Happy Tuesday! I know this month’s Hot Guy post is several days late, but hopefully it’s awesomeness makes up for it. Since I got admonished when I claimed Crown Prince Haakon was the only royal dude who can really rock a beard, I decided to make the other royal dude who can really rock a beard into September’s Hot Guy of the Month. So let’s take a moment to enjoy King Felipe of Spain.
King Felipe VI of Spain was born Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia on January 30, 1968 to Infante Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark. From birth, Felipe was styled Infante, though is father did not become King until 1975. Felipe was given the title Prince of Asturias when he was named heir apparent in 1977. Felipe succeeded to the throne on June 19, 2014 following the abdication of Juan Carlos I.
A brief history of why Juan Carlos was not king until 1975: In 1931, elections favored an end to the monarchy and the establishment of a republic, so the King at the time (Alfonso XIII) went into exile amid civil unrest, but he did not abdicate. The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 and ended in 1939 with the victory of General Francisco Franco (who was aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy). Franco became dictator of Spain until his death in 1975. Before his death, Franco recognized Juan Carlos as his successor, so Juan Carlos was pronounced King when Franco died.
[2008]
From September 1985 to July 1988, Felipe did his military training at the General Military Academy, the Military Naval School, and the General Air Force Academy. As with the Wales boys, Felipe is a helicopter pilot, earning wings from the Air Force, Army, and Navy. As King and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Felipe holds the military ranks of Captain General of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.
[Washington, D.C. 1995]
As with our two previous Hot Guys (Crown Prince Haakon and Pierre Casiraghi), Felipe holds holds a Masters degree. Felipe graduated with a degree in Law from the Autónoma University of Madrid in 1993, and obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1995. Felipe speaks Spanish, Catalan, French, English, and some Greek.
In addition to his official duties at home and abroad, Felipe serves as Honorary President of several associations and foundations, such as the Prince of Asturias Foundation, the Prince of Girona Foundation, and the Hesperia Foundation. Note: both the Prince of Asturias Foundation and the Prince of Girona Foundation have changed their names to “Princess” to reflect the change of the Asturias title from Felipe to his daughter.
[Barcelona 1992]
Felipe is a keen sportsman, having participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Felipe was a member of the Spanish Olympic Sailing team in the Soling class, finishing in sixth place, and was awarded an Olympic Diploma. Felipe was Spain’s flag bearer in the Parade of the Nations during the opening ceremony.
On November 1, 2003, the Spanish Royal household announced Felipe’s engagement to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, a former television journalist, who had been married before (in 1998, with a divorce following in 1999). The couple married on May 22, 2004 at the Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid.
The couple’s first daughter, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, was born on October 31, 2005 and given the name Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz. Their second daughter, Infanta Sofia, was born on April 10, 2007 with the name Sofía de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz.
Felipe is a very tall man, standing 6′ 6″, but he looks so tiny standing next to Spanish basketball player, Pau Gasol, who stands at 7′ 0″.
Photos: Casa de S.M. el Rey / Getty
Okay, I love that picture of him in the flight suit. Even without the beard…wow! Another accomplished heir who got real degrees, speaks multiple languages, served in the military, was an Olympic athlete, married an accomplished, educated woman who isn’t afraid to work in her role and two gorgeous daughters.
I tell you the more I learn about other royals, the less I think of the BRF.
The flight suit/uniform wins every time!
King Felipe is hot; Prince Haakon – HOT…
Sadly for me, his hotness goes down exponentially without the beard.
YUMMY.
That is all!
He just gets better with age! King Felipe and Queen Letizia are perfect role models in every way. Lisa said it best … the more I learn about other royals, the less I think of the BRF.
I love the photo of him in the flight suit, sans beard. Also, a few of the more recent photos. Again, I am shocked by the difference in Letizia’s before and after photos. Her wedding pic showed a totally different woman.
I hope they are a happy couple and that they and their daughters are living a peaceful, joyful life together. The King and his wife work very diligently, representing their country with great purpose. They put others to shame. Wonder whom I am referring to?
Yes, yes, yes. Felipe is what I call a 21st century king. He is well rounded and is surrounded by strong women. I hope that he does not engage in any of the drama that his father easy embroiled in. Juan Carlos was a scoundrel and truly tarnished the crown.
And might I say that I love, love a tall man.
As we would say in the South, KMR – you did good.
My fave photo of the King is the one in which he is standing in front of the sign that reads Investors, etc. Love his smile in that picture. Also, he looks very sexy in the flight suit and no beard.
He is a very good looking older man to me. Just how old he is, I don’t know.
In the photo of the King, Leti and the two girls — where they are all seated, I liked the little girl leaning against her mom, but would have preferred seeing Leti connect with her. Instead, she’s just looking out to the photographer, smiling a huge smile. It would have been warmer and more loving to see a different response. A mom connecting lovingly with her child.
Not a huge fan of Leti. I used to be, but I am bored with her shallow take on plastic surgery. I know she works a great deal so I will give her that, but once I found out about all her physical changes thanks to a cosmetic surgeon, I was also turned off by her. Too much, Leti. Too much. She seemed very pretty before the changes. I guess, she was not confident in herself.
Felipe is 47.
Re Leti not connecting with her daughter: That’s just the photo I chose. There were others where they were more connected, but I liked the seated photo best so I chose that one.
Oh, I was not criticizing your choice in photos, KMR. Just didn’t like Leti’s not making more contact with her daughter. These are all snapped so quickly, however. I bet she was more demonstrative in other pictures. Just not as much a fan of Leti’s as I once was.
Oh, and thanks for his age. Looks older than 47. I guess it’s the grey in the beard.
I am not saying she hasn’t had cosmetic surgery, but wanted to add my own experience. I broke my nose as a young child and you have to wait until adulthood to have surgery. As soon as I could (health insurance needed), I had the surgery to fix where the break occured. I had no other surgery, but my looks changed a good deal.
As I aged from my teens into my twenties and became more lean with long distance running my face changed even more.
I have no idea how much plastic surgery Letizia has had over the years, but some of her changing apearance may be from a singular surgery, weight change, age and fillers/botox. Just asking: Does anyone know how much plastic surgery she has undergone over the years?
Please see Leti’s wedding photo in this KMR post
http://katemiddletonreview.com/2015/06/11/royal-round-up-royal-wedding-tiaras/
It looks more to me than a broken nose surgery. She was far different looking prior to her surgery and as another poster pointed out in a different KMR post, Leti really has taken on the look of Queen Rania. I am looking for a photo I once saw on the Internet, which shows a far different looking Leti. You almost cannot tell who she is.
If she was unhappy with her looks, I am sorry and could imagine a teeny little bit of surgery, but she changed so dramatically, it is almost hard to recognize who she really was. Her husband fell in love with the other looking Leti and apparently, went along with her transformation. I just am not comfortable with so much of a drastic change in anyone. But, that is me.
Wow! Thanks for the chance to see the change in Leti since the wedding. To me it looks like her chin is different in addition to her nose.
Yes. I am perplexed as to where I saw the photo of a brunette and very facially different Leti. I think I found it through a link someone posted on KMR in a different post. The article was written concerning scandals in the Spanish Royal Family. At any rate, Leti looked so different. Even from the wedding photos. If anyone remembers posting the link to the article, could you please post again. I think within that article was a link to the photo of Leti that I am remembering. BTW, G, you went through a great deal and I am sure your surgery helped you. Also, all the work you are doing to keep so physically fit. Good for you.
IMO, if she was doing surgery for vanity, she would have had the surgery before going into television journalism. I think she’s only had the rinoplasty, which was stated to be for medical reasons. If you look for profile pictures of her, you’ll see she still has as prominent a chin as ever, no surgery. Natural facial changes due to aging, plus botox, chemical peels, but only one surgery that I can tell.
Gasol played in the NBA. He’s not a soccer player, except maybe in his spare time 😉
I liked the picture of Felipe bearing the flag for the Olympics best, very nice!
lol shows you how much I pay attention to sports. Thank you for letting me know. I changed it. Funny thing is, I Googled him to get his height and still got his sport wrong.
Handsome! Intelligent! Sporty! I love the way he looks at his wife and his two girls. You can see the genuine love.
Wow! Spain has got themselves a fantastic, handsome leader.
and hardworking too!!
phillipe and leti sure do have good genes they look younger than kate and will, that pic with phillipe at the military academy he was what 40 years old and he still looks way hotter, I find it hand to believe he is almost 20 years older than william, wow!!!
Thank you for covering King Felipe, KMR!
He is simply hot…and please do check out Love, Lola’s blog; an article she wrote on her wonderful experience meeting King Felipe.
http://lovelolaheart.com/?p=920
I agree with what people are saying about the European royals being more accomplished than the brf. It seems the European royals all have higher education, speak more languages and truly feel the need to prepare themselves for their roles. The brf just thinKS they need to be born and divine right will do the rest.
I am a bit curious as to how many “Plugs” Love Lola receives on this site. I don’t mean to be rude, but it seems a bit out of place to be hawking her. She has even come on here to “hawk” herself. Am I a witch? (Change the w to b)
KMR posts on Love Lola quite frequently, as well. It sounds like they respect each other. These are two very different style blogs, though covering the same topics. I don’t feel that they are competition for each other… Just my take, of course.
I would agree. They both have unique and refreshing ways that they share. The commentary on both sites are awesome too.
I don’t look at other blogs, so I did not know that KMR posts there. I just found it odd that many times in the past posters have mentioned the site and Lola herself posted here. Good for her, then. I just found it strange. Thanks, Ray.
KMR and Love, Lola are the only two blogs I read and follow…I posted the link to Love. Lola’s blog as the writer shared her first hand personal experience meeting King Felipe; who not only is blessed with great looks but has a good heart. It was not intended to get click baits and I am truly sorry if my post has offended anyone. I should have checked with KMR if it is alright to put up a link here before posting. My sincere apologies to KMR, blog owner of Love, Lola and all the posters here. Please remove my post KMR if it is deemed inappropriate. Many thanks. m(_ _)m
Satsuki,
You did not offend me, but thanks for your post. I can see that you were drawing attention to more info on King Felipe. I was just curious as I had seen a few other such posts previously and wondered why people were pushing the site. As I said above, I don’t visit other Kate sites, so I had no clue that KMR posts on Lola’s site. I just knew Lola posted here.
Mea culpa.
Oops, Jenny and I are working together and prior to getting down to biz, we jumped onto KMR. She posted first and I then saw Satsuki’s post and wished to respond. I did so without using my own name and email address. Sorry. I have logged in now and just want to say again that Satsuki, I was just wondering why Love Lola was mentioned often on this site. I don’t visit her site, or other Kate ones. Now, I realize that KMR posts sometimes on the Lola site and Lola posts here. I was just curious. Thanks for your kind words. I hope I did not upset you.
Jenny & Mary Elizabeth:
Thank you for taking your time to explain and reply(*^-^*).
Have a wonderful weekend!
I remember reading this a while back. Being a gentleman never goes out of style.
Excellent choice. Felipe is such an accomplished, hard-working and handsome king. As the first commenter mentioned, the more I learn about other royals the less impressive the BRF appears.
Well, I could just cry; just saw the pictures of Felipe and Letizia in Washington, DC., and he came without a beard ¡¡
:'(