Sunday Times 2
‘I fell in love with Letizia – but never told her’
Letizia looked every inch the regal monarch today after her official coronation as Queen of Spain.
Spain's newly crowned King Felipe VI, center, and Spanish Queen Letizia, right, greeting the crowds as they arrive at the Parliament in Madrid
Chic and poised as ever, in a pastel, crystal-embellished coat by her favourite designer Felipe Varela, she was flanked by her handsome husband King Felipe and pretty daughters, Leonor, eight, and Sofia, aged seven.
But when Prince Felipe of Asturias announced his engagement to TV presenter Letizia Ortiz in 2003, it was a controversial choice.
The then 31-year-old was a woman with more of a past than most princesses: a hugely impressive career, during which she reported on 9/11 and covered the Iraq War; an ex-husband – and a few skeletons in the closet.
One of these is the series of oil paintings of Letizia by her close friend, the Cuban artist Waldo Saavedra, which depict the future Queen of Spain stripped to the waist.
Saavedra insists that Letizia never actually posed topless for him. The paintings were done from photographs – and his imagination, presumably.
According to the artist, the pair became friends in 1996, when Letizia was 24. At the time, Letizia was living and working in Guadalajara for the Mexican newspaper Siglo XXI.
Detail of a painting by Cuban artist Waldo Saavedra depicting the King of Spain's wife, Letizia, naked from the waist up. AFP
The young journalist covered the opening of Saavedra’s exhibition for the paper. ‘The connection between them was immediate’ according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, and they became close friends.
The artist has admitted that he fell in love with Letizia, but never told her of his feelings. According to Andrew Morton, writing in The Times, Letizia was in fact having an affair with the artist’s friend, and singer in his band, Fernando Olvera, at the time. In interviews with the Spanish press, Saavedra refers to Queen Letizia by the affectionate nickname ‘Leti’. In one of their many encounters in the mid-90s, the artist raised the idea of using her as the model in a series of homages to the artists who had most influenced him in the past, such as Goya and Picasso, among others.
Letizia thought it a fine idea, according to the artist. She became a muse to Saavedra: as well as including her in many of his oil paintings, Saavedra also used her likeness to illustrate his poetry and used her topless image for his album, Suenos Liquidos (Liquid Dreams).
Cuban artist Waldo Saavedra poses for a picture in his workshop in Guadalajara, Jalisco. AFP
She returned to Spain, lost contact with Saavedra, and has not spoken to him since. Little did Letizia know that their friendship would come back to haunt her.
Today, she is a very different woman to the young journalist who befriended bohemian musicians and poets in the Mexican town of Guadalajara. From artist’s muse, to star TV anchor – to Queen of Spain, her transformation has been nothing short of miraculous.
Today, she looked impeccable, as always, in a chic tailored white dress and matching white coat embellished at the neckline with cream and pink crystals by her Spanish designer, Felipe Varela.
She carried a cream clutch bag and wore nude court shoes, a notable favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, with whom she’s been compared on numerous occasions.
Felipe was formally proclaimed monarch and swore an oath at a ceremony with lawmakers in Parliament. It was a no-frills event, though the 18th-century Spanish crown and 17th-century scepter were on display.
The reception was also a humble affair, with guests served hot and cold tapas-style nibbles, eaten while standing.
There was no champagne, just sparkling cava wine from Spain’s Catalonia region.
The palace acknowledged that the customary pomp had been eliminated ‘in keeping with the criteria of austerity that the times recommend.’
Crown Prince Felipe ascended to the Spanish throne at the stroke of midnight, after his father King Juan Carlos tearfully signed his own abdication.
His wife, now Queen of Spain, is originally from Asturias in the north west of Spain. The couple married ten years ago at Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid.
The relationship began in November 2002. In 2003, just months after she had been promoted to the position of anchor on the national news channel, she quit her job and days later the royal engagement was announced.
On her big day the royal bride dazzled in an ivory gown with a 15-foot-long train and a sparkling platinum and diamond tiara, which her mother-in-law Queen Sofia wore for her wedding almost exactly 42 years previously.
Letizia comes from non-aristocratic stock: she is the granddaughter of a taxi driver and the eldest daughter of Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, a journalist, and first wife María de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodríguez, a nurse and hospital union representative from a working-class background.
She attended public high school and did a degree at the Complutense University of Madrid. She later gained an MA in Audiovisual Journalism at the Institute for Studies in Audiovisual Journalism.
Letizia shops at the supermarket and champions Spanish high street fashion brands such as Zara and Mango, as well as couturiers such as Felipe Varela and Lorenzo Caprile.
She regularly tops best-dressed lists in her own country and worldwide.
© Daily Mail, London