King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain left Paris in the late afternoon of March 24th 2015 mourning with their fellow countrymen and women. The royals had arrived just hours earlier at the start of what was to be a three day State Visit. But within minutes of their arrival they learned of the plane crash in the Alps which had claimed 150 lives. King Felipe announced not long afterwards that the State Visit had been cancelled.
The King and Queen of Spain with the President of France
(photo Casa Real)
Flight MU 9525, operated by Germanwings, had been travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf. It came down in the Alps around 11am local time. Felipe and Letizia had left Madrid just hours earlier with a full ceremonial farewell but by the time they touched down in the French capital news of the disaster was coming through. Soon afterwards, the king expressed his condolences to those affected.
Felipe and Letizia held meetings with President Francois Hollande and Prime Minsiter, Manuel Valls, and everyone looked shocked and devastated by what had happened. It was the king himself who announced that the visit was cancelled and the royal couple then attended an emergency meeting of France's cabinet as more news came in. King Felipe also called the President of Germany, Joachim Gauck, to express his condolences.
El Rey agradece a Francia su ejemplo de rapidez y eficacia y transmite condolencias al Presidente de Alemania #4U9525pic.twitter.com/RrYvJTruzS
— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) March 24, 2015
King Felipe and Queen Letizia headed back to Madrid in the late afternoon. Three days of mourning have now been declared in Spain.
No comments:
Post a Comment