In a surprising turn of events, Irene Urdangarin, the youngest child of Infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin, has found her first love.
Although Irene is currently volunteering in Cambodia, her heart seems to have found its home in the arms of a young man of noble birth.
Princess Leonor’s cousin is on her gap year in one of the poorest countries in the world.
The 18-year-old has left behind her life in Switzerland and has given up, at least for the time being, her plans to study hotel management.
Instead, she decided to work with an NGO founded by a family friend, priest Enrique Figaredo.
At the end of January, Irene arrived in Battambang, one of the most vulnerable areas of Cambodia, after paying for her own plane ticket.
There she lives with another young volunteer and works every day on education and support projects for children with physical or mental disabilities, according to the Spanish press.
She also visits the most remote villages where she lives with local families and learns about their needs.
The niece of King Felipe VI, tenth in line to the Spanish throne, has shown a great spirit of solidarity, and an independent personality and has now started an affair.
According to ¡Hola! magazine, Irene Urdangarin has been dating a young man named Juan Urquijo since last fall.
Irene Urdangarin Boyfriend: Who is Juan Urquijo?
Juan Urquijo, 25, was born into a golden cradle in Madrid. His father, Lucas Urquijo Fernández de Araoz, is the great-grandson of the renowned doctor Gregorio Marañón and has held high positions in companies such as Roche Farma and El Corte Inglés.
His mother, Blanca Moreno, owns a bookbinding school and is the daughter of Her Royal Highness Teresa de Borbón-Dos Sicilia y Borbón, cousin (not first cousin) of King Juan Carlos, Irene’s grandfather.
With an elite education, Juan studied at St. George’s in La Moraleja, where Victoria Federica was also enrolled, and later went to England to study Agricultural Engineering at the prestigious Royal Agricultural University.
There he specialized in Agribusiness and Game Management, demonstrating his passion for nature and the environment.
Juan is a versatile and adventurous young man. In 2016, he set a course for the Philippines to collaborate in agricultural tasks related to families at risk of exclusion.
In 2018, he worked at Viveros California in Valladolid, one of the best companies at European level in the implementation of techniques applied to strawberry and raspberry production.
In addition, she took the risk of setting up a company of Vietnamese pigs, an animal that made fashionable in high society thanks to Beatriz von Hardenberg, former Duchess of Seville.
The courtship between Irene and Juan seems to have arisen naturally, strengthened by a previous friendship dating back to childhood.
It was precisely Irene’s cousin, Victoria Federica, who brought about their reunion at a party last summer when both were on vacation.
Since then, the couple has been consolidating their relationship despite the distance, maintaining the illusion and the desire to meet again next summer and next year.