It was pouring in Madrid. That May 22, 2004, the World Cup fell. An Almudena Cathedral, which hosted the State wedding Don Felipe and Doña Letizia, before more than 1,200 guests and royal households from around the world. It is now the 20th anniversary of that state marriage passed through water.
The Royal Procession left the Royal Palace. It was headed by a Halberdier officer. In that procession there were two guests who years later would no longer be part of the King’s family: his brothers-in-law, James of Marichalar and Iñaki Urdangarin. Along with them, their respective wives, Infantas Elena and Cristina. Don Felipe went with his mother, in her role as godmother, Mrs. Sofia; y Don Juan Carlos He entered accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Pilar. And here came the snub. Why did the King arrive with his sister on his arm and not with his mother-in-law? Paloma Rocasolano? The journalist’s mother entered the cathedral with her daughter Telma. This ugliness in the protocol of the Royal Cortege could be the origin of a discrepancy between Don Felipe and his father.
When the monarch arrived, the national anthem was played. The mass was officiated by the archbishop of Madrid, Antonio María Rouco Varela. They acted as pages, Froilán, who did not stop still at mass and did not stop nagging; Victoria Federica; Juan, Pablo, Miguel, Victoria López Quesada Borbón Dos Sicilias and Carla Vigo.
After 11:00 and under a blanket of rain, Letizia Ortiz arrived at the Madrid temple in a Rolls-Royce. She was accompanied by her father, Jesús Ortiz. At the entrance, Handel’s Opus 7 No. 3 in B flat was performed. The heir received his fiancée with a kiss on the cheek. The bridesmaids, Ana Codorniu Álvarez de Toledo and Claudia González Ortiz, walked behind the bride, who by the way had a 38º fever due to a cold. In her gaze, she conveyed an unleashed emotion. The ladies, like the pages, were dressed by Lorenzo Caprile.
The couple opted for the traditional formula at the time of mutual consent: “I, Felipe, receive you, Letizia, as my wife and I give myself to you…”. They kept their hands clasped as they spoke the words from memory.
The most contained kiss of the couple, the one on the balcony
With Handel’s Hallelujah, the princes of Asturias abandoned the temple. There was no kiss between the couple, despite the public gathered in the Plaza de Oriente, which was waiting for this moment. There was only one very discreet and modest one on the cheek who knew little. Nor was there one in the toast after the banquet. Felipe, with the glass of cava in his hand, kissed his wife on the forehead in another gesture of restraint. Letizia kept her eyes closed. But that toast came much later.
Before, the princes headed through the streets of Madrid to the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha. The Rolls-Royce that was carrying them passed the Plaza de España, crossed Gran Vía, to Alcalá Street, in the direction of Cibeles. He also passed by where the Forest of the Absent was built, a monument of almost 200 cypresses and olive trees, in tribute to the victims of the brutal jihadist attack of March 11, 2004.
After the floral offering in the Basilica of Atocha, Felipe and Letizia returned to the Royal Palace via the same route. The wedding banquet began. In honor of the bride, they were received by the City of Oviedo Bagpipe Band.
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