Royal Profile: 40 Facts about Queen Sofia of Spain

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  1. Queen Sofia of Spain was born Princess Sophia of Greece & Denmark on 2 November 1938 as the eldest child of King Paul I & Queen Fredrika of Greece {Source}.
  2. She has two younger siblings:
    1. King Constantine II (1940)
    2. Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark (1942)
  3. She has one sister-in-law:
    1. Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946, m. 1964)
  4. Through her borther and sister-in-law, she has two nieces:
    1. Princess Alexia of Greece & Denmark(1965)
      1. Carlos Morales Quintana
    2. Princess Theodora of Greece & Denmark (1983)
  5. Queen Sofia is also the aunt to:
    1. Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark (1967)
      1. Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece & Princess of Denmark
    2. Prince Nikolaos of Greece & Denmark (1969)
      1. Princess Tatiana of Greece (m. 2010)
    3. Prince Philippos of Greece (1986)
  6. She has five great-nephews:
    1. Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece & Denmark (named after his grandfather), (1998)
    2. Prince Achileas-Andreas of Greece & Denmark (2000)
    3. Prince Odysseas-Kimon of Greece (2004)
    4. Carlos Morales y de Grecia (2005)
    5. Prince Aristidis-Stavros of Greece (2008)
  7. Her  great nieces are:
    1. Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece & Denmark (1996)
    2. Arrietta Morales y de Grecia (2002)
    3. Ana María Morales y de Grecia (2003)
    4. Amelia Morales y de Grecia (2007)
  8. During WWII, she lived in South Africa and Egypt {Source}.
  9. After the war, she returned to Greece, and was sent to Germany for boarding school {Source}.
  10. Upon graduation from Schloss Salem, she returned to Greece, where she specialized in childcare, music and archaeology at university {Source}.
  11. During the 1960 Olympics, she competed with the Greek sailing team {Source}.
  12. This was a tradition she would pass on to her two younger children, who would later go on to compete for Spain in the same sport.
  13. On 14 May 1942, she would marry Infante Juan Carlos de Bourbon y Bouron {Source}.
  14. With Juan Carlos, she has two daughters:
    1. Infanta Elena of Spain, The Duchess of Lugo (1963)
    2. Infanta Cristina of Spain (1965)
      1. Iñaki Urdangarín
  15. She also has one son and a daughter-in-law:
  16.  Through her children, she has four grandsons:
    2. Don Juan Urdangarín y de Borbón (1999)
    3. Don Pablo Urdangarín y de Borbón (2000)
  17. She also has four granddaughters:
    1. Doña Victoria Federica de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbón (2000)
    2. Doña Irene Urdangarín y Bórbon (2005)
    3. Leonor, Princess of Asturias (2005)
    4. The Infanta Sofia of Spain (2007)
  18. Her sisters-in-law and their husbads are
    1. Infanta María del Pilar Alfonsa Juana Victoria Luisa Ignacia y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz, Grandee of Spain, Dowager Viscountess de la Torre (1936)
      1. Don Luis Gómez-Acebo y Duque de Estrada, Viscount de la Torre, Grandee of Spain (1934-1991, m. 1964
    2. Infanta Margarita María de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua y Todos los Santos (et omnes Sancti) of Spain, Duchess of Soria, 2nd Duchess of Hernani (1939)
      1. Don Carlos Zurita y Delgado (1972)
  19. Through her husband, she is an aunt to the following nephews and nieces-in-law:
    1. Don Juan Filiberto Nicolás Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón, The Viscount de la Torre (1969)
      1. Winston Holmes Carney (m. 2014)
    2. Don Bruno Alejandro Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (1971)
      1. Bárbara Cano y de la Plaza (m. 2002)
    3. Don Luis Beltrán Ataúlfo Alfonso Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (1973)
      1. Laura Ponte y Martinez (m. 2004, div. 2011)
      2. Andrea Pascual Vicens (m. 2016)
    4. Don Alfonso Juan Carlos Zurita y de Bourbon (1973)
    5. Don Fernando Humberto Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (1974)
      1.  Mónica Martín Luque (m. 2004, div. 2013)
      2.  Nadia Halamandari (m. 2016)
  20. From her sisters-in-law, she has two nieces and a former nephew-in-law:
    1. Doña María de Fátima Simoneta Luisa Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (1968)
    2. Don José Miguel Fernández-Sastrón (1959, m. 1990-2012, div)
    3. Doña Maria Sofia Emilia Carmen Zurita y de Bourbon (1975)
  21. From her husband's side of the family, her great-nieces  include:
    1. María de las Mercedes Fernández-Sastrón y Gómez-Acebo (2000)
    2. Laura Gómez-Acebo y Ponte (2006)
  22. On King Juan Carlos's side of her family, her great nephews are:
    1. Luis Juan Fernández-Sastrón y Gómez-Acebo (1991)
    2. Pablo Fernández-Sastrón y Gómez-Acebo (1995)
    3. Alejandro Juan Gómez-Acebo y Cano (2004)
    4. Guillermo Gómez-Acebo y Cano (2005)
    5. Luis Felipe Gómez-Acebo y Ponte (2005)
    6. Álvaro Gómez-Acebo y Cano (2011)
    7. Nicolás Gómez-Acebo y Carney (2013)
    8. Juan Gómez-Acebo y Pascual (2016) {Source}
    9. Nicolás Gómez-Acebo y Halamandari (2016)
  23. As Queen, she devoted herself both in official capacity and with social and welfare activities {Source}.
  24. She is executive president of the Queen Sofia Foundation {Source}.
  25. She holds honorary roles in the following organizations {Source}:
    1.  Foundation Against Drug Addiction (Honorary President)
    2. The Royal Board on Disability (Honorary President)
    3. The Queen Sofia College of Music (Honorary President)
  26. She also has received a number of honorary degrees, including {Source}:
    1. Universities of Rosario
    2. University of Cambridge
    3. University of Oxford
    4. Georgetown University
    5. Evora University
    6. New York University
    7. Seisen University
  27. She is Queen Victoria's greatx2 granddaughter through her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, Princess Royal.
  28. Her ancestry consists of  Greek, Danish, German, Russian, and British.
  29. Through her father, she is the niece of:
    1. King George II of Greece
      1. Princess Elisabeth of Romania
    2. King Alexander of Greece
      1. Aspasia Manos
    3. Helena, Queen Mother of Romania
      1. King Carol II of Romania
    4. Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark, Duchess of Spoleto
      1.  Prince Aimone, Duke of Spoleto
    5. Princess Katherine of Greece & Denmark, later known as Lady Katherine Brandram
      1. Major Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram
  30. Her paternal first cousins consist of:
    1. Alexandra, Queen of Yugoslavia (1921-1993)
      1. King Peter II of Yugoslavia (1923-1970, m. 1944)
    2. King Mihai I of Romania (1921-2017)
      1. Queen Ana of Romania (1923-2016, m. 1948)
    3. Richard Paul George Andrew Brandram (1948)
      1. Jennifer Steele (m. 1975-1993, div)
      2. Katherine Moreton (m. 2009)
  31. Her paternal  first cousins 1x removed and their spouses are:
    1. Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (1943)
      1. Princess Claude of Orleans (m. 1964-1982, div)
    2. Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1945)
      1. Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza (m. 1972-1985, div)
      2. Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia (m. 1985)
    3. Margareta, Custodian of the Royal Crown of Romania (1949
      1. Radu Duda (m. 1996)
    4. Princess Elena of Romania (1950)
      1. Robin Medforth-Mills (m. 1983-1991, div) 
      2.  Alexander McAteer (m.1998)
    5. Irina Walker (1953
      1. John Kreuger (m. 1983-2003, div)
      2. John Wesley Walker (m. 2007)
    6. Princess Sophie of Romania (1957)
      1. Alain Michel Biarneix  (m. 1998-2002, div)
    7. Princess Maria of Romania (1964)
      1. Kazimierz Wiesław Mystkowski (m. 1995-2003, div)
    8. Sophie Eila Brandram (1981)
      1. Humphrey Voelcker  (m. 2017)
    9. Nicholas George Brandram (1982)
      1. Katrina Davis (m. 2011, div)
    10. Alexia Katherine Brandram (1985
      1. William Hicks on 29 April 2016.
  32. Her paternal  first cousins 2x removed and their spouses are:
    1. Princess Bianca Irene Olga Elena Isabella Fiorenza Maria (1966)
      1. Giberto Carbonello Tiberto Maria, Count Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga
    2. Prince Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amedeo Elena Maria Fiorenzo, Duke of Apulia (1967)
      1. Princess Olga Isabella of Greece
    3. Princess Mafalda Giovanna Shams Maria Fiorenza Isabella (1969)
      1. Don Alessandro Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau dei principi di Palazzolo (m.1994-2000, div)
      2. Francesco Ferrante Carlo Napoleone, 10th Baron Lombardo di San Chirico (m. 2001)
    4. Peter, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia (1980)
    5. Prince Philip of Yugoslaiva(1982)
      1. Danica Marinković (1986), m. 2017)
    6. Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (1982)
    7. Michael-Torsten Kreuger (1984)
      1. Tara Marie Littlefield (m. 2011
    8. Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (1985)
      1. Alina Maria Binder (m. 2018)
    9. Angelica-Margareta Bianca de Roumanie Kreuger Knight (1986)
      1. Richard Robert Knight (m. 2009)
    10. Elisabeta-Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (1989)
    11. Elisabeta-Maria de Roumanie Biarneix (1999)
    12. Maximillian Walter Voelcker (2018)
  33. Her paternal first cousins 3x removed are:
    1. Viola Moreschina Nuschi Adec Nicoletta Maria Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (1991)
    2. Vera Clementina Verde Aimone Elena Maria Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (1993)
    3. Mafalda Violante Giovanna Olga MariaArrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (1997)
    4. Maddalena Smeralda brandolina Maria Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (2000)
    5. Leonardo Amedeo Moreschino Sai Maria Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga (2001)
    6. Nobile Anna Egizia Maria Carla Chiara Benedetta Lombardo di San Chirico (1999)
    7. Nobile Carlo Ferrante Giovanni Francesco Lombardo di San Chirico (2001)
    8. Nobile Elena Maria Carlotta Lombardo di San Chirico(2003)
    9. Courtney Bianca Knight ( 2007)
    10. Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Prince of Piedmont (2009)
    11. Diana Knight (2011)
    12. Prince Amedeo Michele of Savoy-Aosta, The Duke of the Abruzzi (2011) 
    13. Kohen Kreuger (2012)
    14. Princess Isabella Vita Marina of Savoy-Aosta(2012)
    15. Prince Stefan of Serbia (2018)
  34. On her mother's side, she is the niece of:
    1. Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover
      1. Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg(1925–1980, m. 1951)
      2.  Countess Monika of Solms-Laubach(1929–2015, m. 1981)
    2. Prince George William of Hanover (1915-2006)
    3. Prince Christian Oscar of Hanover (1919-1981)
      1. Mireille Dutry (1946, m. 1963-1976, div)
    4. Prince Welf Henry of Hanover (1923-1997)
      1. Alexandra Prinzessin von Hannover (1937-2015, m. 1960)
  35. Her maternal 1st cousins are:
    1. Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (1947-1981)
      1. Wibke van Gunsteren  (m. 1969)
    2. Prince Georg of Hanover (1949)
      1. Victoria Anne Bee (m. 1973)
    3. Princess Marie of Hanover, Countess von Hochberg (1952)
      1. Count Michael von Hochberg
    4. Prince Ernest August V of Hanover (1954)
      1. Chantal Hochuli
      2. Princess Caroline of Hanover (m. 1999)
    5. Princess Friederike of Hanover (1954)
      1. Jerry William Cyr (m. 1979)
    6. Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanver (1955-1988)
      1. Countess Isabelle von Thurn und Valssassina-Como Vercelli (1962-1988)
    7. Princess Olga Sophie of Hanover (1958)
    8. Princess Alexandra Irene of Hanover, Princess of Leiningen (1959)
      1. Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen
    9. Prince Heinrich of Hanover (1961)
      1. Thyra Sixtina Donata von Westernhagen (1973, m. 1999)
    10. Princess Caroline-Luise of Hanover (1965)
      1. Bryan Samuel Goswick (m. 2014)
    11. Princess Mireille Viktoria Luise of Hanover (1971)
  36. Her maternal 1st cousins 1x removed and their spouses are:
    1. Princess Saskia of Hanover (1970)
      1. Michael Alexander Robert Naylor-Leyland (m. 1990, div)
      2. Edward Hooper (m. 2007)
    2. Vera Alice Prinzessin von Hannover(1976)
      1. Manuel Dmoch (1977, m. 2006)
    3. Nora Sophie Prinzessin von Hannover (1979)
      1. Christian Falk (m. 2007)
    4. Ferdinand Heinrich Emich Christian Karl, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen (1982)
      1. Princess Viktoria-Luise of Prussia (m. 2017)
    5. Julia Emma Cyr (1982)
    6. Prince Ernest August VI of Hanover (1984)
      1. Ekaterina Malysheva (m. 2017)
    7. Princess Olga Margarita of Leiningen (1984)
    8. Prince Christian of Hanover (1985)
      1. Alessandra de Osma (1986, m. 2018)
    9. Count Conrad von Hochberg (1985)
    10. Jean-Paul Welf Cyr (1985)
    11. Count Georg von Hochberg (1987)
    12. Prince Hermann Ernst Johann Albrecht Paul of Leiningen (1987)
      1. Isabelle Heubach (m. 2017)
    13. Prince Otto of Hanover (1988)
    14. Princess Alexandra of Hanover (1999)
    15. Prince Albert of Hanover (1999)
    16. Princess Eugenia of Hanover (2001)
    17. Prince Julius of Hanover (2006)
  37. Her maternal 1st cousins 2x removed are:
    1. Jake John Naylor-Leyland (1993)
    2. Gabriel George Naylor-Leyland (1996)
    3. Louis Ivan Welf Hooper (2007)
    4. Celina Sophie Dmoch(2007)
    5. Konstantin Georg Erik Falk (2007)
    6. Leopold Welf Christian Falk (2009)
    7. Elena Luisa Dmoch (2009)
    8. Princess Elisabeth of Hanover (2017)
    9. Prince xyz of Hanover (2019, due in April, Elisabeth's little brother)
  38. She was named for her paternal grandmother Princess Sophia of Prussia.
  39. Her youngest granddaughter is named for her, The Infanta Sofia of Spain.
  40. On the occasion of her 70th birthday, she made a number of conservative ideological statements on issues then being debated in Spanish society. These statements were published by the Opus Dei journalist Pilar Urbano, and included Queen Sofía's rejection of same-sex marriage, rejection of gay pride celebration, anti-abortion position and defence of religious education in schools. Her opinions produced great unrest among progressive sectors of Spanish society, and prompted criticism of her for getting involved in partisan opinions against her constitutional mandate {Source}

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