SPAIN: Spain's future Queen, Princess Letizia, gives birth to a girl named Leonor

Record ID: 248732

  • Title: SPAIN: Spain's future Queen, Princess Letizia, gives birth to a girl named Leonor
  • Date: 31st October 2005
  • Summary: (W3) MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 31 2005) (REUTERS) WELL WISHERS OUTSIDE CLINIC AS KING JUAN CARLOS AND QUEEN SOFIA ARRIVE
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA7OLJJP8ODFB8TV5O2YQY1K9QE
  • Story Text: Spain's future queen, Princess Letizia, gave birth on Monday (October 31) to her first child, a girl, lending urgency to a debate on changing the constitution to give women the same right as men to inherit the throne. The baby, named Leonor, is second in line to the Spanish throne after her father, Crown Prince Felipe of Borbon. She was born at 1:46 A.M. (0046 GMT) by caesarean section, doctors at Madrids Ruber International Clinic said. Although born three weeks early, the baby and her mother were said to be in perfect health. "This is the nicest thing that can happen to anyone in life. The princess and I are absolutely happy and radiant," Prince Felipe told a packed news conference at the hospital. King Juan Carlos And Queen Sofia arrived to visit the newest member of their family to a crowd of photographers, television crews and well-wishers.
    The birth comes 17 months after the glittering wedding of Felipe, now 37, and Letizia, a glamorous former television news reader now aged 33. Leonor is the seventh grandchild of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
    The birth of a girl lends urgency to proposals by Spain's 18-month-old Socialist government to reform the constitution to give male and female members of the royal family equal rights in succeeding to the throne. As things now stand, men take precedence over women in the line of succession, so if Felipe and Letizia later had a boy, he would be next in line to the throne, displacing Leonor.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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