Her Royal Highness Infanta Sofía de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz is celebrating her birthday.
The youngest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe and Letizia, turns 17 and is already preparing to face her first institutional act alone.
Infanta Sofia of Spain turns 17 years old
On April 29, 2007, Sofía de Borbón was born at the Ruber Internacional clinic in Madrid.
The youngest child of Felipe and Letizia was born weighing approximately 3.5 kilograms and measuring around 50 centimeters.
When Sofia was born, she was fourth in the line of succession to the Spanish throne, after her older sister, Princess Leonor, and her father, Prince Felipe (now King Felipe VI).
She was baptized at La Zarzuela two months later, with Bulgarian Prince Konstantin-Assen and her grandmother Paloma Rocasolano as godparents.
Like her sister Leonor, she was also presented before the Virgin of Atocha, the patron saint of Spanish royalty.
Since the proclamation of Felipe VI almost ten years ago, the Infanta has been part of the Spanish royal family, along with her parents, her sister and her grandparents, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
Over the years, Sofia and her sister Leonor, 18, have created a very special bond since they studied together at the Santa Maria de los Rosales School in Madrid.
Both Sofia and Leonor share hobbies such as horseback riding, skiing and reading, although their favorite sport is soccer.
The two sisters have demonstrated on numerous occasions how close they are, supporting each other at official acts and important events.
However, the two separated when Leonor spent two years in Wales, while Sofia studied in Madrid.
Now, Leonor receives military training in Zaragoza and Sofia studies in Wales.
The sisters manage to reunite when their vacations coincide.
Since then, the Infanta Sofia has molded her own personality and unique style that distinguishes her from her sister, Princess Leonor.
Her life has taken an interesting turn since she began her studies at a boarding school in Wales where she will be celebrating her 17th birthday.
This new chapter in Sofia’s life has given her the opportunity for the first time to live away from her parents, away from home, and away from the protocol and institutional demands of her residence in Zarzuela.
Sofia’s prominence
Throughout her growing up, Infanta Sofia had only limited herself to accompanying her parents and sister to certain public events and official ceremonies.
Her growing prominence began in 2020 when she read an excerpt from “Don Quijote” for Book Day.
In 2021 she participated in her first solo event alongside Leonor, planting a tree in Madrid for the environment.
Sofia in her first solo act
Although her presence at these events is less frequent compared to her older sister, Sofia will now face her first solo role representing the Spanish monarchy.
A few weeks ago it became known that the Infanta Sofia will be responsible for presiding over the awards ceremony of a new photography contest organized by the public body Patrimonio Nacional.
This award will bear her name and the winners will be known in October, but so far it has not been revealed when they will be delivered.
King Felipe VI of Spain had already anticipated that he was counting on the Infanta to represent the Crown.
“The continuity (of the monarchy) is represented today, logically, by the Princess of Asturias, but also, we must not forget, with the company of her sister, the Infanta Sofia, who has to help a lot,” he said at an event in Madrid in March.
Sofia will finish her first year of high school in June, indicating that when the awards are made she will already be studying her second year in Wales.