| Sofía | |||||
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.jpg) Sofía in 2009 | |||||
| Queen consort of Spain | |||||
| Tenure | 22 November 1975 –19 June 2014 | ||||
| Born | Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark (1938-11-02)2 November 1938 (age 87) Tatoi Palace,Athens,Kingdom of Greece | ||||
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| House | Glücksburg | ||||
| Father | Paul of Greece | ||||
| Mother | Frederica of Hanover | ||||
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Sofía (Sophia Margarita Victoria Frederica;Greek:Σοφία Μαργαρίτα Βικτωρία Φρειδερίκη,romanized:Sofía Margaríta Viktoría Freideríki; born 2 November 1938) is a member of theSpanish royal family who wasQueen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 as the wife ofKing Juan Carlos I untilhis abdication. She is the eldest and last surviving child ofKing Paul andQueen Frederica of Greece. She is also the last surviving grandchild ofKing Constantine I andQueen Sophia of Greece.
Sofía married then Infante Juan Carlos of Spain in 1962 and became queen of Spain upon her husband's accession in 1975.[1] On 19 June 2014,Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of their sonFelipe VI.[2] Since her spouse's abdication,Doña Sofía has usually been referred to asreina emérita ('queenemerita') by the press.[3]
Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born on 2 November 1938, atTatoi Palace inAcharnes, Athens, Greece, the eldest child ofKing Paul of Greece andPrincess Frederica of Hanover. Sofía is a member of theGreek branch of theSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty. Her brother was the deposedKing Constantine II and her sister wasPrincess Irene.
Her maternal grandmother,Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, wrote in her 1965 memoir: "I have always had a particular fondness for her, and esteemed her modesty, understanding and goodness coupled with her candid realism touches with a fine sense of humour. There, she is very much likeher father.My daughter told me what the little Sophia had once said to her about him: 'You know, Mama, I think we have the nicest Papa in the world.'"[4]
As her family was forced into exile during theSecond World War, she spent part of her childhood inEgypt, where she took her early education inEl Nasr Girls' College inAlexandria, and South Africa, where her sister Irene was born.[5] They returned to Greece in 1946. She finished her education at the prestigiousSchloss Salem boarding school in Southern Germany, and then studied childcare, music and archeology inAthens.[citation needed] She also studied atFitzwilliam College, Cambridge, a constituent college of theUniversity of Cambridge.[6] She was a reserve member, when her brother Constantine, as helmsman, led Greece'sgold medal-winning sailing team in the1960 Summer Olympics.[7]
Sofía met her paternal third cousin and maternal third cousin-once-removed, the then Infante Juan Carlos of Spain on acruise in the Greek Islands in 1954; they met again at thewedding of theDuke of Kent, her paternal second cousin, atYork Minster in June 1961.[8] Sofía and Juan Carlos married on 14 May 1962, at the CatholicCathedral of Saint Dionysius in Athens.[8]
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Sofía converted fromGreek Orthodoxy toCatholicism to become more palatable to Catholic Spain.[9]
Sofía was in Greece on a private visit to her brother,King Constantine II, when the 1967Greek military coup took place. Except for a brief stay for the funeral of her mother in 1981, Queen Sofía would not visit Greece until 1998.
In 1969, Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco named Juan Carlos his successor under the official title "Prince of Spain".[10] Juan Carlos acceded to the throne in 1975, upon Franco's death.[10] Juan Carlos, after his accession to the Spanish throne, returned with his family to theZarzuela Palace.
The couple has three children:Elena (born 20 December 1963);Cristina (born 13 June 1965); andFelipe (born 30 January 1968).[11]
French-Polish princess and Sofía cousinTatiana Radziwiłł was Sofía's main confident.[12]
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Besides accompanying her husband on official visits and occasions, Sofía also has solo engagements. In her first public appearance as Queen, Sofía attended aShabbat service at theBeth Yaacov synagogue in Madrid in June 1976, marking the first time in modern Spanish history that a member of the Spanish royal family had visited a Jewish house of worship.[13]
She is executive president of the Queen Sofía Foundation, which in 1993, sent funds for relief in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is honorary president of the Royal Board on Education and Care of Handicapped Persons of Spain, as well as the Spanish Foundation for Aid for Drug Addicts. Additionally, she has served as the patroness of theQueen Sofía Spanish Institute since 2003.
Sofía takes special interest in programs against drug addiction, travelling to conferences in both Spain and abroad. TheMuseo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is named after her, as isReina Sofía Airport inTenerife.
Sofía is an Honorary Member of theSan Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of theSpanish Royal Academy of History. She has received honorary doctorates from the Universities ofRosario (Bogotá),Valladolid,Cambridge,Oxford,Georgetown,Évora,St. Mary's University (Texas), andNew York.
Sofía has been honorary president of the SpanishUnicef Committee since 1971.[14] She has been working closely withDr. Muhammad Yunus on hisGrameen Bank, which offers microcredits to women across the world. Queen Sofía has travelled toBangladesh,Chile,Colombia,El Salvador andMexico to support the activities of the organization. Queen Sofía has also been a strong supporter ofSomaly Mam'sAgir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire, an NGO combattingchild prostitution and slavery in Cambodia. In 1998, Mam was awarded the prestigiousPrince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in the Queen's presence.
As Queen, Sofía never publicly commented on political issues. However, in October 2008,Pilar Urbano's bookLa Reina muy de cerca ("The Queen up close") sparked strong controversy as it contained alleged statements by the Queen on issues debated in Spanish society. She criticized the military intervention in Afghanistan, where Spanish troops were taking part at the time, defended religious education in schools, and expressed her conviction that gender violence publicity[clarification needed] would encourage new cases to occur. She also rejectedabortion andeuthanasia as well assame-sex marriage.[15][16] The Royal Household commented that the book "puts in Her Majesty's mouth alleged claims that [...] do not correspond exactly to the opinions expressed by Her Majesty".[17] While the two major parties -Socialists andPeople's Party - refused to comment,[18] her opinions were subjected to heavy criticism by Republican parties likeIU andERC andLGBT activists.[19][20][21]
In May 2012, Sofía was reportedly refused permission to attend the celebrations for theDiamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II by the Spanish government, citing tensions over fishing rights atGibraltar.[22]
In July 2012, Sofía visited the Philippines for a fourth time. She inspected several development projects around the former Spanish colony that her country's government is funding via theAgencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID). She visited theNational Library,National Museum and thePontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, which had the oldest extant university charter in Asia and housed the world's largest collection ofsuyat scripts. She also met with Spanish nationals residing in the Philippines, and attended a reception at the Spanish Embassy. She also attended astate dinner in her honour atMalacañan Palace hosted byPresidentBenigno Aquino III,[23][24] and thanked the president for promoting theSpanish language in the Philippine educational system.[25]
Followingher husband's abdication as King in 2014, Sofía has focused on her sponsoring activities,[26] spending her time betweenLa Zarzuela and, in the summer months, theMarivent Palace inPalma de Mallorca. She regularly accompanies her son and his family at events.[27][28]
In September 2025, Sofía opened the "Spain and the Birth of American Democracy: A History Symposium", cohosted by the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute and theDaughters of the American Revolution atDAR Constitution Hall inWashington, D.C.[29][30] The symposium, held in celebration of the upcomingUnited States Semiquincentennial, recognized Spain's role in theAmerican Revolutionary War and the cause forAmerican Independence from theBritish Empire.[31] Sofía was received at DAR Constitution Hall by DAR President GeneralGinnie Sebastian Storage.[29] She also visited theSpanish Embassy in the United States, where she was received by AmbassadorÁngeles Moreno Bau and met with María Isabel Valldecabres, president and general director of the National Mint and Stamp Factory, and Pilar Lladó Arburúa, the chair of the board of directors of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute.[32] While there, Sofía chaired the meeting of the executive committee of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute's board of trustees.[32]
Queen Sophia was awarded theOrder of the Queen of Sheba by EmperorHaile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1973 upon her and her husband King Juan Carlos's visit to the capital Addis Ababa.Sofía was appointed as a Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Carlos III on 10 May 1962[33] and a Dame Grand Cross of theOrder of Queen Maria Luisa on 14 May 1962.[citation needed] The Queen of Spain was elevated to Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III on 31 October 1983.[34] Since then, Queen Sofía has received different honours and decorations by more than 40 foreign states. In 2024, Queen Sofía was created as a Knight of theOrder of the Golden Fleece.[35]
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Queen Sofía of Spain Cadet branch of theHouse of Oldenburg Born: 2 November 1938 | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg | Queen consort of Spain 22 November 1975 – 18 June 2014 | Succeeded by |
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