Over the past 27 years, at least some members of the Spanish Royal Family have appeared at Palma de Mallorca Cathedral for the traditional Easter Mass.
But, after two years of travel and gathering restrictions, the public’s expectations were disappointed, as no royal showed for the service, despite said restrictions being lifted.
For the first time since 1995, not even Queen Sofía showed up in front of the cameras for the Easter service, and the move has sparked two separate but intertwined alleys of discussion.
The first focuses on the impression that King Felipe and Queen Letizia seem to be trying to shift away from public displays of religious practice and are attempting to keep them a private matter.
The second, broader, debate concerns the clear intent of His Majesty to mark a difference from the previous court and create a distance between himself and the rest of his family.
Not by chance, King Felipe seems to have jumped at the opportunity afforded by the pandemic and interrupted the tradition of appearing in front of the public for Easter Mass in Palma.
The tradition was started by King Juan Carlos and almost by necessity: the Royal Family used to spend their spring holidays in Palma and the church appearance was a way to conclude the break before flying back to Madrid to resume official duties.
But now it seems that the family prefers spending the holiday in less crowded places, and surrounded by more anonymity. In the past two years, no news of travels reached the ears of the public, and this year it seems that the royals stayed home.
They appeared on the outskirts of Madrid on Holy Saturday, a day that the Catholic tradition refers to as “a day of silence,” between the crucifixion of Christ and the celebrations of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
And they appeared in a public capacity, visiting a centre for Ukrainian refugees, making clear that work doesn’t stop, even during a holiday.
This seems to be aligned with the recent debate over the distance, ever greater, between King Felipe and his father and sisters. Infantas Elena and Cristina, with most of their children, travelled to Abu Dhabi to spend the Easter break with King Juan Carlos, who has gone into self-exile in the UAE.
King Felipe was nowhere to be seen, nor were his daughters, who, instead, are taking on an increasing amount of spotlight in selected activities, mainly in the areas of climate, humanitarian service and culture.
Queen Sofía was on a holiday in Palma with her younger sister Irene, and yet she didn’t show up at Palma Cathedral, presumably opting for a smaller and lower-key church to attend Easter Mass.
This marks a clear break from tradition, and seems to correspond to King Felipe’s wishes for the monarchy to represent everyone, not just the Roman Catholic population. Therefore, if this trend is to continue, we can expect public church appearances to be limited to weddings and funerals, rather than regular occurrences.
And the break with his family seems to indicate the King’s desire to make good on his promise, expressed during his inauguration speech in front of the Parliament and reiterated many times since, to keep the Crown as a neutral power.
He said: “The independence of the Crown, its political neutrality and its wish to embrace and reconcile the different ideological standpoints enable it to contribute to the stability of our political system, facilitating a balance with the other constitutional and territorial bodies, promoting the orderly functioning of the State and providing a channel for cohesion among Spaniards”.
So what now? King Felipe will continue reigning on Spain with the goals of transparency and political and judicial neutrality above all else. Or, as he put it in the aforementioned speech, “a renewed Monarchy for new times”, leaving increasingly behind the imprint left by King Juan Carlos on the institution.
