Last year, members of the royal family received a total of 301 gifts, of which half went to Philip VI (150). Among them, there was a Ukrainian flag delivered by fighters from this country, guayaberas, a Colombian hat, a bicycle or the Legion cap.
The King’s House has posted on its website the list of institutional giftsa practice that began to be applied from the beginning of the reign as a gesture of transparency, although since 2021 it does not include King Juan Carlos after his departure to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).
The Queen LetiziaFor his part, he received 72 gifts; the Princess Eleanor, fourteen; the Infanta Sofia two, and the Queen Sofia, eight. To these we must add around half a hundred intended for the kings as a couple, their daughters or the four of them.
A good part of the gifts received by the Princess of Asturias were on the occasion of her 18th birthday and the swearing in of the Constitution in Congress. The president of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, gave him two books: the Magna Carta of 1978 and Consolidated treaties. Charter of Fundamental Rights.
They also gave him an image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus; a Santina pendant; several books and a scabbard commemorating his oath and brooch. On the sidelines of her birthday, Leonor de Borbón was given a legionnaire’s hat, known as ‘chapiri’, by the command of this unit’s barracks in Ronda (Málaga).
One of the most symbolic gifts addressed to Felipe VI is the flag of Ukraine with dedications of fighters of this country who were admitted to the General Defense Hospital of Zaragoza. From some Latin American presidents, the monarch received several guayaberas, a cigar box (humidor), a poncho, a typical Colombian hat and two candelabras.
Other gifts to Don Felipe were a bicycle, a knife in a wooden box, a Mortadelo and Filemón comic book, a teapot set, the model of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, the script for an episode of the series The cable girls, a stuffed animal or a personalized San FermÃn handkerchief. Added to this are traditional books, cases, sculptures, paintings, trays, coins, plaques, photos, medals or prints.
Queen Letizia was given a Ukrainian traditional blouse, along with three coins with the symbols of this country. Also several books, clothing, pendants, bracelets and some espadrilles.
Infanta SofÃa took as a gift a ball signed by the Real Madrid and Osasuna teams, finalists in the last edition of the Copa del Rey. Among the presents intended for Queen Sofia, there was a portrait of Princess Leonor, the work of the winner of a painting competition.
The rule established by the King’s House is that the gifts received by members of the royal family pass into the hands of National Heritage.
Almost half of the autonomies gave gifts
The autonomous governments of Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Murcia and Ceuta and the city councils of Barcelona, ​​Córdoba, Jaén, Málaga and Pamplona, ​​among others, gave gifts last year to members of the Royal Family.
To the king, the then presidents of the Government and the Cortes of Aragon, Javier Lambán and Javier Sada, gave him a gift during his January 2023 visit to the community. folder with a miniature reproduction of the cover of the Statute of Autonomy and a framed graphic work, respectively.
At the Fitur tourism fair, the king, like the queen, received from the then president of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, various books and prints and promotional items. Months later, her successor on the Board, MarÃa Guardiola, gave the queen a traditional printed scarf during the reception on October 12 on the occasion of the National Day. The president of Cantabria, MarÃa José Sáenz de Buruaga, sent them a poster in December as an institutional gift.
Last year, on the occasion of her oath of the Constitution before the Cortes Generales, the Princess of Asturias received a brooch of the Caravaca Cross of the president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras; a coat of arms of Ceuta of the president of the autonomous city, Juan Jesús Vivas; and a set of earrings from the president of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco.
Also a earring set The president of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens, sent him as an institutional gift, while the president of Asturias, Adrián Barbón, gave him a Santina pendant.
Among the city councils, the former mayor of Pamplona gave a gift in 2023 personalized San Fermin scarf to the king and another to the queen and a reproduction of the wax seal of the city to both jointly for the VI centenary of the Privilege of the Union.
Don Felipe received the book Barcelona and the Mortadelo and Filemón comic Barcelona ’92’ from the hands of the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; a framed shield of Jaén and a book by the mayor, then Julio Millán; a logo of ‘Asturian cider culture’, among other things, of the mayor of Villaviciosa (Asturias), Alejandro Vega; and a painting of the Madrid town hall of Chinchón.
Doña Letizia was presented with a figure of the Lady of Elche by the Elche stand at Fitur and two sets of earrings and two barrettes for the mayor of Córdoba, José MarÃa Bellido. Queen SofÃa, with a commemorative medal and a silk scarf by the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the figure ‘La Fragatina’ by the mayor of Fraga (Huesca), then Santiago Burgos.
