Queen Sofía of Spain

Sophia of Greece and Denmark
Sophia of Greece and Denmark
Queen of Spain
Spouse	Juan Carlos I
Issue	Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina, Prince Felipe
House	House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Father	Paul I of Greece
Mother	Frederika of Hanover

Sofía, Queen of Spain (Spanish: Su Majestad la Reina Sofía de España, Greek: Βασίλισσα Σοφία της Ισπανίας) (born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark on November 2, 1938; full name Sophía Margaríta Viktoría Frederíki), is the Queen Consort of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.^[1]^[2]

Early life and family

Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Athens, Greece on November 2, 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul I of the Hellenes (1901-1964) and his wife, Queen Frederika (1917-1981), a former princess of Hanover. Queen Sofia is a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty. Her brother is the former King Constantine of the Hellenes, and her sister is Irene, former Princess of Greece and Denmark . However, since the restoration of democracy, the royal titles are not recognized in Greece, where the former royal family is held in low regard by some Greeks.

Princess Sophia spent her childhood in Egypt and South Africa during her family's exile from Greece during World War II. They returned to Greece in 1946. She finished her education at the prestigious Schloss Salem boarding school in Southern Germany, and then studied pediatrics, music, and archeology in Athens.

The Queen is fluent in English, French, German, Greek and Spanish.

She represented Greece in sailing at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Marriage and family

On May 14, 1962 Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark married Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, the future king, whom she met on a cruise of the Greek Islands in 1954. In doing so, she relinquished her rights to the throne of Greece and converted to Roman Catholicism from Greek Orthodoxy. Further, the Latin transliteration of her Greek name Σοφία was changed from Sophia to the Spanish variant Sofía, which nonetheless is pronounced identically to the original Greek version.

In 1969, Prince Juan Carlos, who was never Prince of Asturias, the traditional title of the heir to the throne, was given the official title of Prince of Spain by the Spanish state; he acceded to the throne as Juan Carlos I in 1975.

The couple have three children: HRH Infanta Elena born December 20, 1963, HRH Infanta Cristina born June 13, 1965, and HRH Prince Felipe born January 30, 1968. The King and Queen have eight grandchildren: Felipe Juan Froilán de Marichalar y de Borbón and Victoria Federica de Marichalar y de Borbón from the Infanta Elena; Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón, Pablo Nicolás Sebastián de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón, Miguel Urdangarín y de Borbón and Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón from the Infanta Cristina; and HRH Infanta Leonor of Spain, and HRH Infanta Sofia of Spain, named in her honor, of Prince Felipe, who are second and third in line to the Spanish throne.

Ancestry

Queen Sofía is a great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria and is, through several lines, her husband's third cousin. Because of this descent, she is also related to all of the royal families of Europe. She is a first cousin of Ernst August of Hannover (Pretender), and through her great-grandfather George I of Greece, she is a second cousin to Charles, the Prince of Wales. Through Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Victoria, she is a double third cousin to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She is also a first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Ancestors

**Sofía of Spain's ancestors in three generations**
Sofía of Spain	Father: Paul of Greece	Paternal Grandfather: Constantine I of Greece	Paternal Great-grandfather: George I of Greece
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Olga Konstantinova of Russia
		Paternal Grandmother: Sophia of Prussia	Paternal Great-grandfather: Friedrich III, German Emperor
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
	Mother: Frederika of Hanover	Maternal Grandfather: Ernest Augustus III, Duke of Brunswick	Maternal Great-grandfather: Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Princess Thyra of Denmark
		Maternal Grandmother: Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia	Maternal Great-grandfather: William II, German Emperor
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein

Royal duties

Besides travelling with her husband within Spain and abroad, the Queen has her own agenda. She is the executive president of the Queen Sofía Foundation, which in 1993 sent funds for relief in Bosnia, and is the honorary president of the Royal Board on Education and Care of Handicapped Persons and the Foundation for Aid for Drug Addicts.

She takes special interest in programs against drug addiction, travelling to conferences in both Spain and abroad. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is named after her, as is Reina Sofía Airport in Tenerife.

She has been working closely with Dr. Muhammed Yunus on his Grameen Bank (or "Bank for the Poor"), which offers microcredits to women across the world. Her Majesty has travelled to Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Mexico to support the activities of the organization led by Yunus.

The Queen is an Honorary Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of the Royal Academy of History. She has received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Rosario (Bogota), Valladolid, Cambridge, Oxford, Georgetown, Evora, St. Mary's University, Texas, and New York.

Titles from birth

Here is a list of titles Queen Sofía held from birth in chronological order :

Her Royal Highness Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark (1938-1962)
Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia of Spain (1962-1969)
Her Royal Highness The Princess of Spain (1969-1975)
Her Majesty The Queen of Spain (1975-present)

Trivia

She is a pescetarian (a person who does not eat from land dwelling animals, but does consume fish), which is a rather uncommon custom in Spain. She also does not watch bullfighting, in contrast with her husband, who is an aficionado.
When she and King Juan Carlos I made their first official state visit to Puerto Rico in 1987, after taking a tour of the governor's mansion La Fortaleza, she was left so enchanted by the Rattan Room (known as Salón Ratán in Spanish), that the room officially was renamed in her honor as La Galería de la Reina (The Queen's Gallery).^[3]
Like the Queen of Belgium and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Queen Sofía holds the title of Catholic Monarch, and, in the presence of the Pope, is permitted to wear white rather than the customary black. This is known as The White privilege, or the Privilège du blanc.
The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, one of the the three premier international art museums in Madrid, is named after her.
HRH Infanta Sofía second daughter of the Prince and Princess of Asturias is named after her.
The Queen was one of the closest friends of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who performed in Madrid several times for her. They were friends since Sofia was a Princess. The Queen attended his funeral in Moscow.

References

^ Royal house of Bourbon, Unknown publisher, unknown date (accessed 19 January,2007)
^ Her majesty the Queen www.sispain.org unknown date (accessed 19 January,2007)
^ Salón Ratán o Galería de la Reina

External links

Regnal titles
Queen Sofía of Spain House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg Born: 2 November 1938
Vacant Title last held by Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg	Queen Consort of Spain 1975–Present	Incumbent

[1] Royal house of Bourbon, Unknown publisher, unknown date (accessed 19 January,2007)

[2] Her majesty the Queen www.sispain.org unknown date (accessed 19 January,2007)

[3] Salón Ratán o Galería de la Reina

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