There were a few minutes left for half past twelve in the morning when, in the church of the Assumption of Aravaca, in Madrid, the Infanta Sofia appeared to receive confirmation at 12.45 this Thursday, May 25. Accompanied by her parents, the Kings of Spain, and her sister, Princess Leonor, the young woman, who turned 16 less than a month ago, arrived shy and smiling, as is usual in her, and joined the rest of her classmates to go to the temple located in this affluent area on the outskirts of the capital. He was also accompanied by three of his grandparents – with the only absence of King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, who lives in Abu Dhabi – Doña Sofía and his maternal grandparents, Paloma Rocasolano (his godmother at his baptism) and Jesús Ortiz, accompanied by his wife Ana Togores. "Well," she told the media when asked if she was nervous.
Contrary to what happened in the confirmation of the crown princess in 2021, when the Royal Family only allowed themselves to be portrayed at the exit of the ceremony, this time everyone has posed for the cameras upon arrival at the place. In fact, considering it a "family event", the Royal House has decided to allow only the family pose at the entrance of the parish and will not distribute images of the ceremony in order to respect the privacy of the attendees.
More informationThe Infanta Sofia will study the baccalaureate in the same boarding school in Wales as her sister
The Infanta Sofia arrives at the church of the Assumption accompanied by Princess Leonor, where she has received confirmation in a ceremony with her classmates. Claudio Alvarez
King Felipe and Queen Letizia along with their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, arrive on Thursday at the church of the Assumption of Aravaca, next to the Nuestra Señora de los Rosales school. In the same church they received communion Leonor in 2015 and Sofia in 2017, and the largest was also confirmed there two years ago, in May 2021.
Leonor finished high school last week, when she graduated from Atlantic College in Wales. In the same school his sister Sofia will study from next year. The two sisters, very close, have arrived at the event holding hands. Claudio Alvarez
Unlike two years ago in the confirmation of Princess Leonor, the Kings and their daughters have posed on their arrival at the parish, associated with the school, but not at the exit. First the four of them did it alone and then they called Sofia's grandparents (all except the emeritus Juan Carlos, in Abu Dhabi) to join the family photograph. Claudio Alvarez
In the family photo have posed Queen Sofia (who was already entering the church when everyone began to stand before the cameras; Leonor has run to reach her door to bring her back and be present in the portrait), the Infanta Sofía, King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and the Queen's parents, Paloma Rocasolano and Jesús Ortiz, who attended the event with his current wife, Ana Togores (whom he married in 2004), who has not posed. Claudio Alvarez
At all times Princess Leonor has been very affectionate with her paternal grandmother, Queen Sofia, with whom she has entered the temple embraced. Claudio Alvarez
The grandparents of the Infanta Sofia have chatted and laughed at the entrance and exit of the church, where they have mixed with the rest of the attendees, the other 15 young people of 4th of ESO who received confirmation and their families, about 200 people in total. In 2021, when Princess Leonor's confirmation took place, only her parents and sister came to the parish, as there were capacity restrictions due to the pandemic. Claudio Alvarez
King Felipe and Queen Letizia chat with relatives and other students and parents at the end of the confirmation of the Infanta Sofía. Claudio Alvarez
In an unusual image, the cameras have portrayed at the exit of the church Queen Sofia smiling and chatting with her daughter-in-law, Queen Letizia, and her mother-in-law, Paloma Rocasolano, with the three holding her arm and maintaining a lively conversation. Claudio Alvarez
After the confirmation, the Infanta Sofia and her relatives have greeted the media gathered in the parish of the Assumption of Our Lady of Aravaca, but without making statements. Claudio Alvarez
Considering it a "family event", the Royal House has preferred that the King and his family only pose at the entrance of the parish and will not distribute images of the ceremony, in order to respect the privacy of the attendees. Claudio Alvarez
The Infanta Sofia has not given statements to the press, but she has kindly greeted several curious people who have approached the parish of the Assumption, shaking their hands, just like her father, who has accompanied her at all times. José Oliva (Europa Press)
Queen Letizia has also been close and affectionate with those gathered at the doors of the parish of the Assumption of Aravaca.Claudio Álvarez
King Felipe greets citizens at the exit of the parish of the Assumption of Our Lady, May 25, 2023, in Madrid (Spain). José Oliva (Europa Press)
King Felipe has acted as her godfather in the confirmation of Sofia, as he was also with his daughter Leonor, despite the information that had spread about the possibility that it was his own sister, the future queen of Spain, who had that responsibility. Their role is to guide the confirmed in the Catholic faith for the rest of his life. Claudio Alvarez
Dressed in street clothes (nothing formal, but not with the school uniform, as is usual in communion) and all combined with the same chromatic range, the first to get in front of the spotlights have been Felipe, Letizia, Leonor and the great protagonist, Sofia. Then, their grandparents have also joined – Ana Togores has not been placed in the family photo – to complete a picture in which they have all shown themselves together and happy. In addition, Princess Leonor has behaved in an especially affectionate way both with her grandmother, Queen Sofia, and with her little sister, first by going to pick her up to join the family photo and then by hugging her to enter the church together. King Felipe has served as her godfather at the ceremony, as he did during Leonor's confirmation, despite the information that had spread this morning about the possibility that it was his own sister, the future queen of Spain, who had that responsibility. His role, in any case, is to guide the confirmed in the Catholic faith for the rest of his life.
About two o'clock in the afternoon, Sofia, already confirmed in a mass officiated by the episcopal vicar Juan Carlos Merino, accompanied by the two chaplains of the school, has left the church accompanied by her family, which has mixed with the rest of the attendees as one more. After the ceremony, which lasted for just over an hour, the family has returned to pose for the graphic media gathered and has starred in gestures of cordiality, especially from the queen with her mother and mother-in-law, whom she has grabbed by the arm to repeat the stamp of the arrival. The infanta has not given statements to the press, but she has kindly greeted several curious people who have approached the place, shaking their hands just like her father, who has accompanied her at all times.
As in so many other families, real or not, the younger sister follows in the footsteps of the eldest. Infanta Sofia, second in the line of succession, made communion six years ago (two years after her sister and heir to the throne, who was then 15 years old, since she turns in October), on May 17, 2017, in this same church. And, also like Leonor, in that parish she has received confirmation discreetly, but she is accompanied by her two maternal grandmothers and her maternal grandfather, as there are no restrictions due to the pandemic. Along with Sofia, 17 more roommates of the ESO of the Santa María de los Rosales school, the private and secular center where she studies and which is just one kilometer away, have been confirmed. In this center it is tradition to make the confirmation in first of Bachiller, but, as happened with her sister Leonor, the ceremony has been advanced one year so that the Infanta Sofia fulfills this requirement before leaving for Wales to continue with her studies. One of the few differences with the confirmation of the crown princess, which took place at the end of May 2021, is that this time masks have not been mandatory nor have there been capacity restrictions due to a pandemic that this month of May has ceased to be an international health emergency.
As is tradition in the Madrid school, Sofía de Borbón participated in a spiritual retreat a few days ago with classmates in a village in the mountains of Madrid. The youngest daughter of the kings attended yesterday, Wednesday, the confirmation ceremony of the first group of schoolmates who have received this sacrament for the friendship she has with them.
Princess Leonor, hugging her grandmother, Queen Sofia, at the entrance of the church. Claudio Alvarez
This is one of Sofia's last acts with her schoolmates in Madrid. The infanta will leave her school, which has seen her grow since she began schooling, to go to study the Baccalaureate at the Atlantic College of Wales, where her sister Leonor has also just finished her studies and where, in fact, she celebrated her graduation at the end of last week with her sister and her parents. Once she finishes her studies in Wales, it is unknown which path the infanta will take. While Leonor will begin her military training next August, for which she will spend three years in the land, sea and air armies, it is more likely that Sofia will decide to study a university career when she reaches the age of majority. It will be from there when the trajectories of the sisters, almost identical until now, begin to take directions, yes, very different.