It is 20 years since the official engagement of the Kings. On November 6, 2003 we heard Felipe de Borbón and Letizia speak as a couple. They presented us with their wedding gifts and posed with their respective families. Two decades later, this anniversary arrives for the Kings on their way to Denmark, where they undertake a three-day state trip after accepting the invitation of Queen Margaret, for whom Felipe has great affection.
The Asturian journalist hosted what would be her last news report on October 31. So we Spaniards did not know the immediate future that was coming for her. Letizia enters the Zarzuela scene the next day, November 1, 2003, the date on which the Royal Family makes public her official engagement to Don Felipe. It just so happened that it was a national holiday. Just five days later, on November 6, Letizia once again enters the home of all Spaniards, but no longer as a Telediario presenter or as a journalist, but as the fiancée of the Prince of Asturias. The official presentation took place in the gardens of El Pardo. She chose a white pantsuit by Giorgio Armani for the most important live performance of her life. An image and a look that has remained forever. It was history.
At one point during the event, Letizia showed us the white gold wedding ring with baguette-cut diamonds. Suddenly, she blurted out the impulsive “let me finish,” interrupting Felipe. An anecdote that now, seen with the eyes of 2023, has lost the notoriety that it had then. Throughout these 20 years, we have seen the great evolution of the journalist. That drive and courage from her first years in Zarzuela have given way to her naturalness and closeness. Letizia, with her work, has brought reality to the institution. She has become a pillar. Since she has been Queen, 9 years ago, her image has gained in naturalness and simplicity. Letizia is a woman of her time and a queen of the 21st century. Her transformative work is also seen in her daughters, whom she constantly connects with her centennial generation. Behind the renewed and modern image that Leonor projected in the Constitutional oath is her. She is an expert in communication. We will see if on this trip with Don Felipe to Denmark she gives us a gesture or a detail of this 20th anniversary. They already did it in Oviedo, at the Princess of Asturias Awards, when they both recreated the famous greeting (photos above). By the way, they are very much in love.