Low key Letizia starts again

It was her first public engagement since the summer stint at the Marivent in Mallorca but Queen Letizia's reappearance on the royal agenda was surprisingly low key.  Along with King Felipe, who has taken on several engagements in the last two weeks, the queen visited a Picasso exhibition in Malaga before heading to the local car museum for a dinner at the start of the US Spanish Forum taking place in the town.  But the meal, like the monarchs, was very low key.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia arrive in Malaga

(photo casareal.es)

The couple arrived in the early evening with a healthy looking crowd waiting to greet them.  There was a round of applause for Felipe and Letizia as they made they way through the cobbled street to Picasso Museum in Malaga for a tour of the exhibitions on display there.  And the queen took up where she had left off just before her summer break - posing for a selfie with a young fan in the crowd.  

The queen and a fan - a selfie that meant a lot to one royal wellwisher

The couple then toured the museum, accompanied by Susana Diaz who is the president of the Governing Council of Andalucia.  And perhaps it was the bright outfit chosen by her host that made the queen look a little low key.  Susana Diaz, in a hot pink dress with white sleeves, dominated every photo she was in.

Pretty in pink and stealing the show - Letizia and Felipe try not to be distracted by the dress chosen by their host, Susana Diaz, on a trip to the Picasso Museum in Malaga

(photo casareal.es)

The royal couple then moved on to the Car Museum of Malaga where they attended a dinner that marked the start of the 19th US Spanish Forum which meets every year to discuss issues that link the two countries.  The king made a speech in which he talked about the importance of tourism to Malaga and Marbella.

http://t.co/3wTjGjF3Oe ¡Buenos días! Esta es nuestra #Portada de hoy, sábado 6 de septiembre #PortadaSUR #Málaga pic.twitter.com/KLTAbykaQy
— Diario SUR (@DiarioSUR) September 6, 2014

But the dinner itself was very relaxed and informal. The king and queen sat at a table in the middle of the museum on white chairs that looked a long way away from the grand galas they host in the Royal Palace in Madrid now that they are monarchs.

Sitting beneath the fire exit sign, the King and Queen of Spain enjoy a dinner in Malaga

The coming week will see an increase in engagements for Letizia as her autumn schedule gets under way and on September 8th the royal couple will host a visiting head of state at the Zarzuela for the first time as king and queen when they hold a lunch for the President of Panama.  The start of the new royal term might have been low key for Letizia but things look like they might be about to get busier.