King Felipe of Spain celebrates his 54th birthday in a rare break from tradition. Because 30 January falls on a Sunday, he will not be working, as he has done most years since becoming an actively working member of the Royal Family.
He will have more time to reflect on the year that has passed, and we will undertake the task with him.
He began his 54th year of life by celebrating the 40th anniversary of the failed General Tejero coup, which his father prevented from succeeding, in a sombre ceremony at the Spanish Parliament.
He handed out prizes, visited plants, opened museums and exhibitions, celebrated key milestones for Spanish societal pillars, and gave his all to contribute to a recovery that is still uncertain.
Among this year’s engagement, the most notable is the official visit to the Principality of Andorra; it was one of the first out-of-country visits in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic, and it gave the signal for other realities to slowly do the same.
On 1 June, the King and Queen Letizia opened a newly built memorial for victims of terrorism in Vitoria, the administrative capital of Basque Country.
On the 14th, His Majesty received the first medal of Honour of Andalusia, which will be awarded every year by authorities of the Autonomic Community, for his efforts in keeping Spain united.
King Felipe also hosted several heads of state and governments, both for courtesy visits (Chile, Colombia, Angola) and for State Visits (South Korea and Italy), as well as undertaking one big State Visit himself: to Sweden, where he and the Queen were warmly welcomed by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
On 14 October, the King handed out the Carlos V European Prize to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, praising her for her 16 years of service to Europe and the European Union.
On 2 and 3 December, the monarch travelled to Barranquilla, Colombia, to take part in the World Law Congress, organised by the World Jurist Association.
And then, shortly before the Christmas holiday, he hopped on a train with state and local authorities and made the entire inaugural journey for the high-speed train line that will connect the capital, Madrid, with the Autonomic Community of Galicia.
Following his traditional Christmas Eve speech, King Felipe went on a two-week holiday before resuming his schedule on 6 January with the traditional Pascua Militar ceremony and the reception for the Diplomatic Corps on the 17th. He also undertook a trip to Puerto Rico and Honduras, to celebrate the 5th centenary of the foundation of the city of San Juan and to take part in the inauguration of the new president, respectively.
But his 54th year was also marked by personal news that has undoubtedly affected him. On 10 February, Casa Real officially announced that Princess Leonor had been admitted, through an anonymous test, into United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, where she would carry out her last two years of high school. The tuition will be paid entirely from the King and Queen’s personal income, and no public taxpayer money will be used.
Before leaving, Princess Leonor carried out her first solo engagement, on 23 March, at the Cervantes Institute; it was a rare day off for the King, who halted the rest of the family’s agendas to make sure that nothing would obscure the Princess’s debut.
Princess Leonor left Spain on 30 August, and pictures were published of her family saying goodbye to her at the airport. She has since made her way back to Madrid at least twice, once for fall break, when she managed to take part in the events surrounding the Princess of Asturias Awards and then for the Christmas holidays.
But the King has had to adapt to life with just one daughter at home. It was reflected in the new configuration of the royal tribune for the National Day military parade, when Infanta Sofía upgraded to sitting to her father’s left, rather than next to Queen Letizia because Princess Leonor couldn’t make it back in time.
King Felipe is not the kind of person that is often the protagonist of memorable “unscripted” moments, and yet, his last year was marked by several of those.
During a visit to the Sports Museum in La Cartuja Stadium in Sevilla, where he was to watch the finals of the King’s Cup football tournament, he played a bit of foosball but lost to the other team. He was a good sport about it and laughed when his opponents cheered after scoring the deciding goal.
And when the family travelled to Barcelona to hand out the Princess of Girona Foundation Awards, Princess Leonor delivered a speech praising the inspirational power the prize recipients have for the younger generation. Before having a chance to step onto the podium, His Majesty enthusiastically clapped for his daughter’s words and hugged her briefly, before saying: “It’s not because she’s the Princess, but I agree with everything she said, that’s why I was clapping so much.”
And finally, during the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Madrid’s public transport network, the King was at the centre of a funny moment, when the Queen had to warn him to be careful since the old bus that they were about to jump on had a very low ceiling and the 1.97m (or 6’4″) King was on the verge of bonking his head.
This past year has ended on a sad note, with the separation of his sister Infanta Cristina from her husband of 24 years.
King Felipe is one of the most hardworking royals in Europe, if nothing else, just by the sheer number of engagements carried out throughout the years. And we hope that this 54th birthday brings him some time off and maybe a slice of a delicious birthday cake!
