Letizia, Princess of Asturias

Letizia, Princess of Asturias (Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, 15 September 1972, Oviedo, Spain), is the wife of Felipe, Prince of Asturias, who is heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Before her marriage to the prince, she was a journalist.

Letizia is the eldest daughter of Jes?s José Ortiz ?lvarez (born in Oviedo on 24 December 1949), a journalist, and first wife Paloma Rocasolano Rodr?guez, (born in Madrid on 15 April 1952) a registered nurse and also a hospital union representative. Her parents divorced in 1999 and her father remarried on 1 September 2000 or in Madrid on 18 March 2004 fellow journalist Ana Togores N, born ca. . Letizia's paternal grandparents were José Luis Ortiz Velasco (ca. 1923 - Sardéu, Ribadesella, 30 March 2005), a retired commercial employee at Olivetti who died of a pulmonary disease,[and wife (m. 1949) Mar?a del Carmen (Menchu) ?lvarez del Valle (Santander, ca. 1928 -), a well known radio broadcaster in Asturias for over 40 years. Her maternal grandparents are Francisco Julio Rocasolano Camacho (ca. 1918 -), a mechanic and a cab driver in Madrid for over 20 years, and wife (m. Madrid, 1950) Enriqueta Rodr?guez Figueredo (Oviedo, 1919 - Madrid, 22 June 2008).

Letizia has two sisters (one now deceased) :

Telma Ortiz Rocasolano, (born in Oviedo on 25 October 1973), a Licentiate in Economics from the University of Barcelona and an economist who works for international aid agencies. She has one daughter, Amanda (with partner Enrique Mart?n Llop), who was born on 28 March 2008.

Erika Ortiz Rocasolano, (Oviedo, 9 April 1975 - Madrid, 7 February 2007), a Licentiate in Fine Arts and worked as a literary agent. On 7 February 2007, she was found dead in her apartment in Madrid. In recent months, she had taken a leave of absence from work due to severe depression. Her premature death was probably due to an intentional prescription drug overdose. She was survived by a daughter, Carla Vigo Ortiz, born in 2000, from her relationship with Antonio Vigo Pérez, born in Madrid in 1972 (a Licentiate in Fine Arts and a sculptor from whom she had separated shortly before her death)

Letizia married Alonso Guerrero Pérez, born in Mérida in 1962, son of Juan Francisco Guerrero N and wife Mar?a de los Dolores Pérez N, a Licentiate in Philosophy from the University of Extremadura, a writer and a high-school literature teacher, on 6/7 August 1998, in a simple civil ceremony at Almendralejo, in Badajoz, after a 10-year courtship. The marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1999. They had no children. He is now married to Mar?a del Carmen Astero N.

On 1 November 2003 to the surprise of many, the Royal Household announced Letizia's engagement to the Prince of Asturias. Afterwards, she moved to live in a wing of Zarzuela Palace until the day of her wedding

The wedding took place on 22 May 2004 in the Cathedral Santa Mar?a la Real de la Almudena in Madrid. It was the first royal wedding in this cathedral, which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. It had been nearly a century since the capital celebrated a royal wedding, as the present king and queen married in Athens, and the prince's sisters, Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina, married in Sevilla and Barcelona respectively.

As Letizia's previous marriage involved only a civil ceremony, the Roman Catholic Church does not consider it valid and therefore did not require an annulment before her Catholic marriage to the Prince of Asturias.

After the wedding, she moved with her new husband to his residence, a 3,150-square meter palace built within the Zarzuela Palace grounds

It was announced on 8 May 2005 that Letizia was pregnant and on 31 October 2005 at 1:46 a.m. at the Ruber Clinic in Madrid, she gave birth to a girl, Infanta Leonor, the first child for the couple, who was baptized on 14 January 2006. The godparents were the King and Queen of Spain.

As for the Infanta's future as a possible monarch, The Prince of Asturias was quoted in the Spanish Herald, when asked by a reporter if "a queen has [been] born", the prince answered, "For now a princess has been born. But the logic of the times means that if the reform that the administration is planning takes place, she will be."

On 25 September 2006 the Royal House announced that the couple were expecting their second child in May 2007. On 27 November 2006 it was announced that the second child the Princess was expecting was also a girl. On 29 April 2007, at 16:50 h, her second daughter, Infanta Sof?a, was born. Her godparents were Paloma Rocasolano and Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin of Bulgaria and her baptism was on 15 July 2007.