Royal Profile: Queen Sofia of Spain

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}.b She has two younger siblings, a sister-in-law, three nephews, two nieces, two nieces-in-law, two nephews-in-law, a soon-to-be nephew-in-law, four great nieces, and five great nephews:

1. King Constantine II (1940)
1. Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1940, m. 1964)
1. Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark (1965)
1. Carlos Morales Quintana (m. 1999)
1. Arrietta Morales y de Grecia (2002)
2. Ana María Morales y de Grecia (2003)
3. Carlos Morales y de Grecia (2005)
4. Amelia Morales y de Grecia (2007)
2. Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark (1967)
1. Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece (1968, m. 1995)
1. Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece & Denmark (1996)
2. Prince Constantine-Alexios of Greece & Denmark(1998)
3. Prince Achileas-Andreas of Greece & Denmark (2000)
4. Prince Odysseus-Kimon of Greece & Denmark (2004)
5. Prince Aristidis-Stavros of Greece & Denmark(2008)
3. Prince Nikolaos of Greece & Denmark (1969)
1. Princess Tatiana of Greece & Denmark (1980, m. 2010)
4. Princess Theodora of Greece & Denmark (1983)
1. Mr. Matthew Kumar (engaged November 2018)
5. Prince Philippos of Greece & Denmark (1986)
2. Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark (1942)

During WWII, she lived in South Africa and Egypt {Source}. After the war, she returned to Greece, and was sent to Germany for boarding school {Source}. Upon graduation from Schloss Salem, she returned to Greece, where she specialized in childcare, music and archaeology at university {Source}.

During the 1960 Olympics, she competed with the Greek sailing team {Source}. 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.

On 14 May 1942, she would marry Infante Juan Carlos de Bourbon y Bouron {Source}.
With Juan Carlos, she has two daughters, a son-in-law, a son, a daughter-in-law, a former son-in-law, four grandsons, and four granddaughters:

1. Infanta Elena of Spain, The Duchess of Lugo (1963)
1. Don Jaime de Marichalar (div 2010)
1. Don Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbón (1998)
2. Doña Victoria Federica de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbón (2000)
2. Infanta Cristina of Spain (1965)
1. Iñaki Urdangarín (1968, m.1997)
1. Don Juan Urdangarín y de Borbón (1999)
2. Don Pablo Urdangarín y de Borbón (2000)
3. Don Miguel Urdangarín y de Bórbon (2002)
4. Doña Irene Urdangarín y Bórbon (2005)
3. King Felipe VI of Spain (1968)
1. Queen Letizia of Spain (1972, m. 2004)
1. Leonor, Princess of Asturias (2005)
2. The Infanta Sofia of Spain (2007)

As Queen, she devoted herself both in official capacity and with social and welfare activities {Source}. She is executive president of the Queen Sofia Foundation {Source}. She holds honorary roles in the following organizations {Source}:

• Foundation Against Drug Addiction (Honorary President)
• The Royal Board on Disability (Honorary President)
• The Queen Sofia College of Music (Honorary President)
• She also has received a number of honorary degrees, including {Source}:
• Universities of Rosario
• University of Cambridge
• University of Oxford
• Georgetown University
• Evora University
• New York University
• Seisen University

She is Queen Victoria's greatx2 granddaughter through her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, Princess Royal. Her ancestry consists of Greek, Danish, German, Russian, and British.

She was named for her paternal grandmother Princess Sophia of Prussia. Her youngest granddaughter is named for her, The Infanta Sofia of Spain.

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 defense 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}