Queen Letizia has a fractured toe, so now she’s wearing sneakers to events

One of the few things I enjoy about Queen Camilla is that she seems to hate to wear high heels. Camilla wears flats, boots, kitten heels and various orthopedic wedges. She’s never really liked to wear high heels and no one really expects her to wear anything higher than a modest pump. But Queen Letizia? She’s known for her high heels, usually three-inch heels. She’s spent years wearing Jimmy Choos, Louboutins, Aquazzuras, etc. Except last month, on a state visit to The Netherlands, suddenly Letizia seemingly couldn’t stand in high heels anymore. They had to put a seat out for her for the receiving line at the state dinner.

In recent appearances in Spain, Letizia has just started wearing flats everywhere. Not just flats – really simple sneakers. I’m including some photos of Letizia this week – while King Felipe is a very tall man, I had no idea that Letizia is SO tiny beside him. What is she, like five foot-two? Anyway, according to European reports, Letizia has a fracture! She fractured the “proximal phalanx of her right foot’s central toe,” basically the base of her big toe? It’s being described as some kind of “mishap” which left her foot bandaged. Instead of just staying off her foot, she’s walking around (limping around?) in sneakers.

Anyway, as I get older, I’m having more aches and pains in my feet and knees, and I don’t have any kind of history of wearing high heels. I sympathize with her, even if I would have begged off work for a while if my damn toe was broken. I wonder if Letizia feels weird in flats?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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14 Responses to “Queen Letizia has a fractured toe, so now she’s wearing sneakers to events”

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  1. goofpuff says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:40 am

    This is really embarrassing for the Windsors. Letizia can show up to work with a fractured toe. The Windsors would have used that fractured toe to not show up to work for months. Just look at the British heir and how useless he is.

  2. Ameerah M says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:41 am

    I work in healthcare am currently getting PT for chronic heel pain. My colleague who is giving me treatment told me that as we age the fat in our heels and balls of our feet wear down and thin out. Which is why so many of us experience random foot pain as we get older!

    • MJM says:
      May 8, 2024 at 12:04 pm

      Birkenstock inserts for metatarsal pain have helped me so much. I was in a lot of pain prior to using them.

    • #24 says:
      May 8, 2024 at 3:29 pm

      That’s why you shrink and your feet get bigger, it’s gravity

  3. Kirsten says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:43 am

    You’re actually not supposed to put a fractured/broken big toe into closed-toe shoes; you have to wear something open and with a really hard sole, like a medical shoe “boot” or Birkenstocks.

    • agirlandherdogs says:
      May 8, 2024 at 12:00 pm

      I’m not sure she broke her big toe. They said central, so maybe they mean the third toe? Which, if a simple fracture, would’ve just been buddy taped to its neighbor. Although I still think they tell you to wear open toed shoes for a few weeks (at least that’s what I was told when I broke my fourth toe). But if her sneakers don’t squish her toes together, I’m sure she’d be fine. I love the look though. I gave up heels years ago. Too hard on my hips and back.

      • Eurydice says:
        May 8, 2024 at 12:12 pm

        Yes, the central toe is the 3rd toe and the joint is the one closest to the foot. I had a hairline fracture there once and they just taped it as you’ve described.

      • Lau says:
        May 8, 2024 at 2:18 pm

        I have cramps from time to time on my foot coming straight from the third toe and when I was a teenager my parents’ doctor said that I had probably broken it at some point without really realizing it. He also said that in this case there wasn’t much to do anyway as you can’t really wear a full cast for just a toe.

  4. Kittenmom says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:43 am

    Now that’s a royal being relatable!

  5. Carmen says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:44 am

    Queen Letizia made a great choice with those Vivo Barefoot shoes that I also wear! But perhaps she does not know yet that she can find barefoot shoes for every occasion, I use this website:

    https://anyasreviews.com/

  6. Nanea says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:04 pm

    While Letizia and Felipe were in the Netherlands, I read on a Spanish site that Leti was suffering from Morton’s neuroma, something akin to a pinched nerve that makes you feel as if there’s a small pebble in your shoe.

    So maybe this is new, or additionally, or… who knows?

    Letizia has often worn flats though, for many of those public-private events, like the family going to the movies while on holiday on Mallorca so people in Spain should be used to seeing their tiny queen next to the three other, taller family members.

  7. Laura D says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:06 pm

    King Felipe always looks “regal.” These photos are a stark contrast to the dreary shots of Charles at his garden party.

  8. Lauren says:
    May 8, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    I always thought Letizia was petite but she is actually around 5’7. Felipe is like 6’5