Spanish Coronation – a low key affair

The coronation of Felipe VI is scheduled to take place on June 19, but it will be a low key affair with none of the pomp and circumstance you might expect from such an historical event.

As yet, none of the members of the Spanish royal family or any heads of state are due to attend the quiet coronation ceremony, which will take place alongside a joint session in Spain’s Congress and Senate in Madrid. 

A statement from the royal household said: “We have very little time, and there is no room on the benches of the lower chamber. We aren’t going to make people come just to leave them outside.” The decision was further justified by the palace saying that there had been no precedent to follow; the last abdication was in 1772.

A mass, which is usual after a coronation in Spain, is also expected to be off the agenda although there will be military honours outside Congress where the new King will be present in full military regalia.

The Zarzuela Royal Palace has not even confirmed if the present King Juan Carlos and his wife Queen Sofia will attend, and there is obviously heavy speculation whether Princess Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin, will be there, due to their own current troubles.

Understandably the Spanish population is disappointed that an occasion like this is to be such a non-event, but they just might catch a glimpse of their new King, he is expected to begin a tour around Spain and several countries abroad. He will be accompanied by Princess Letizia, and the tour is likely to include Portugal, France and Morocco.

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