Yesterday, we discussed the Spanish Queen Drama, the most unexpected Easter drama of the week. On Easter Sunday, King Felipe and Queen Letizia attended Easter Mass with their two daughters, Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia. They were also joined by the now-abdicated king and queen, Felipe’s father and mother, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. As the royal family was leaving the church in Mallorca, Queen Sofia stopped in the middle of the walkout-and-greet to pull the two young princesses towards her, all to pose for some photos. Letizia stepped in between her mother-in-law and the camera and what ensued was like 20 full seconds of intense queen drama. Here’s another video of what happened, and stay for the added bonus clip of Queen Sofia kissing her granddaughter’s head and then Letizia’s wiping away the kiss.
Here’s the isolated clip of the kiss-wipe-away.
A second video has surfaced, in which Queen Letizia appears to wipe away a kiss from Queen Sofia on Princess Leonor's forehead.
Via @estherpalomera pic.twitter.com/gA4awH8Wky
— The Spain Report (@thespainreport) April 4, 2018
There are so many theories and opinions about all of this and what’s really happening. After watching it probably 20 times already, I have another opinion: this is part of a long-standing argument between two queens about the role a grandmother should play in her granddaughters’ lives. I think Queen Sofia feels like she should have much more access to her granddaughters, and Letizia continuously argues that no, she’s the mom and she’ll decide who her daughters get to see and when. Anyway, Letizia’s former coworker Imma Aguilar made a public comment and maybe this is like some kind of unofficial palace explanation for what happened. Aguilar told El Circulo:
“I think they are the images of a mother worried about the image of her daughters. I talked to Queen Letizia a while ago, and she is worried and quite desolated by this situation; she is very committed to the care of her daughters, with the protection of their image, she worries who takes photos of them. She worries where they come from, who approaches them… It’s a very motherly reaction. It’s been silly, it’s not a serious issue, nothing has happened, it’s just a natural gesture. She’s not a person who has been educated from the beginning to have a certain public behavior, she’s very committed to her work, her profession, with the role she plays and, as a mother, with her daughters.” Describing Letizia’s response to video, she added: “She has felt affected, she is worried and hurt.”
I’m sure someone buys that version, but it doesn’t make much sense to me considering Letizia was fine with her daughters being photographed outside of the church. In fact, I think that was part of Letizia’s irritation with her mother-in-law – why hold up the church exit for a photo-op when the actual photo spray has been organized for ten feet outside of the church?
From what I’m seeing, the Spanish press is more on Queen Sofia’s side, which is bizarre to me – since when do grandmothers have more rights than mothers? Since when do you side with a grandmother who was grabbing at her (visibly uncomfortable) granddaughters’ arms, shoulders and necks? Sofia is the one who looked like she got angry first, like how dare this daughter-in-law tell me I can’t stop in the middle of church and force my granddaughters to pose for photos?
El Pais had a fascinating read about the disintegration in the relationship between the two queens as well – go here to read. To summarize, when the princesses were very young, Queen Sofia “was accustomed to visiting the girls every so often until it was made clear that she was not welcome, given that her presence interrupted the routine of the young girls.” Queen Sofia was bothered by the fact that Letizia’s mother got to be very involved in her granddaughters’ lives, all while Sofia and Juan Carlos were held at arm’s length. Felipe tried to act as a mediator, and El Pais says that Felipe would often bring his daughters to visit his parents, rather than have his parents visit. Apparently, the relations between “the two families” – Juan Carlos/Sofia and Felipe/Letizia – has been deteriorating for years despite Felipe’s attempts to create a unified familial image. Felipe was the one who personally invited his parents to join them at Easter Mass in Mallorca. But is this truly the story of a mean daughter-in-law and a sad mother-in-law? Or are there so many more layers than that?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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