Before Christmas arrives and they can be reunited with their daughters, Princesses Leonor and Infanta Sofia, Kings Felipe and Letizia are set to embark on their last state visit of 2024, without surprise. It was an exceptional year for the Royal House, as it marked the monarch’s ten years as head of state and her 20th wedding anniversary. Moreover, this week Annie Lebowitz took the spectacular photographs of the monarchs commissioned by the Bank of Spain and which were already known around the world.
© GTRESBetween December 10 and 12, just after the Constitution Bridge, the monarchs will visit Italy. They are about to visit Rome and Naples In a visit that is part of the cordial relations enjoyed between the two countries, “which have a long historical tradition,” as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. “It also constitutes a favorable opportunity to express the desire to strengthen the deep historical, political and humanitarian ties that exist between the Republic of Italy and the Kingdom of Spain,” the ministry underlined.
© HM King’s HouseIn this meeting, Mr. Felipe and Ms. Letizia will be accompanied by the Minister of the Sector, José Manuel Albarez, and will be on his way to a state visit to Spain by Italian President Sergio Mattarella in November. 2021 where she was accompanied by her daughter Laura, who served as First Lady. Since 2015, when Mattarella was elected President of the Republic, his daughter has served as Italy’s first lady, since Mattarella’s wife, Marisa Chiazesi, died of cancer in 2012.
© GTRESIn addition to his meeting with the Italian head of state, Philip VI is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following the pattern of such first-tier trips.
Second official trip to Italy
The first stop in the nation’s capital is expected to be a meeting of an institutional nature. In Naples, a city with close historical ties to Spain, program details are still unknown. This will be the monarchs’ second visit to Italy, one of the first destinations they have officially visited since von Felipe’s announcement in June 2014. They visited the Transalpine country in November of that year.
© GTRESIt will be their second state visit in 2024 when they traveled to the Netherlands in April and were warmly received by King William and King Maxima, who are united by a great friendship, and their eldest daughter, the Princess. Amalia, the heir to the throne and who lived in Madrid for a year.
