Queen Sofia: Europe's Lonely Queen
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| Queen Sofia of Spain, Europe's lonely queen consort |
In the May 20 article of The
Daily Guardian, Queen Sofia of Spain has been labeled as Europe’s loneliest
“Europe’s lonely queen consort.”
I can tell.
From the recent scandals that rocked the House of Bourbon to
reports of his husband’s infidelity, Queen Sofia, who was born into the Greek
Royal Family, could only wish to escape these heartbreaking events and enjoy
the company of his relatives in England. But that never happened. Forty-eight
hours before her flight to London, the powers-that-be in the government, angry
over Britain’s stubbornness to return the much-disputed rock of Gibraltar,
cancelled her trip on her behalf. This left Queen Sofia lonelier than ever.
“She was really looking forward to it,” said Pilar Eyre,
whose book The Loneliness of the Queen
has been top of the best seller list in Spain since it was published in
January. “It was a huge blow for her to be stopped from attending.”
On May 19, Spanish newspaper El Mundo featured a huge picture of the 27 royals, with the
headline: “The only absence was Cousin Sofia.”
The newspaper also pointed out that protocol would have
probably seen Queen Sofia seated next to Queen Elizabeth, owing to their close
family ties.
“It was to be a real treat for her to see her family, get
dressed up and also relax with friends who live similar lifestyles,” said Eyre.
“But now she has to return to her role of supporting the
King in silence, and just keep her head down. She is suffering a huge amount.”
However, even Queen Sofia’s marriage is in under fire and
reports that the king and she have been living apart for many years already. Eyre
also notes that the reserved but elegant grandmother has few real friends in
Spain. Inside the Zarzuela Palace, there is an existing rift between between
the King's "team" and the Queen's ladies in waiting.
Queen Sofia, a sister of Greece’s exiled King Constantine
and cousin of Prince Philip, is in aspect opposite to King Juan Carlos. She is
a vegetarian who disdains bullfighting and rarely speaks in public because of
her heavily-accented Spanish. The king meanwhile is known for his straight talking
personality and his passion for fast cars, sailing and skiing.
“It was a marriage of convenience,” says Eyre. “They have
been living separate lives for a long time.
“But it is fair to say that, in a long and unhappy history,
this is a particularly painful moment.”
This is quite sad in a number of ways...the unhappy life she leads, the scandal she's been forced into the public eye of, government duty required to trump her personal feelings, etc. This is a true reflection of the lives the many royals live. Not necessarily the unhappy elements, though they are often there, but the fierce loyalty to country over personal desires. Sophia probably badly wished to be there to support her friends and cousins the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and mingle with a room full of some of the very few in the world who truly understand her and her lifestyle, but she is first and foremost Spain's queen. And as such, certain personal concessions must be made.
ReplyDeleteI hope that there's a silver-lining here, and that people view this example and realize just how hard working royals are for their governments, their countries, and their people.
She is a queen 'consort', so she would not have appeared the photograph alongside the 27 'rex' and 'regnant' kings and queens.
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