches Letizia’s arm…clearly his face is like “oh shit”!
You can practically picture him with some cutters, going “Red wire, blue wire!?”
Look at the headline on that first video. “Letizia impide foto con sus dos hijas con la reina emerita….” Sofia is referred to as queen, Letizia is not. But sure. no bias there.
anyway, I have friends who are Spanish (some still live in Spain, some don’t) and friends who are American but lived/live in Spain and their opinions are pretty evenly split on Letizia. Some love her, some hate her. I don’t think its as simple to say “Spain hates Letizia” without examining press bias against her.
Sofia has earned respect. Her work as a representative of a country that was not hers was exemplary.
All of you who say you are learning so much from these comments should heed the fact that there are some commenters on here with a very specific axe to grind. I.e., that Letitia is disliked in Spain and a terrible, lazy, Queen. It’s an old, tired gossip trope. If you look at her schedule and view photos of her appearances you’ll see a different story.
Remember, Queen Sofia has been royal since the day she was born. She is liked because she knew how to remain dignified during all the travails her husband subjected her to. She was trained to be stoic in public. She can be very gracious. She has lots of friends among royals. But she is also very used to being liked and getting her own way. She absolutely prioritizes her own blood relations and she is very good at her own PR.
Letitia was a divorced commoner who had her own successful career before marrying Felipe. She was steely willed and determined. She wasn’t the ideal bride for a Prince but he loved her and it happened.
So a steely willed commoner turned Queen is clashing with an entitled life long royal. I believe that there is a battle of wills there but when someone’s kids are involved the parents take priority. Grandparents need to back off. JC, for all his faults, knows this.
Oh and MC? Shut up. You have enough problems.
I have nothing to gain from my comments. This is a gossip site and everybody is entitled to an opinion. Just know the facts. And yes, Spaniards are pissed. If you don’t want to believe is fine. I just came here to state facts.
You speak for yourself only as we all do. You don’t speak for Spain.
You sound quite a bit deranged, Spaniard/Cora/Royal Sparkle…. Did she run over your puppy or sth ?
Please, read the comments of readers in the Spanish press. I am afraid I am.
Not at all, I just wanted to let you know what it is being said. If you want to believe her be your ideal queen, go for it. And I am only Spaniard, I am not using multi-nicks. I am going now for good. Your last name is Ortiz, right?
grand parents need to back off? I bet LEtizia says the same to her live-in mother. Sofia has complained of inequality, there is gossip that she went to visit her grandchildren ad was not let in anymore. They see the girls very sporadically. I know that with an american mind setting this is very normal to most readers, the whole nuclear family thing, but for many other people, extended, united families are the norm, and for grandparents is terribly painful to be kept away from seeng their grandchildren.
I saw Sofia’s painful look when that woman was meddling and it broke my heart.
BTW Letizia was made into a meme you can put her in front of your profile picture in FB .
“…,that woman….”
You mean the Queen of Spain and the children’s mother?
Honestly the comments about Letitia from some of you are quite unhinged.
And yes, in this instance, grandparents need to back off. And negotiate their relationship with their grandchildren and daughter in law in private.
No one said Letitia was perfect – I read every comment on this post. Only that she has the right to make decisions regarding her own children.
Ennie:
“there is gossip…” That right there is why it’s hard to take comments like yours seriously. You admit it’s gossip but you know every detail, your tone sounds gleeful and delighted at Letizia apparently being a meme now, and that tells me you believe the gossip wholeheartedly. Anything else after or before that is just empty noise.
Everything you have said here and all of your comments above is plain gossip. You present them as facts, but you have no proof except you read or heard them from somewhere.
Why should we believe you, then? For all we know, your account of seeing Sofia tearing up and close to crying is just you stirring the pot and hoping to convince the readers here that Letizia is the worst.
And really…you sound like a resident of Cotilleando since you seem to know every single gossip about Letizia. That, or you are very invested in tabloid fodder and spends lots of time poring over every bad article about Letizia, someone you clearly don’t like but has invested all this effort into memorizing all the gossip you have read or heard.
no cotilleando for me, I have been watching you tube videos and twitter, tho these last two days since I am on holiday. I do know that Sofia is well respected and liked. that she was disrespected by her husband and that mass was a rare occasion where they were with the daughter of her beloved son (I am the same age as Felipe and I remember when Felipe was single, and how she helped smooth things for LEtizia. I do nothing that grandmother is a bad person. I said That Woman because it is terrible to me see such pettiness as in the video
I don’t know the back story of any of these people. But unless a previously agreed upon arrangement involving the girls’ privacy with photos was violated by grandma, the daughter in law should have held herself back and graciously allowed a quick photo, then let the whole party keep moving.
Something is up, Suze. Very similar specific arguments and language being repeated by different people.
@ennie. “That woman” is their mother. At least one of the kids is clearly uncomfortable.
I said That Woman because it is terrible to me see such pettiness as in the video, andI felt reflected because my brother married “up” and did not bring my nieces and nephews to visit my parents, all while taking gift money from my mom. I hurt me to no end to see how much my mom yearned to see them, to hear from them Triggered, yes I was.
I don’t mean to be rude but it sounds like you’re projecting a great deal based on your own experiences. What did the kids want? And why is Sofia putting her hand back on that child after Leonore removed it? Why is Sofia not talking to her grandchildren about what they want? Why is it so important to take a photograph?
maybe because there could be very few chances to take a pic with them?
During a party for one of my nieces, my sister and I went and against our good criteria, behaved ridiculously trying to take as many pics of our nieces and nephews to show my parents (mom was ill and could not come, dad could not walk). ;my sis in law complained that we took so many photos of them, but we had not many chances, and we were given one family photo every 2 or 3 years, nor calls, nothing.
my sis blamed her for the estrangement,but I think that it was my brother, we were, ultimately, his family, it was his call to go and visit, maybe she did not encouraged it, but so…
In this case I think the same,Felipe is the one who should intervene to manage the relationship with his parents, particularly because it affects his position, but this particular act of going between an official royal photographer during an official religion function is uncalled for. all these people are being paid to represent decorously.
Those are Letizia’s and Felipe’s kids. Their wishes come first. You keep projecting your family situation onto these people who are public figures with many pictures of them available. The idea of pulling that little stunt during a public appearance reflects terribly on Sofia’s sense of entitlement and her disregard for the comfort of her grandchildren.
Those kids are paid VERY well to do a job, if they do not want the girls to be seen or touched, then dot take them to events and stop charging the people for taxes. If they/she do not want them to mingle with his father’s side of the family, them too bad, they can also resign the positions they hold.
Soon his grand parents will be dead and they will be more than happy about it I bet, no more pesky crazy grandma thinking that she has some kind of right to take a photo with her granddaughters. What a crazy old lady, hey, who is that again? OF course if their only real grandparents are those of her mother’s side. Who do those old f***s think they are?
It is not dignified to stay in a sham marriage with a womanizer because you want the power of the position. Far more dignified to leave him publicly instead of lying to the Spanish public for 50 years and living separately behind the scenes.
As for the “press” that hates Letizia? That comes in the form of Jamie P and his blood-royal obsessed buddies.
Right?! I couldn’t agree more, and am extremely confused at what definition many commenters have here for “dignity”
Yeah, Because other Royals like queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are together for love. LOL
“It is not dignified to stay in a sham marriage with a womanizer because you want the power of the position.”
Haha! Tell that to thousands of high profile women around the world who do the same thing. I’m sure Meghan Markle will be doing the same thing too. Wealthy, powerful men cheat. Prince Phillip cheated, I’m sure Wills has had some fun on the side and the list goes on.
She got booed today at one of her public engagements. The image of the Spanish monarchy is not good right now.
She’s had worse. This scandal is nothing compared to Juan Carlos and his shenanigans, or Inaki going to jail. People jump on it because it’s Letizia. If Felipe had been the one to tell his own mother off, nobody would bat an eyelash because:
1. Felipe is the King.
2. Felipe is royal through and through
3. Felipe is a man.
Sexism and classism at play. That’s all. Letizia can’t fight against such stupidity, and so she goes on with her life and her role. She does her job even in the midst of chaos. And her haters say she’s not royal? Lol royalty is all about putting country above yourself. Something that born-royal Sofia and Cristina failed to do, and the commoner Letizia has done for 15 years now. All the silly criticisms fail to realize is that nobody would have done a better job than Letizia in these circumstances. Letizia has had nerves of steel since day 1. Anyone else would have already crumbled. But she soldiers on. That must make the haters angry. All their efforts to bring her down has done nothing. This will blow over. There are worse things to bring down the monarchy than this.
why did Sofia fail?
Sofia failed because of her continuous support of her disgraced daughter and criminal son in-law. She has repeatedly undermined Felipe and Letizia by getting herself photographed in outings with the Urdangarins. Do not tell me that Spanish paparazzi followed Cristina and family to Geneva all those years ago, but the only pics were when Sofia was out and about with the family? She has played the media to her advantage and has not given a care as to the position she has put her own son and his wife. For someone who has ‘served’ her country for decades, she fails at her most important responsibility: ensuring the longevity of the monarchy. Her actions the past few years have tarnished her own image and has not helped rehabilitate the image of the Borbons. She didn’t want to support her daughter in private and in doing so she goes against her new role, which is to support the current King and his family. She’s lucky that Letizia has more class than to pull a Maria-Theresa of Luxembourg and do a tell-all interview on just how afwul her mother in law, Josephine Charlotte, was. And Maria-Theresa weathered through that and has done well as the consort of the Grand Duke. If Maria-Theresa can do it, so can Letizia.
Then I do not understand that there are people that seem to like Sofia, she must be hated then, as is Cristina, but I do not see that.
I think that this was a huge misstep for Letizia, not sofia.
What about her friendship with Javier Lopez Madrid? He is a business man involved in the corruption cases surrounding the current government party and worst of all, has been accused of stalking a woman who refused to be his mistress. Letizia is no saint.
@Rainbow. I disagree. She has never been unanimously torn apart by press and population like this and at this level. You see her as a soldier. Many people see her as rude and unfit to be a queen.
@Cublaxa I bet that comes back in the next days. That man is disgusting and the SMS she sent him are disgusting as well.
I knew absolutely nothing about any of these people yesterday and now I want to know everything. Such drama!
Feel sorry for those gorgeous little girls caught in the middle of it all. The heir (Leonor?) looks so uncomfortable.
This thread is giving me LIFE.
Tense. And what’s with the so called disrespect for a senior citizen? Respect is earned. You can be a conniving ahole or rude person at 18 or 99. If you’re a jerk, you’re a jerk.
Respect is also taught.
Respect has to be earned. You do not earn it by manhandling children for your own PR, as Sofia did here.
Yes, it has to be earned. It seems that letizia has not earned it in 14 years. Sofia has nothing to prove.
@Spaniard. Looks like Sofia needs to prove that she can respect what her grandchildren want instead of clutching at them. What in the world was going through her head to feel that entitled over taking a photo? If her granddaughter is uncomfortable, what kind of grandmother doesn’t stop and check in with the child?
Sophia was grabbing her grandkids for a picture… not sure how that is dignified. A true queen in action is when Liz told off William during the Trooping of the Colour because he wasn’t standing up when the military planes were flying by. She said very little but he got back in line quickly.
I know nothing about these people, but either way i don’t see how politics should be part of this conversation. Based on these videos alone, to me it seems Queen Letizia was maybe trying to block the picture, but maybe it’s because she saw how uncomfortable her daughters were and how Sofia was trying to physically manipulate them into a photo-op. You can tell a lot by the behaviour a child demonstrates around an adult. That daughter, who removed her grandma’s forceful hands off herself twice, seemed super uncomfortable and clearly did not want that to continue. So for me Letizia was just acting as a concerned mother.
Because you a royal 24/7. You represent your country and we are embarrassed and it is political
@ From Spain
I’m wondering what questions you’re answering? There were none in my comment.
Also wondering why people from Spain should be embarrassed to see a woman be protective of her child? I don’t see anything embarrassing there on Letizia’s part. Grandma Sofia should probably be embarrassed for trying to use her grandchildren despite their clear objection. I think that’s shameful.
We as in you and your multiple personas, right?
Queen Sofia has always been respected in Spain. Some Spaniards complain of the fact that in a way the taxpayers’ money contribute to the upkeep of some of the members of the Greek family but Sofia is more royal than her husband so I don’t understand some of you gals who write that she should understand Letizia as she was also criticized when she was younger… She wasn’t.
The relationship between Felipe’s family and Letizia has never been easy. Only dona Sofia defended her but everything changed when the two little princesses were born… I understand that the North American culture is different but when you live in such opulence the only decent thing that’s expected of you is to behave and if your grandmother wants to hug you, you let her!
The people and press and shredding Letizia to pieces. There is an unbelievable amount of support for queen Sofia.
Inside the church, the girl on the left looks to her mother the entire time QS has hold of her and looks relieved when QL steps directly up to QS. In the background of the first clip outside, QS ditches her husband to jump after QL and the girls again. That aggressive, pushy body language, to me, says it all about this dynamic: Grabby Granny is the problem. Good on QL for not allowing her daughters to be used for QS’ public agenda.
Sofia was manhandling the girls a bit AND Leonor threw her grandmother’s hand off of her not once, but TWICE. And it was not subtle. Letizia did what a mother SHOULD do. Her daughter clearly did not want her grandmother touching her. She stepped in. As she should. If someone touches you and you have to throw their hands off of you twice, there is a problem.
As a spaniard and a mother, team letizia all the way. you can absolutely see the uncomfortableness in the children’s eyes when grabbed by their grandmother. Leti didn’t escalate it. She tried to nonchalantly walk in front of them, meanader over, seemingly brush something away from her child’s arm….at each of those points, sofia should have / could have stopped what she knew was wrong if the parents didn’t want it but instead, chose to try even harder.
There is and always has been a lot of drama with that family that is now spilling into the public eye – most of the recently drama stems from the behaviour of the favoured child Cristina and her criminal husband. It seems that QS and JC think that as Cristina has been cleared she should be welcomed officially back into the royal fold – am sure the current King and Queen feel differently.
From what i recall of the gossip at the time when Cristina was stripped of her Dukedom, she was given the opportunity to ask for it to be rescinded as a way to save face as Felipe was going to strip her of it anyway. It certainly gives an interesting dynamic to the siblings relationship, Felipe always seemed closer to Elena. Cristina and her behaviour makes her her fathers daughter.
I have finished the thread and just a couple of things:
It is OK to like Letizia. I don’t. What it is not Ok is to dismiss the importance of the press coverage of this incident, and how upset Spaniards are with Letizia because it is EVERYWHERE. She was even booed today. I swear I am not cotilleando or Peñafiel. Just a common Spaniard.
I think that some non Spanish commentators are missing here some cultural aspects of Spain, and the fact that Queen Sofia has always been very respected by the Spanish population. Of course, you have all the right to comment, as I do, I simply think that maybe there has not been enough interest in the Royals of Spain for years and now there is some background missing.
My honest take? ThIs is a call of attention. Now her other rude moments are in the open and it is difficult to consider all of them “a bad day”. If she recovers from this, it will take time. I am not sure she will. Felipe is the one who is in a bad situation now. People are shocked about Letizia and also Leonor and Little Sofia. True or not, Queen Sofia is seen as a victim of Letizia and monarchy is about perception. Stay tuned, this is not remotely done.
Another Spaniard here on team Sofía. She’s hugely respect here in Spain and throughout the many scandals in the family in the recent past years she’s been the only one behaving regal and respecting the institution she represents. Although I despise her support to Iñaki and Cristina or her stance on LGTB collective, I understand that she’s an 80 year old woman who is facing the last years of her life. A woman who has been denied access to her granddaughters and who can barely see them except on official events. Maybe she wanted the picture so bad because it was the only way to get one with the girls. Btw, the photographer is the official photographer of Casa Real, so basically they control what pictures are to be handed to the media outlets, and if Letizia did not want those pictures published she had it very easy. Also a very stupid move when both the crowd inside the cathedral and outside were photographing them with their cell phones.
The problem with Letizia is that she came into the Royal Family with many skeletons in the closet, like the journalist boyfriend she had simultaneously when she was dating Felipe. A man who learned from the press that the woman he had taken for lunch with his parents two weeks prior the wedding announcement was marrying the prince. For a very long time the press has been covering up and whitewashing all her stories, rudeness, bad manners, despotism, arrogance, etc, but now after this feud in public she herself just opened the doors to the flood of shit that’s going to come out. After 14 years in the RF she has not learned some basic things:
– a queen does not have an off mode button. She has to be queen 24/7 and is not allowed to have a bad day.
– her children are not just her children. They are first and foremost the crown’s children.
– no individual on the RF is above the institution. Their only job is to sustain the monarchy.
In only 1 minute she threw 14 years of PR down the gutter and has become a liability to the Spanish monarchy.
I wonder what other countries that has a monarchy think about this?
Why would they care? This is all blown out of proportion, just like the claim that Letizia was booed today as if a huge crowd had gathered to shout insults at her. There is one video and the booing was done by 3 people, with 2 out of the 3 calling her lazy and mean. Not exactly extreme and not as dramatic and worrying as some of these posters make it sound.
Well,
They don’t seem to like her that much. She always looks supremely uncomfortable in any royal event and sometimes Felipe attends family reunions without her.
@from Spain, was I the only one who thought she seemed a bit distant/ cold at her visit to the UK last summer?
I bet they love her in Japan, when she was looking over her shoulder, leaving Michiko behind, as she was slowly trying to catch up with her.
@Kitty, no you are not. You can also look at her visits to Denmark, Sweden, the embarrassment of the last Japan trip that @ennie mentions…
If you start googling it is going to be very entertaining! Priceless her attitude both in Mexico and Chile as well. Awesome too how unhappy she has looked for years in every event related with the Spanish Army…Have fun!
@ennie
https://j.gifs.com/MjnqmQ.gif
https://j.gifs.com/KOlonM.gif
Yes, she was a lady with Michiko
@ennie, was that sarcasm?
The double standards in this comment alone is hilarious. It’s so funny that you’re so convinced of this gossip yet you give Sofia all the credit while Letizia doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. And for good measure, you list all the gossip and rumours about why Letizia is so bad and awful. What does Letizia’s past love life have anything to do with Sofia behaving the way she does?
Nobody is above the institution? Then why has Sofia chosen to publicly support her disgraced daughter at the expense of her son, the King, and her granddaughter the future Queen? If their only job is to sustain the monarchy then Sofia failed big time by continuing to flaunt her association with the criminal Urdangarins. Or is Sofia exempt from these standards that you’re only putting on Letizia?
It’s quite suspect how you and other Spanish posters have flocked to this post one after another, parroting the exact same gossipy stories in each other’s comments, sometimes even word for word, but only ever stating the vaguest of stories like Letizia is so rude and cold and abusive and controlling but never have you cited an actual source except watching “videos” and reading known tabloid writers like Jaime Penafiel. Never have any of you pointed to an exact date and event as to when Letizia was a rude and awful person. Where is the proof? Where are the pictures and videos that have not been manipulated to skew the narrative? It’s only ever “There are stories…” Or “there is gossip” or “I read reports that…”
It’s as if you all read the exact same publications, believe the exact same gossip, and as if there has been some announcement on whatever Spanish social media platform that a site called Celebitchy has covered this issue and you’ve all come here, hell bent on spreading every gossip and rumour you have read and heard about Letizia even when said stories have nothing to do with the issue at hand. It’s so odd.
Yes, we read the same publications. Every single newspaper in Spain. we also watch Spanish TV, where it is a hot topic. As I said, it is OK to like Letizia. Just don’t try to tell us this is obscure gossip when it is all over the place. And please, stop with Peñafiel. All the Royal commentators have been on TV and have written columns. All of them.
Ah, I read celebitchy regularly. I have commented before.
Not gossip from some random passerby, but from Iñaki Anasagasti’s blog:
“Menos mal que ahora la prensa puede comentar y difundir imágenes chuscas de la Familia Real, como esta cutre de la catedral de Mallorca. Resulta que van a sacarse la foto para aplauso de marujas y marujos, y a Letizia le puede su soberbia y la arma. Anteriormente estas cosas ocurrían y nosotros las veíamos, pero la prensa no informaba ya que el pacto de silencio era férreo y esa es la explicación del por qué en las encuestas del CIS aparecía la Monarquía como la Institución más valorada. Hoy, si se hace una encuesta, a Letizia Ortiz la mandarían al basurero de la historia por maleducada y por irrespetar a su suegra, una señora de ochenta años que ha pasado su vida siendo vejada y maltratada por su esposo y ahora por su nuera.”
@Tiddlesboard.
I saw that and I have seen many others. Twitter has been on fire and press and TV too. For those who don’t speak Spanish, it is a blog from a politician who basically says that thank God that finally this can difunded, after years of silencing on the press. HE literally said that these things have happened all the time and they saw them but were not allowed to inform about them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hlqxqYZ9s Almudena video august 2017.
been a Celebitcher reader and poster (under another name until about 2010) since 2006.
Felipe is King. He is the Crown. If Sofia respects the Crown and the children of the Crown, she wouldn’t have behaved that way.
All the “Spaniards” in this thread who have the exact same talking points are not doing a very good job.
Why not? It is our opinion of our king and queen. If we have the same talking points is because we have seen the same things over the years. Of course you can disagree with us, but I don’t see that we agree in the same points as an issue.
It’s the same vagueness on some things and the same detail on some things. That’s pretty unusual. And such similar phrasing.
Hey, maybe Sofia is somehow a saint and this is really where the terrible Letizia has been caught out. Maybe Sofia is right and even the grandkids are just brats. Maybe everyone but Sofia should have behaved differently.
how can anyonenot believe that there are people reading the Spanish news? I remember reading awful things about Letizia at the beginning, the I read a little about the book that her cousin wrote and where he outed that they were living in opulence and trying to hide it. Then I stopped caring, she seemed to be doing her job, whatever, then the crisis with Cristina and her husband… I thought that was the top of everything, but it isn’t enough, Queen Leti really likes to show off and step on her parents in law. watching older videos I saw one video also from Mallorca where Letizia leaves her husband to go inside the palace, and walks inside without even glancing at her MIL who was waiting for them at the door. Everyone around (Sofia, other people bodyguards) was aghast, looking around to look for the king for a good while after she was already inside.
Who knows maybe she had to pee, or her feet hurt? It looked very bad, tho.
The vague stuff is what the journalists have been allowed for years, and now they are just airing everything with detail. Some of her little shows have been so evident that have been difficult to ignore and whitewash.
I just don’t understand your reasoning, really. It is like me saying that Trump is a nice guy and you guys talk about rumors and obscure gossip.
I am not trying to convince you to dislike her. What I mean here is that insisting that we base our facts in obscure and shady info is not tru and it is like trying to cover the sun with one finger. She is TT in Spain, the press is feeling freer to talk ( I already said that I despise the covering up for her all these years) and as Spaniards we are commenting on gossip about our country. Of course, it is up to you to believe me or not, but the media coverage and the reaction of the population is at your disposal. If you like her, great for you, but there is a lot of history there that might not be well known around here. Anyway, cheers!
All the spaniards are talking the very same thing because they are sharing the same culture shere family unit and respect towards your elders is. ery important. I’m from similar culture and I agree with them, I cannot believe how people can see Letizia as being right; I think it’s a matter of culture you belong to and personal experience which side you’re gonna choose in all of this.that’s actually very interesting to me.
because all the Spaniards are the same ….
I assume you’re American? Or not from Spain? Of course the Spanish are going to have the same view on Letizia! Doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. I’d rather hear their take on it, instead of reading opinions from people who aren’t Spanish! Internationally, people see her as a fashion Queen.. but they’ve observed her behaviour for years, and know much more about whats going in Spain than some random commenters halfway across the world.
no, I meant because Spaniard, From Spain, Cora all those people are saying the same thing because they are the same person…They use the exact same arguments and expressions
@Tiddlesbored. Hello fellow Spaniard :-). I agree with everything you said. I also blame the press for covering up and whitewashing her for so many years, and now bring up her hall of Shame as if they were not aware of it, while insinuating things all this time.
Yes, it was the Royal house Photographer, this show was completely unnecessary, but she had to have the last laugh. Why not? She has been doing similar things for years and nothing ever happened.
I had not even tried to talk about the fact that poor David Tejera learned that his girlfriend was about to marry Felipe through the TV. You know they will say I am Peñafiel :-).
At the end she is responsible for her downfall. She opened a can of warms that had been more or less quiet. And I agree with you in the liability. I am sure you have seen all the editorials about her sinking the monarchy. I wonder if the Casa Real will make any move. They usually don’t as you well know but this has snowballed badly. I agree that there is a lot more to come.
Hasta luego!
Of course the media are to blame for the covering up and the whitewash of the RF, not only now but specially on the Juan Carlos’ years. That’s how the royals in Spain got that sense of entitlement that they were immune and could do whatever they wanted since the media would silence it. Fortunately those days are over and we can see what they are really like. And if they are not up to the job, welcome 3rd Republic!
I really don’t think Casa Real can do much about it. A photo-op of Sofía with the girls would backlash. Felipe and Letizia will remain silent. They will try to let it fade.
What is it with pretty, successful and/or just lucky women that brings out so much hatred? Is Letizia killing toddlers? Planing genocides? Cutting pensions and health care for the old and dependent? Why is there so much hate against this poor woman, that cavetrolls like you spend hours disparaging her? Save your hatred for one who deserves it – Trump comes to mind, Ivanka, Jared etc… But no, you and your alter egos prefer to invent stories and gossip about one of the more decent members of the Spanish Royal family. I will never understand how minds like yours work, never. I mean, I really dislike all Kardashians and related things, and those cause much more evil than Letizia, and I would never consecrate hours on gossip sites spilling hatred. Christinas husband, Christina herself, they have done sth wrong and that is true and not just rumours. But no, Letizia moving in to help out a daughter who for whatever reason was clearly unconfortable with her grandmother makes you come out swinging.
I
I watched it several times and it looked like QL knew exactly what she was doing. And KP tried to subdue his wife first, which to me means he went after the one who may have been in the wrong.
Regardless, poor display by the Queen in such a public event. I actually felt sorry for QS, she looked hurt and the way she kinda wondered around made my heart break. Makes this whole gossip scene sad.
MC is a true trash act. Read her “tweets” and they were a dig at The incident. A tweet by a twit. What a true low class act.
what happenned was totally unnecessary.
Yes, if Queen Sofia had the presence to mind her manners and not manhandle her grandchildren for PR, this would not have happened. Letizia defended her children, who looked to her for help.
So this prompted me to google image Felipe, Letizia and the girls. Le sigh…what a gorgeous family! I saw many pics of grandmom with the girls and Letizia and all looked fine in the past.
I guess something terrible must have happened recently…because that was some scene!
You might also want to google her before and after surgeries and botox. On that, she has excelled.
If I became Queen, I just may have some “work” done too. I don’t see the big deal. She is a attractive woman, he is a good looking man and the girls are beautiful.
Woah. This was a delightfully dishy story. I’m still trying to wade through the comments which are as good as the initial gossip. No opinion on this family or the drama at hand, but thumbs up to the coverage! It’s like old school gossip and I’m loving it. Nary a tragedy, Kardashian or orange demagogue in sight.
Pedant comment: Sofia is the former queen consort, not regent, and Letizia is the current queen consort. A queen who reigns in her own right, like Elizabeth of the UK or Margrethe of Denmark, is a queen regnant. Someone who steps in for the monarch when they are away or incapacitated is serving as a regent.
I have a very dear childhood friend who used to squirm away from and remove her grandmothers hands from her when it came time for family photo ops. Her Aunt used to get very upset with my friend and her mother for allowing this to happen. She’s the grandma it’s not nice to deny her of a photo opportunity. They pinned the blame fully on my friends mother for allowing this slight. Fast forward 15 years and it is discovered that her grandmother had been abusing her in private since she was a small child.
Sometimes you need to respect a child’s wishes. Sometimes mother knows best and it’s not a snub against grandma. I think it’s extr telling Letizia’s husband sided with her and not his mom.
I’m not saying Sofia is an abuser but sometimes there is more to a story and one shouldn’t jump downs moms throat or ascribe a child’s action to their mom. Children know who they are comfortable with and who they are not and we need to respect that.
Letizia is clearly stepping in to protect her little girl who, understandably, does NOT want to be manhandled by her grandmother (notice how roughly Sofia grabs her by the shoulder), nor photographed with her. A child shouldn’t have to remove an adult’s hand TWICE to make it clear they don’t want that contact.
And on a lighter note, Sofia and Jennifer Aniston look very alike!
So there’s clearly one nut job here talking to herself under like 5 different names, right? Are other people seeing this? I’m not crazy?
Spaniard and From Spain are the same person, banned for multiple nicks. Ennie, Tiddlesbored, Cora and Natalie S are all different people. I ran the IPs and everything, they’re legitimately other people.
Hey, I disagree with the hydra! But to be fair, I may be a nutjob in other contexts.
OR(surprise, surprise!!) commenters who are actually from a country of these royals know a little bit more about their whole background, the importance of nuclear family in Mediterranean cultures and have different opinions that you? maybe? no?
I watched both videos several times and to me it looks like Q Sofia is clearly in the wrong here. She forcefully grabs her granddaughters to pose for a photo, interrupting one of them while she’s greeting/talking to someone and she keeps grabbing them as at least the one one the left several times tries to remove her grandmother’s arm/hand. To me it looks like Letizia is just trying to rescue her daughters and resolve the tense situation and Felipe steps in quickly because he’s obviously not new to his mother causing strife/ a scene. I think either Sofia was drunk here (probably not the most likely thing I realize) or she’s starting to suffer from dementia because her social inhibitions and behavior seems to be way off. And that could explain why both L and F get involved to check S. They’re trying to calm down her behavior.