In every part of the Commonwealth, the tributes to the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died on Friday 9 April at the age of 99, but in recent days there have also been messages of closeness to the royal family from the other monarchies: from that of Bhutan, which lit a thousand candles for the husband of Queen Elizabeth during a touching ceremony, to those of Felipe and Letizia of Spain, the most intimate made public.
“Dear Aunt Lilibeth, we feel deeply saddened by the news of the death of our dear Uncle Philip”, they did know from Madrid. “We want to express our deepest condolences on behalf of the Spanish government and people, as well as our closeness and support. We will never forget the opportunities we were able to share with him ».
Undoubtedly unusual words, but justified by the deep ties between the two monarchies, united by complex dynastic intertwining. Born prince of Greece and Denmark (it is no coincidence that the Danish royals honored him with a portrait that represents him with the sash of the Order of the Elephant, one of the most important in the country, ed), Philip, as well as his wife Elizabeth, and the emeritus sovereigns Sofia and Juan Carlos of Spain, was a great-great-grandson of the Queen Victoria, “the grandmother of Europe”, as i define it royal watchers.
The mother Alice of Battenberg, in fact, was a direct descendant of the monarch, as the daughter of a daughter of Victoria. The Duke of Edinburgh, then, was linked to Sofia of Spain by his father: the grandfather, George I, was the great-grandfather of the former queen, born Sofia of Greece. But that’s not all: the mother of the recently deceased duke was the first cousin of Victoria Eugenia, wife of Alfonso XIII and grandmother of Juan Carlos I.
Such an intricate family tree has never been alone on paper for the two families. The last official meeting, in 2019, when Queen Elizabeth awarded her nephew Felipe the Order of the Garter, but the reciprocal signs of closeness are much older.
In 1986, for example, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were the first Spanish royals to be received in the UK in over a century. On that occasion the queen arranged for them to stay at Windsor Castle, and as a sign of friendship she gave the king a necklace that had belonged to Queen Victoria. At the reception organized at the Spanish Embassy, ​​the king then told reporters: “I will introduce you to my cousin Lilibeth ». Elizabeth, two years later, would be the first British royal to officially visit Spain.
A relationship also continued with the children. Famous, the beautiful photos of Charles and Diana with Harry and William children, on holiday in Mallorca. A bond, theirs, which certainly will not end with the death of Prince Philip.
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