King Felipe of Spain received the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday according to official palace sources.
His Majesty received his jab in the Wizink Centre in the Spanish capital of Madrid. This came shortly after the conclusion of the National Armed Forces Day events, in which he took part honouring those who lost their lives in combat, but also all the Spanish citizens who died because of coronavirus. According to palace sources, King Felipe was accompanied by the Royal Household Chief Medical Adviser, Dr Juan Martìnez, and Vice Adviser Dr Antonio Zapatero.
King Felipe turned 53 years old in January, which now makes him eligible to get his vaccination alongside the rest of the Spanish population his age. As for Queen Letizia, who is five years his junior, it is not yet known when vaccinations will become available for her age group.
The King has been careful not to jump the vaccination queue, after both his sisters, Infantas Elena and Cristina, garnered massive criticism for getting vaccinated in Abu Dhabi during a visit to their father, King Emeritus Juan Carlos, effectively jumping the line in Spain. The King’s mother, Queen Sofìa, was vaccinated on the 17th of March and on the 9th of April with her two doses of the vaccine at the El Pardo-Fuencarral medical centre in Madrid, together with the rest of Spanish citizens her age, and was also seen accompanying her sister, Princess Irene of Greece, to get her second dose of the shot in Palma de Mallorca on the 14th of May.
King Felipe, therefore, joins a growing number of Royals and other Heads of State to be inoculated against the virus. This means a slow return to life as we knew it before the pandemic, but could also mean the gradual easing of travel restrictions, which, in the specific case of State representatives, could mean a return to work, official and State visits in all their pre-pandemic glory. A vaccine could also mean that King Felipe will be allowed to enter the UK and to go visit his elder daughter, Princess Leonor, once she will be a student at UWC International School in Wales.
