Queen Letizia hands out prize for best scientific monologue

Queen Letizia of Spain visited the Society of Fine Arts in Madrid for a ceremony celebrating scientific monologues.

The Queen was welcomed to the venue by Minister for Science and Innovation Diana Morant, the President of the Society of Fine Arts, Juan Miguel Hernández León, and the General Director of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology Inma Aguilar. 

Once inside, she received the salutations of the Director of British Council Spain Mark Howard, the Minister Counselor of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Spain, Sarah Cowley and the Director of the Society of Fine Arts, Valerio Rocco. 

The ceremony was held in the building’s Fernando de Rojas Theatre and conducted by television personality Virginia Riezu, who introduced the eight monologues that reached the finals. 

Letizia has always been a promoter of communication, even before becoming a member of the Spanish Royal Family; she used to be a journalist, and a reporter, so she knows first-hand the impact communication has on public opinion.

That is why she embraced the FameLab project almost as soon as it arrived in Spain. FameLab was born in 2005 at the Cheltenham Science festival in the United Kingdom and arrived in Spain in 2013 thanks to its collaboration with British Council, the United Kingdom’s cultural institute. 

FameLab is an international contest of scientific monologues designed to increase the communication of science to the public through innovative ways of popularisation. The competition is held across more than 30 countries, thanks to the collaboration of the organisation with the British Council.

Queen Letizia is a regular attendant of the Spanish edition of FameLab, which is organised by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and British Council Spain. 

In third place came Francisco José Román, who received his prize from British Council Director Mark Howard. The runner up was Laura Toribio, who was presented with her award by the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant.

The winner was Jesús Victorino Santos, who received his prize from Queen Letizia. 

The prize consists of a ticket to fly and participate in the international finals that will take place in November at the Science Festival in Cheltenham, England.

After the conclusion of the ceremony, Her Majesty remained on the stage to chat with all finalists and with members of the jury.