Queen Letizia
After the marriage proposal, she let Felipe fidget for a long time
Queen Letizia didn’t make it easy for me in deciding to accept Felipe’s marriage proposal.
© Dana Press
It was a difficult decision that Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano had to make in 2003 when Felipe, Prince of Asturias asked her to be his wife. She eventually had a successful career as a journalist and presenter. And the marriage proposal was anything but romantic.
Queen Letizia, 50, and King Felipe, 54, met on October 17, 2002 in Madrid at a dinner at the home of news anchor Pedro Erquicia, † 75. When the young journalist celebrated her 29th birthday on September 15, 2003, she already knew she would marry the son of King Juan Carlos, 84, and Queen Sophia, 83, according to Spanish magazine Hola! claims.
Queen Letizia: She held out Felipe for three weeks
However, there is said to have been no talk of romance when the marriage proposal was made. Felipe allegedly asked for her hand inside his armored blue Audi. The knee fell. However, as Letizia herself said when they got engaged, he asked her “like a man who loves a woman”. Apparently she didn’t answer him right away.
It was only after three weeks that she said “yes”. Letizia knew it might be the most important decision of her life. She knew that the engagement would not only be a new chapter in her own story, but also in that of Spanish royalty. So she wanted to think twice about whether she was really ready to give up her career to become a princess and later queen of her country.
Divorced Letizia no longer wanted to marry
In order to be even clearer about this far-reaching decision, she is said to have consulted her closest circle. After divorcing her first husband, writer Alonso Guerrero Pérez, 59, after just a year of marriage, Letizia hadn’t actually bothered to find a new husband. She even intended not to remarry or start a family of her own. Then, in 2002, she fell madly in love with the Spanish crown prince.
Details pointed to a secret relationship
The couple kept their romance a secret. Looking back, however, small details reveal how long the relationship was kept secret. Back then, Letizia changed her watch frequently and her diamond earrings, which she still wears to this day – a pair of stud earrings that Felipe had given her.
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On October 31, 2003, she moderated the TVE news as usual. The next evening Spain was surprised and found out about Felipe’s engagement to the well-known presenter. The king’s son introduced his future wife to the media on November 3, 2003. On November 6, 2003 he then officially proposed to her and the couple appeared in the garden of the Zarzuela Palace with their two families in front of over 350 media representatives. The rest is an almost fairytale story.
Source used: hola.com