Felipe VI

Felipe VI
Felipe VI in 2023
King of Spain  (more...)
Reign	19 June 2014 – present
Enthronement	19 June 2014
Predecessor	Juan Carlos I
Heir presumptive	Leonor
Prime ministers	Mariano Rajoy Pedro Sánchez
Born	30 January 1968 (age 56) Madrid, Spain
Spouse	Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano ​ ​ (m. 2004)​
Issue	Leonor, Princess of Asturias Infanta Sofía
Names Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia
House	Bourbon[1][a]
Father	Juan Carlos I
Mother	Sophia of Greece and Denmark
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature
Military career
Allegiance	Spain
Service/branch	Spanish Army Spanish Air Force Spanish Navy
Years of service	1986–2014[b]
Rank	Captain general (See list)

showSpanish royal family

Felipe VI (Spanish: [feˈlipe ˈseɣsto];^[c] Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces, holding the military rank of captain general,^[3][4] and also plays the role of the supreme representation of Spain in international relations.^[3][4]

Felipe was born in Madrid during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco as the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark. Felipe was officially created Prince of Asturias in 1977, two years after his father became king. Felipe was formally proclaimed as prince in 1986. He was also made honorary soldier of the Spanish Army at the age of 9. Felipe was educated at Santa María de los Rosales School and went to Lakefield College School in Canada. Later, he studied law at the Autonomous University of Madrid and he obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

To prepare for his future role as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Felipe joined the Spanish Army in 1985. During the next two years, he completed his military training in the Navy and Air Force. After completing his civil and military studies, he undertook official duties representing his father in different social and institutional events, such as chairing charity foundations or attending inaugurations of Latin American leaders. At one of these events with the press, Felipe met TV news journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, whom he married in 2004. They have two daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofía.

Felipe ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 upon the abdication of his father.^[5][6][7] His reign has been marked by his condemnation of the Catalan independence referendum that led to the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and moves towards greater transparency in royal affairs. According to a poll conducted in 2020, Felipe has moderately high approval ratings.^[8]

Felipe was born at 12:45 (CET) on 30 January 1968, at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital at Madrid, being the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark.^[9][10][11] He was baptized on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, with water from the Jordan River.^[12][13] His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons.^[14] His godparents were his paternal grandfather, the Count of Barcelona, and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie.^[13][14][15] Additionally, he is the third cousin once removed of King Harald V of Norway, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, and second cousin once removed of King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

Shortly after his birth Felipe was styled infante. The dictator Francisco Franco died just over two months before Felipe's eighth birthday, and Felipe's father ascended the throne, as the latter had been appointed as Prince of Spain back in 1969. In his first official appearance, Felipe attended his father's proclamation as king on 22 November 1975.^[11]

Juan Carlos, Prince of Spain (left), with his son Felipe and his brother-in-law Constantine II of Greece (right) with his son Pavlos, 1968

In 1977, Felipe was formally proclaimed Prince of Asturias.^[15][16][17] In May, nine-year-old Felipe was made an honorary soldier of the 1st King's Inmemorial Infantry Regiment.^[18] The occasion was marked on 28 May and was attended by the king, the prime minister and several other ministers in a ceremony at the infantry's barracks.^[19][20] On 1 November the same year, he was ceremoniously paid homage as Prince of Asturias in Covadonga.^[21] In 1981 Felipe received the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece from his father, the Chief and Sovereign of the Order.^[14][22] On his 18th birthday on 30 January 1986, Felipe swore allegiance to the Constitution and to the King in the Spanish Parliament as required by the constitution, fully accepting his role as successor to the Crown.^[11][23]