Queen Letizia’s appearance in Madrid this week renews ‘anorexic’ concerns

wenn22405949

Here are some photos of Queen Letizia of Spain at the Women Magazine Awards in Madrid a few days ago. Queen Letizia has been consistently active since she and her husband Felipe ascended to the throne last year. By “consistently active” I mean that she’s working a lot, making a lot of public appearances and looking fabulous for the most part. It’s been a while since a major European royal house has had such a young, attractive queen. But with Letizia, it’s difficult because the knives are always out for her in certain Spanish circles. There’s a cottage industry of Letizia conspiracy theories and attempted takedowns. Why bring all of this up? Because these photos have caused a new flurry of rumors in Spain and abroad. Rumors about Queen Letizia’s health and whether she’s too thin.

Queen Letizia of Spain has long been plagued by rumours of anorexia, and her appearance at an awards ceremony in Madrid yesterday did nothing to dispel them. Friends say the former TV journalist is naturally thin and point out that she has spoken publicly about her eating habits in the past, saying she maintains her figure with a healthy diet and is very concerned about nutrition. The 42-year-old wife of King Felipe and mother of two was born to a middle-class family. The Spanish media have likened her to Princes Diana, saying she suffers from ‘control issues’ and feels uncomfortable in the royal role.

[From The Daily Mail]

Is this body-shaming? Or legitimate concern? I think it can be both. Letizia looks noticeably thinner since becoming queen last year. But… people are acting like Letizia’s slender frame is the second coming of Giuliana Rancic. It’s not that. Letizia’s figure reminds me a bit of Kelly Ripa’s – like, I’ll buy that Letizia works out too much more than she’s not eating.

Also notable about these photos? Letizia debuted her sleek new bob this week. I don’t like it, and I think it’s contributing to how we’re seeing her weight. The bob makes her look older, more pinched. The makeup isn’t helping either.

wenn22405942

wenn22405943

Photos courtesy of WENN.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

73 Responses to “Queen Letizia’s appearance in Madrid this week renews ‘anorexic’ concerns”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    She looks fine to me. Thin, but I think it’s premature to call out the concern trolls.

    • aims says:

      I agree. She’s always been thin. Granted,not this thin, but I do think it’s premature to label her with an eating disorder.

    • Elisa the I. says:

      +1. She looks really fit and I love her hair!

    • wow says:

      I agree. Not too concerning…yet.

      I’m just glad that her former constant b*tch face is fading. 🙂

    • MtnRunner says:

      I agree. I look at her pictures on the Fug site and don’t think anorexic. She looks radiant to me. Her and the huz look really good.

    • ArtHistorian says:

      She’s very petite and has always been very thing. As you can see from the phos she has a well-tone physique. Frankly, she doesn’t look anorexic to me – and I saw plenty of anorexics in my old gym and they didn’t have much muscle tone because they simply didn’t eat enough to build up muscle with their exercise.

      In terms of gossip, Letizia is targeted in a way that is much much worse than Kate. It can be really really vitriolic in certain parts of the internet, it is so bad in some places that is it outright slander.

      • FLORC says:

        Agree all around ArtHistorian
        Letizia imo looks like she just worked out earlier that day. Your muscles swell for a while. And she’s got a thin frame to start.

    • ArtHistorian says:

      She’s very petite and has always been very thing. As you can see from the phos she has a well-tone physique. Frankly, she doesn’t look anorexic to me – and I saw plenty of anorexics in my old gym and they didn’t have much muscle tone because they simply didn’t eat enough to build up muscle with their exercise.

      In terms of gossip, Letizia is targeted in a way that is much much worse than Kate. It can be really really vitriolic in certain parts of the internet, it is so bad in some places that is it outright slander.

    • LadidahBaby says:

      Yeah, I don’t get it. She’s not anorexic looking. She’s way healthier looking than Rancic, for example (and I’m NOT saying Rancic is anorexic – only that she is at the thin-extreme point and this is nothing like that). People get all up in that anorexia stuff to the point where it starts to become body-shaming of any thin girl or woman. Lots of people are thin. Naturally.

  2. goofpuff says:

    I don’t know…I have noticed she keeps getting thinner and thinner as the years go by. she used to be a healthy looking slender woman, but now when I see her….she looks like she’s sliding into the grips of an ED.

    • Granger says:

      As someone on the Emily Blunt thread noted, being thin doesn’t always mean anorexic. HOWEVER, too much of a focus on “healthy eating” and exercise is a problem too. Obviously, I have no idea what Letizia’s approach to nutrition and fitness is; but I have a friend who is very, very thin, and insists it’s simply because she eats so well and takes care of herself. In truth, she eats the minimum number of calories she needs to get through her day, and exercises a lot. There’s a fine line between being healthy and being obsessive about it.

      • Dońt kill me i'm french says:

        “There’s a fine line between being healthy and being obsessive about it.” +1

      • Cee says:

        I used to have this problem and it is a tricky one because doctors will not diagnose you but in truth it is the beginning of an ED (which are more than just 2).
        I always mantain that eating the fewest calories w/o giving up food and exercising 7 days a week is not healthy. The caloric value might be poor and you end up burning fuel you don’t have. A healthy diet will always be better, even if it adds up to 2000 kcal a day, rather than eating 600-1000kcal in food poor of nutrients.

      • Jag says:

        There is such thing as “exercise anorexia.” A fellow employee had it when I worked for an airline in reservations. She would literally do sit-ups during her 30 minute lunch break and bragged that she went to the gym every morning at five so that she could work out for an hour before coming to work.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        Orthorexia, i.e. an obessive focus on healthy and “clean” eating/food is a legitimate eating disorder. I know someone who suffers from it and the disorder is in some ways even more pernicious than anorexia because it is so firmly embedded in the the broader cultural dialogue on healthy nutrition and food quality.

        However, it not something that you can diagnose simply from how someone looks or how they talk about their general diet, which is why I always feel extremely unfortable when people start giving out armchair diagnoses because then it can so easily cross over into body shaming and faux concern.

      • FLORC says:

        ArtHistorian
        Orthoexia is terrible! I’ve known/know a handful of people who latched onto it as the latest way to explain away their low weight (that meets the clinical thresholds for anorexia).
        I remember just before it was Gluten that they would be suddenly (and not actually) allergic to. Then when more gluten free options became a social norm this clean eating became their thing.
        Letizia looks healthy to me. That said even those with a healthy (or very thin) figure can still be straining their body with incorrect and dangerous eating patterns.

    • MrsB says:

      I don’t think she looks unhealthy at all. And you never know what all is going on in somebody’s life to cause them to lose/gain weight. I have chronic health problems and it is very difficult for me to gain weight. I would love to! I know I look too thin, but there’s nothing I can do about it. However, I really don’t want to share that with everybody I meet. I get so flippin sick of people always commenting how little I am. I’ve actually had somebody ask me to my face if I had an ED! Ugh!!!!

      • Jag says:

        You could ask them if they do as well; that should shut them up. Sorry that people have done that to you, MrsB.

      • MrsB says:

        Thanks, Jag. I told him my low weight was a result of an autoimmune disease along with several recent surgeries, during which I nearly died in one. That was very effective in shutting said person up 😉

    • DrM says:

      She’s too thin. Plain and simple. We are just getting conditioned to think being very very thin is ok, that somehow women are still managing to eat normally, exercise within a mentally and physically healthy range and look like this. It isn’t OK…just as being very large isn’t healthy either. When an individual’s collar bones, and back bones protrude to that degree it is NOT normal no matter what the issue is that is causing it.

  3. Abbott says:

    She’s my one of my favorite royals, second only to Queen Rania.

    Random question: the Spanish are cool with their royals showing bare shoulders? Is that just a BRF thing to (seemingly) keep them covered?

    • Snazzy says:

      I love Queen Rania!

    • ArtHistorian says:

      Abbott,

      CP Mary of Denmark also shows bare shoulders, so do Queen Maxima of Holland. I also think that QEII and her sister Princess Margaret did when they were young. I don’t think that the BRf is more “uptight” in this area, it is simply just not a flattering look when you’re in your 70s and 80s.

      • wolfpup says:

        Artie; just reading these comments makes me love my own body – simply not having a flattering look, is so much easier to accept than the body-shaming problems that people remark about. I love my body through all it’s changing.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        Your looks and body changes with age – it is a simple fact and I believe it is healthier to embrace it than deny it. I love fashion, it is a craft and can be an art form. what i don’t like is the idea that you should slavishly follow fashion trends. fashion can be a way to express yourself and you can still look smart, elegant and lovely by dressing in something that flatters your body type and that you feel comfortable in – and to me, comfort and confidence goes hand in hand. You can always see when someone is comfortable in their own skin.

      • ArtHistorian says:

        Your looks and body changes with age – it is a simple fact and I believe it is healthier to embrace it than deny it. I love fashion, it is a craft and can be an art form. what I don’t like is the idea that you should slavishly follow fashion trends. Fashion can be a way to express yourself and you can still look smart, elegant and lovely by dressing in something that flatters your body type and that you feel comfortable in – and to me, comfort and confidence goes hand in hand. You can always see when someone is comfortable in their own skin.

    • Flower says:

      If you google photos of Queen Elizabeth/Princess Margaret in the 50’s you will see that they often wore strapless evening gowns to galas. Personal taste is probably the reason Kate and Sophie don’t, Beatrice and Eugenie do, everyone else is too old.

  4. Kitten says:

    We can’t compare every famous person to Rancic, a woman who was very open about her severe diet and extreme workout routine, as well as her aversion to gaining weight.

    I think calling the Queen or any woman anorexic simply based on her appearance IS body-shaming to a degree, and yes I think it’s very unfair to make that assumption.

    • Pinky Rose says:

      I completely agree. While I don’t like Letizia at all, no one has a right to question her eating habits or making pseudo diagnosis based on just a photo.

  5. Cee says:

    She has been dropping weight since she married Felipe. I remember when the Palace announced her first pregnancy, people were surprised because she was *so* slim compared to the engagement announcement.

    She might not be anorexic, but marrying Royalty changed her. Hopefully she maintains her health, even if she looks very thin and bone-y.

  6. Mispronounced Name Dropper says:

    For a moment there I thought it was a story about anorexic concerns for Queen Latifah. Now that really would’ve grabbed my attention.

  7. Seraphina says:

    She’s always been thin and small framed. Maybe it is the cut of the hair and the dress isn’t helping. Being a walking billboard for fashion must be difficult with extreme pressure. I hope it’s not anorexia. She is a role model for women and extreme thinness is not healthy.

    • Jegede says:

      Her late sister was also very thin. But she had a whole lot of emotional problems so maybe there was a link.

      I preferred Letizia’s pre surgery look.

      Watching her old presenting gigs, and its had to reconcile that vital, lush haired, strong nosed, creature with present day.

  8. candice says:

    I’m not familiar with her so it’s hard to say without knowing what she looked like before. At least with Duchess Kate I have a reference point and can recall what she looked like before she embarked on a strict diet and exercise plan and lost a ton of weight. Same with Kelly Ripa….

  9. Jessica says:

    She looks like she works out a bit too much, eats a bit too little, but not like someone in the throes of a full on ED. Very few people in the world balance their diet and exercise perfectly or even half-decently, but if you’re 10lbs under your ideal weight instead of the more common 10lbs over it, some people think you’re just a step away from hospital admission. I’m sure she’s fine.

    • sills says:

      Agree with this. I think a lot of women in the spotlight, Hollywood or elsewhere, keep themselves always about 5 to 10 pounds under their ideal healthiest weight. It’s a lot of pressure to be picked apart in front of cameras all the time.

      Being a bit underweight is not a health disaster, but as someone else said there is a fine line between that and the beginnings of a genuine deadly ED. I could never handle one of these image-focused jobs, that’s for sure.

    • Joy says:

      We as a society (all over the world really) have gotten so accustomed to seeing fat people, we ‘re shocked when someone is on the thin side. I say this as someone who is NOT thin, but is working on it. I’m still overweight and people say things like “oh well you look fine now, you’ll look SICK if you lose 20 more lbs.” No, I’ll have a healthier BMI and a longer life. The end.

      • goofpuff says:

        we’ve also got accustomed to extreme thinness as ok as well….this is not a healthy athletic body. This is a body of a woman who excercises a lot and doesn’t eat enough to maintain it. she was thin before but now she looks unhealthy now which when you are someone little girls might look up to does bring about remarks.

  10. PHD Gossip says:

    The new hairstyle is a wiglet/fall. Check carefully, the sleek bob is a wiglet. bet her hair thinned out and she had to do this. It is most obvious from the profile view.

  11. aang says:

    She looks like my fitness obsessed friends. A little wirey but she doesn’t look sick. Problem is if she does get an illness her body will have nothing to fall back on. I maintain that a few extra pounds as you get older will serve you in the long run. I watched my normal weight grandmother shrink to nothing when she was ill. She recovered but if she had been very thin to begin with who knows?

  12. Cody says:

    It might not be an eating disorder, some people , when they get very stressed don’t eat and others stuff their mouths. She was thrown into the limelight so it could be very stressful.

  13. Shelley says:

    Anorexia is not the reason behind every woman losing weight or being skinny (and I use that word hesitantly). It is body shaming to feel the need to police a person’s weight. So what if she is “underweight”? I think the ignorance levels need to be toned down when it comes to how we discuss weight….even if celebrities are involved because it is also a reflection of how we treat those around us.

    • Black Jack Kitty says:

      Thank you! I don’t think she looks anorexic. She’s already tiny. Any normal weight fluctuations when you’re that size always seem to get critiqued. if she continues to lose weight then maybe there is an issue, but also not necessarily an eating disorder.

  14. Nilo says:

    At the time of her engagement she looked fabulous, fit and had a great nose. Now she looks somewhat Hollywood-ish.

  15. Embee says:

    She looks like Glennon Melton from Momastery!!!

    Won’t comment on her weight. Not my bag.

  16. Coco says:

    She looks normal to me. She’s got muscle tone, she’s not bony and even if she was that wouldn’t mean anorexia!!!!

  17. Tania says:

    Wow. She has no body fat. You could cut your teeth on all the sharp angles. You can make out every bone. It looks extreme.

  18. Lisa says:

    Omg, people are too obsessed with eating disorders and diagnosis these days. Not to undermine their seriousness (I’ve struggled with one in the past, doing better now), but I can’t believe people still jump to that conclusion. It’s like seeing someone with a shaved head and automatically thinking they have cancer. There could be a few different reasons why she lost weight. And if she does have an unhealthy relationship with food, throwing around public speculation isn’t going to help her.

  19. A.Key says:

    She just looks skinny, it ain’t illegal and it ain’t a disease.

  20. The Original Mia says:

    She’s got muscle definition. She’s not anorexic. Concern trolls need to have a seat. If she had her upper body covered up, we wouldn’t have heard a thing. All talk would have been about her hair cut. Which is fab by the way.

    • sophietta says:

      Agreed……her hair is amazing and she looks healthy…..even queenly! Please take note, Kate.

    • goofpuff says:

      that is not muscle definition! that is an example of someone who doesn’t eat enough to maintain the level of fitness she must put in. we’ve forgotten what a healthy athletic body looks like now.

  21. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    Maybe she had scoliosis when she was younger.

  22. maggie says:

    Looks like someone took the garden shears to her hair!

  23. Krishan says:

    She looks thin and toned. She’s also fine-boned and has a small frame, so muscle definition appears high-def and noticeable.

    I, on the other hand, gain weight just by looking at food! It takes me a very strict diet and exercise regimen in order to show muscle definition. I have a ’round’ body, so even when I’m thin I still look bigger because I’m on the shorter side, too. That’s my body type, completely different to that of someone with Letizia’s body type and her diet/exercise routine.

    I don’t know when exactly did anorexic become synonymous with “very thin”. Nowadays you have people screaming “Eat a cheeseburger” at anyone who looks thin. I’ve always found it so rude and vulgar whenever people would say “She should drink some milkshake” or “She looks like death warmed over”.

    I don’t see ill health in Letizia. If anything, she looks toned, fit, and strong. She does not look fragile and unwell. And good for her for embracing her body instead of always thinking whether people would come at her with anorexia rumours again.

    FYI, her mother and 2 sisters are/was also very, very thin. They’re all willowy and slender, and their body type shows weight loss/weight gain quickly.

    In many articles in Spain, Letizia has been stated to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Her diet is very healthy. She and her husband are often reported to dine out at different establishments in Madrid. It seems like she does have a healthy appetite and loves food, but she’s not one to actually eat too much and too unhealthily.

  24. Observer says:

    Either way she doesn’t look good at this weight, like most women. Thin figures usually only look attractive on young women because they don’t lose the softness in their face. She looks hard and masculine and would look much better if she gained a few pounds.
    A lot of women I find are blind to how they actually look when thin. They think ‘well young women are thin and look good so I must too”. After a certain age you really do need to choose and I say go for the face everytime.

  25. Nancy says:

    I’m stunned that people think she is a healthy weight! We must have gotten used to women like Kelly Ripa, Jolie, Kate Middleton, others who are almost skeletal, and we think that’s normal,and healthy. Well,it’s not. Someone posted some other pics of Letizia’s back and she is NOT heathy! Not body shaming, just concern for a deadly illness.

  26. KateBush says:

    I agree! She may not be anorexic but she looks too skinny for sure. Im sad that this is seen as normal and healthy, I hope trends change soon..

  27. pato says:

    Too, too thin. But maybe she´s eating well and doing too much exercise (whish I knew how she has time to exercise with her schedule!).