Queen Sofia of Spain appeared emotional as she received a surprise for her birthday.
A day after turning 87, Queen Sofia attended a concert at the Theatre Royal in Madrid where where she found herself the star of the show as the audience sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.
From the royal box, Queen Sofia heard a fulsome tribute to her led by the singer and TV presenter, Alaska, who praised her for her work supporting the arts.
She then invited the orchestra and audience to join in a chorus of Happy Birthday which Queen Sofia acknowledged with smiles and waves. It came just hours after her actual birthday which falls on November 2.
The birthday surprise came as Sofia enjoyed a special concert marking the 40th anniversary of the BMW Painting Prize which is handed out every year to support Spanish culture and art.
Earlier, Queen Sofia had visited an exhibition of all twelve finalists for this year’s awards before handing out the prizes.
Over 1,300 people from across the arts in Spain had gathered at the Theatre Royal for the ceremony.
Following the prize giving, a special concert marking the 40th anniversary of the prizes was held. It was a charity event, raising funds for children’s food banks.
Queen Sofia has been a long time and high profile supporter of the work done by food banks throughout Spain, not the easiest job to take on at times as her family faced questions over its own finances when others were struggling to make ends meet. However, Sofia has always been respected for her work.
That respect was on show at the Theatre Royal as Alaska paid tribute to the Spanish queen for her work for others and wished her many more ‘happy birthdays”.
The birthday queen looked somewhat overcome with the reception she was given and showed her gratitude to the audience afterwards.
Just a few weeks ago, Queen Sofia received another standing ovation when she attended the Princess of Asturias Awards in Oviedo. As she took her seat in the royal box, the audience rose to its feet and applauded her loudly for several minutes.
There will be another celebration of the queen in a fortnight when her only son, King Felipe VI, presents her with the honour of the Toison de Oro. It’s being given as Spain marks half a century since the restoration of the country’s monarchy and in recognition of her work for the country in those fifty years.
However, the ceremony has been overshadowed by the decision not to invite Sofia’s husband, King Juan Carlos, to the public events marking the anniversary, even though he was the man who restored the country’s crown.
Instead, the former monarch will be invited to a private lunch at the Pardo Palace the day afterwards.
King Juan Carlos is about to publish his memoir with the first editions being sold in Paris on November 5. Previews of the book show him criticising his daughter in law, Queen Letizia, for causing division in the royal family but praising Sofia extensively and saying that he wants to return to live in Spain. He went into self imposed exile in Abu Dhabi in 2020 after a series of scandals.
