King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain's State Visit to the UK has been confirmed
(photo casareal)
The Spanish State Visit to the UK will take place in June. Buckingham Palace announced this morning that King Felipe and Queen Letizia have accepted the Queen's invitation to make the visit this summer.
The State Visit had been planned for March 2016 but was cancelled because of the political situation in Spain following inconclusive general elections in December 2015. There had been speculation in recent days that the rescheduled trip would take place this June with Spanish papers all but announcing the dates of 6th to 8th several times in recent days.
The confirmation that Felipe and Letizia will enjoy a June State Visit also indicates that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, will be given the same honour much later in the year. When Theresa May extended the invitation to President Trump in January, there was talk of holding his State Visit in the summer but it seems now that he will be a guest of the Queen in the autumn.
This will be the first Spanish State Visit to the UK for 31 years. King Felipe's parents, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, took part in a hugely successful trip in April 1986 when they, too, were welcomed to Windsor Castle. It will be Felipe and Letizia's second State Visit of the year - they are due in Japan in April. But Spanish media are already focusing on this as the 'star' visit so far of the reign of the newest king on the continent. Elizabeth II, the history maker, will welcome Felipe VI, the newcomer to the club of European monarchs to one of the most ancient royal buildings in the world in just a few months time. State Visit excitement starts now.
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