HRH The Prince of Asturias and Miss Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano
May 22, 2004

Only a week after Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Donaldson in Denmark, Prince Felipe of Spain tied the knot with journalist Letizia Ortiz in Madrid.  Theirs was the first wedding of a member of the Spanish royal family to take place in Madrid since the wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Ena of Battenberg in 1906.  That wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on the royal couple and the tragic deaths of several bystanders -- this one, thankfully, went more smoothly, although it was a cloudy, rainy day in the Spanish capital.

There were a few controversies, however, about Felipe's choice of bride.  Letizia, a journalist who covered the September 11th attacks in New York and the Iraq War, will be the first commoner to be queen of Spain.  She also had previously been briefly married and divorced.  However, because her first wedding was a civil rather than religious one, the Catholic Church did not recognize it, and she was free to marry Felipe.

Felipe and Letizia have become quite a working team since their wedding, frequently appearing together on royal engagements.  They have also had two daughters, Infanta Leonor (born in 2005) and Infanta Sofia (born in 2007).  Leonor is expected to become queen of Spain in her own right one day -- that is, if her parents don't provide her with a baby brother!

Wedding Hatters

HRH The Prince of Orange and Miss Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
February 2, 2002

Here's our third crown princely wedding in the run up to Crown Princess Victoria's June nuptials -- less than a month now!  The crown prince of The Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, wed Argentine investment banker Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002. 

The wedding was not without controversy; Máxima's father, Jorge Zorreguieta Stefanini, was a minister in the administration of Argentine dictator Jorge Videla.  Videla's government carried out what was called a "Dirty War," killing tens of thousands of Argentine citizens, and Zorreguieta's involvement was suspect.  However, the Dutch States-General granted permission for the couple to marry -- but neither of Máxima's parents attended the wedding.

Since their marriage, Máxima's relaxed and friendly personality has become quite popular with the Dutch people.  She and Willem-Alexander have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Hereditary Princess of Orange (who will likely one day be queen), Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane.

Wedding Hatters

Yay, another hattery appearance from Queen Noor!  Of course, she's wearing the same headscarf that she sported at Alex and Máx's wedding, but no matter there.  I still like how this one has a very subtle flower print on it.  Lovely!

I think one of the reasons I like Noor so much is that she's one of our few American-born royals.  Ooh, that would be a good topic for a post over at Royalty with Ella Kay!

It's a new queen for the blog, everybody -- and a new country, too!  The lovely lady standing beside Prince Charles is HM Queen Noor of Jordan, the widow of the late King Hussein, and stepmother of the current king, Abdullah II.  She's one of the few royals in the world who was actually born an American.  Noor changed her name (from Lisa Halaby) and converted from Christianity to Islam before marrying King Hussein in 1978.

Because she is a Muslim woman, Noor frequently wears a headcovering.  I like this one quite a bit -- light, pretty, and romantic for a wedding!

Back in 1995, the lovely Queen Noor was still the queen consort of Jordan; Rania would only take over the title when King Hussein died four years later.  And Noor certainly wore a queenly hat to this wedding, didn't she?  Except I think it's really impeding her vision here.  I'd have a sore neck from leaning back all the time so I could see other people's faces!

(Also, don't you wish Sofia would experiment more with hats?  Sigh.  Me, too.)