Felipe VI

Spain King of the Borbon dynasty .

He was born at 12:45 on January 30, 1968, at the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Hospital in Madrid , the third and only son of Crown Prince Juan Carlos of Spain (later Juan Carlos I) and Crown Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark. On February 8, 1968 , he was baptized with water brought from the Jordan River at the Salzuela Palace under the officiating of Madrid Archbishop Casimiro Morcillo . His baptismal name is Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos Los Santos.[4] He received the title of Infante (Prince) immediately after his birth, and as his father Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975, Prince Felipe also made his first public appearance by attending his father's coronation ceremony on November 22, 1975.

In 1977, he was officially declared the Prince of Asturias, the title of Crown Prince of Spain , and in May of that year, at the age of only 9, he was appointed an honorary member of the King's 1st Infantry Regiment. In 1981, he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece by his father, the commander of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. On his 18th birthday, January 30, 1986, he took an oath ceremony at the Spanish Parliament in accordance with the constitutional provisions, pledging allegiance to the Constitution and the King and accepting responsibility as the successor to the throne.

He studied at Santa Maria de los Rosales School and later moved to Canada. He completed his high school studies at Lakefield College School in Ontario . He earned a bachelor's degree in law from the Autonomous University of Madrid , while also taking several courses in economics. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he went to the United States to study and received a master's degree in foreign affairs from the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. While studying abroad, he shared a room with his cousin, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece.

Since he was already the heir to the throne at birth, he had to undergo very strict military training. Prince Felipe was appointed as a cadet by royal decree in August 1985 and began receiving military training at the Military Academy in Zaragoza in September . He completed the first stage of training in October of the same year, and was appointed as an Army Warrant Officer and Navy Cadet in July 1986. In September 1986, he joined the 3rd Brigade at the Marine Naval Academy and began naval training, and from January 1987, he continued naval training aboard the training ship Juan Sebastian Elcano. In July of that year, he was appointed as an air force cadet at the Murcia Air Force Academy, and began receiving air force training in September 1987, learning how to fly an airplane. In 1989, he was promoted to Army Lieutenant, Navy Ensign, and Air Force Lieutenant. In 1992, he was promoted to Air Force Captain. In 1993, he was promoted to Navy Lieutenant and Army Infantry Captain. Afterwards, in 2000, he was promoted to Army Major, Navy Major, and Air Force Major, and in 2009, he was promoted to Army Lieutenant Colonel, Navy Lieutenant Colonel, and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.[5]

Although Prince Felipe had several lovers, including Isabel Saritorius, daughter of the Marquis Marino, and Norwegian model Eva Sanum, he finally met his partner at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in 2003, holding an official meeting and marriage proposal ceremony with TV journalist Leticia Ortiz Rocasolano, who was four years younger than him and had a history of divorce. Six months later, after a year of dating, they got married on May 22, 2004, at Almudena Cathedral under the officiating of the Archbishop of Madrid, and 25 million viewers in Spain alone watched the wedding.[6][7]

His father, King Juan Carlos I , took responsibility for public criticism of his deteriorating health and extravagant behavior and abdicated on June 18, 2014, and was crowned King of Spain at midnight on June 19 .[8] Felipe received the Captain General band, symbolizing the transfer of royal authority and military command, from his father that morning, and was proclaimed king after a simple oath ceremony held in the National Assembly. Since he was born nine months later than King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands , who was previously the youngest monarch in Europe, he became the youngest monarch in Europe as soon as he ascended the throne.

Spain's economic crisis and the Spanish national soccer team 's elimination from the group stage of the 2014 Brazil World Cup, etc.[9] Although there was negative news for the country, expectations for Felipe were quite high. # Expectations were high on the young king's political moves, with a public opinion poll showing that 75% of the public hoped he would play a greater role in coordinating conflicts between political parties as king. #

In his coronation speech, he promised 'a new monarchy for a new era' and declared that he would be a reformative monarch. Immediately after his accession to the throne , he changed the ceremony to allow LGBT groups to be received at the palace and to take the oath of office without a cross or Bible .[10] He then made his first overseas visit to the Vatican and met Pope Francis . I visited Morocco on July 7th , Portugal on the 14th, and the United States in September. Attending the United Nations General Assembly held in New York , Spain's 2015-2016 United Nations security council It also contributed to advancing to the non-permanent membership status .

At the time, public opinion about the monarchy in Spain was extremely negative due to the luxury corruption scandal of his father, Juan Carlos I , and the major financial corruption of Princess Cristina, the older sister of Felipe VI. As there were even calls for the abolition of the monarchy, Felipe VI felt the need for reform, and as soon as he ascended the throne, he recognized only himself, his wife, and his two daughters as royal family, greatly limiting the scope of the royal family. Other existing royals, such as Princess Christina, were classified as 'King's relatives' (Familia del Rey) and were no longer able to receive royal budget or attend official national events as representatives of the royal family. He also tried his best to appease public opinion by stripping his older sister, Princess Christina, who was at the center of controversy on charges of tax evasion, of her title as Duchess of Mallorca.[11]

In July 2014, members of the royal family were banned from working outside the royal family, and external accounting audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection were introduced. Under the reforms of Felipe VI, the Spanish royal family will no longer be able to accept expensive gifts that 'exceed social norms or rituals' from January 1, 2015. In February 2015, he announced that he would cut his salary by 20% in consideration of Spain's economic downturn and continued public suffering.

In 2017, when the Catalan autonomous government arbitrarily held an independence vote that the Spanish government had deemed illegal, and the issue of the Catalan independence movement arose, the king made an unusual TV speech to the nation. # More than 12 million people watched the speech in real time, and in an unusually strong tone, King Felipe VI condemned the Catalan autonomous government, saying that the forces leading the referendum had acted 'outside the bounds of the law' and strongly criticized them for not only committing 'unacceptable disloyalty' but also 'impeding harmony and coexistence within Catalan society.' The People's Party and the Socialist Party strongly supported the king's speech, but the Catalan autonomous government strongly opposed it, saying it was unbecoming of the king's dignity. Immediately after the order of King Felipe VI, on October 26, 2017, the Spanish Senate passed a bill to force the dissolution of the Catalan autonomous government, and the autonomous council was dissolved. In 2019, as the Catalan independence movement grew again, I visited Barcelona with my family. #

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, public opinion suffered again when it was revealed that King Juan Carlos I was ranked first and Felipe VI was ranked second on the list of beneficiaries of the Rukum Foundation, established by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia with a donation of $65 million. In the end, Juan Carlos I fled to the United Arab Emirates in August, and Felipe VI announced that he was giving up all of his father's inheritance and depriving him of all official allowances. Afterwards, in April 2022, the Spanish government fully included the King's official residence within the scope of the Transparency Act and the Senior Public Officials Act, and on April 25, Felipe VI himself disclosed the size of his wealth for the first time. His assets were only $2.8 million, which, if true, makes him one of the poorest monarchs in the world.[12]

In October 2024, record flooding occurred in the province of Valencia , killing more than 200 people, and condolences were expressed to the Spanish people through an official statement . Also on November 3, Queen Leticia and Pedro Sánchez. He visited the flood disaster site with the Prime Minister and listened to his voice despite angry crowds throwing piles of dirt due to the government's incompetent response. #

Since his ascension to the throne on June 19, 2014, King Felipe VI has visited 61 sovereign countries on four continents as of May 8, 2026.[13] The number of official overseas visits totals 158. Pope June 30, 2014 Since his first visit to the Vatican to meet with Francis , he has traveled about 13 times a year, which is unusually high among European monarchs. Thanks to his young age and fluency in five languages, he is said to have led overseas sales diplomacy and increased the royal family's popularity.

Most of the countries he visited were European countries (24 countries, 91 visits), followed by American countries (19 countries, 43 visits), Asian countries (13 countries, 17 visits), and African countries (5 countries, 7 visits). Although he has not visited any Oceanian country since his ascension to the throne, he did visit Australia and New Zealand in 1990 when he was crown prince.

Like his father, Felipe VI also maintains significant influence in former colonial Latin American countries, Portugal, and Brazil. Although it is not as influential as the British monarchy has on the Commonwealth countries, the colonies of the former Spanish Empire have a significant cultural and social influence as they are Spanish-influenced areas. As the King of Spain, Felipe VI has consistently attended all Ibero-American Summits as a representative of Spain. In particular, at the 2021 Ibero-American Summit held in Andorra la Vella, Felipe VI was the first Spanish monarch to visit the neighboring country Andorra .

King Felipe VI has consistently attended the inauguration ceremonies of Latin American leaders, following a tradition that has continued since his time as crown prince. As of January 2024, he had attended more than 80 presidential inauguration ceremonies.

Relations with Mexico have been bad for a while. Although their relationship was amicable until the early days of President Enrique Peña Nieto's reign , the relationship deteriorated rapidly shortly after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office. Felipe VI even attended the inauguration ceremony in person, but President Obrador was very dissatisfied with Spain's excessive influence in Mexico. From 2019 to 2022, President Obrador constantly demanded that the Spanish royal family apologize for the horrors of the past American colonies.[14] The royal family remained silent, leaving all response to the government. As a result, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who was newly inaugurated in 2024, went so far as to ban the king from attending her inauguration ceremony. However, the conflict began to resolve in March 2026 when King Felipe VI directly mentioned that 'there were many abuses and mistakes' during the colonization of the Americas, and President Sheinbaum visited Barcelona in April to strengthen friendship and at the same time decided to invite the king to the North and Central America World Cup in June, and the relationship is now restored.

Like his predecessor, he strives to eliminate discrimination against Jews and Jews . In 2015, a law was passed granting Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled by the Edict of Alhambra in 1492. In January 2020, he attended the 5th World Holocaust Forum held in Jerusalem and even spoke as the only foreign leader at the opening banquet.[15] However, since it does not support Israel , it acknowledges historical mistakes, such as calling for an end to the massacre in the Gaza Strip or agreeing to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine , but is striking a thorough balance when it comes to modern Israeli issues.