King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Queen Sofía and Infanta Sofía accompanied Princess Leonor for the traditional Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony.
At 6:24 pm on Friday, 28th October, the royals departed the Reconquista Hotel and, at 6:31, made their way on the blue carpet, posing for photographers before entering the Campoamor Theatre, in Asturias’ capital Oviedo (which is also Queen Letizia’s hometown).
Once inside, they were welcomed by state and local authorities, including the Presidents of the Congress and the Senate and the Mayor of Oviedo, as well as the top figures within the Princess of Asturias Foundation. Queen Sofía then separated from the rest of the family to take her usual seat in a box on the second floor of the theatre to the left of the stage.
The rest of the family was accompanied inside by the cheers of the public, which also included Queen Letizia’s mother, Paloma Rocasolano, who is a regular attendant of the event and was briefly and sweetly greeted by her daughter and granddaughters. Once they reached the stage and took their places behind the presidential table, the national anthem was played by the traditional gaitas.
It was then time for the entrance of the laureates: Eduardo Matos Moctezuma for Social Sciences, Yann LeCun and Demis Hassabis for Technical and Scientific Research, Ellen MacArthur for International Cooperation, the Olympic Foundation and Refugee Olympic Team (represented by the IOC President Thomas Bach and Masomah Ali Zada and Eldric Sella) for Sports, Carmen Linares and María Pagés for Arts, Adam Michnik for Communication and Humanities, Juan Mayorga for Literature and Shigeru Ban for Concord.
The ceremony was opened by the President of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, Luis Fernández-Vega Sanz, for whom this will be the last year in that role. He will be succeeded by Ana Isabel Fernández, who was also present at the ceremony.
Next on the podium was Juan Mayorga, laureate for literature. A theatre pieces writer, he centred his speech around an episode from his children’s childhood, in which his youngest daughter was stunned to learn that, for the multitude of words that she had already learned, there was a tiny number of letters used to create them.
It was then the turn of Adam Michnik, who spoke about the bravery of all of those who are protesting the war in Ukraine and the atrocities of war, and the risks those people face in their opposition, as well as highlighting the crucial role played by journalists in reporting events and facts during times of crisis.
Then came the most awaited moment of the evening: the laureates being called forward to the table. All of them received their diplomas from the hands of the Princess of Asturias, among cheers from the crowd present, which included family members of laureates.
There was a slightly awkward moment when IOC President Thomas Bach went up to the table without waiting for the two athletes accompanying him, forcing Princess Leonor to withhold his diploma until the other two were close enough to shake all of their hands in a seamless line.
There was also an unscripted moment when Carmen Linares and María Pagés offered the public a short flamenco performance before returning to their seats.
It was then time for more speeches; the third was given by anthropologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, who highlighted the role of research and education in analysing history as a path to move forward “towards a promising future.”
The fourth speech was given by Ellen MacArthur. She started by retelling her experience of circumnavigating the world by herself in a boat and beating the world record in doing so – an experience that brought her to think about her current area of work: the circular economy.
The second to last speech was given by Princess Leonor, who centred her remarks around the sentence “It matters to me”; she highlighted the importance of each of the laureates’ work in their respective fields to look forward to the future “by continuing to learn.”
King Felipe was the last one to stand behind the microphone, and his words began with a moved memory of all those who were lost to COVID-19, but also the togetherness showed by society in those dark months. He then talked about the effect of the laureates’ work in their respective fields before thanking outgoing President Fernández-Vega Sanz and greeting incoming President Fernández.
His Majesty also talked about the war, underlining how cultural symbols are victims of the war in Ukraine – cultural sites that symbolise the values that were at the base of the founding of the European Union. He also highlighted the critical role cooperation plays in maintaining those values.
He ended his speech with a message to his daughters and the youth of Spain to “seek out your own reflection even more in them, in their work, in their efforts and aspiration, in their generosity and their gratitude. In this way, you will help us move forward as a society.”
Afterwards, the gaitas played the Asturias anthem before King Felipe closed the session and called for the 2023 Princess of Asturias Awards. The Royal Family then walked out, once again accompanied by the sound of bagpipe music playing a traditional tune.
The Princess of Asturias Awards is a scheme established in 1980, together with the creation of the foundation that awards them. The first ceremony was held in 1981, and it only included Arts, Social Sciences, Communication and Humanities, International Cooperation, Scientific and Technical Research and Literature; the Concord category was added in 1986, and Sports made its first appearance the following year in 1987.
Each prize consists of a statue by Joan Miró, which has been adopted as the symbol of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, a diploma, an insignia, and 50,000 euros, which are equally split among recipients in case of multiple laureates.
They were born as the Prince of Asturias Awards and Foundation, and they changed their name in 2015, following the accession of King Felipe in 2014 and the subsequent accession to the heir position of Princess Leonor. She presided over the ceremony for the first time in 2019 when she was just a few days shy of turning 14. Since then, she has attended the event every single year, despite the pandemic restrictions in 2020 and her studies in Wales, UK, from 2021-2022; both times, she managed to make it back to Spain for the occasion taking advantage of UWC Atlantic’s half-term break.
