Queen Sofia of Spain appeared emotional as she received a
surprise for her birthday.
A day after turning 87, Queen Sofia attended a concert at the
Theatre Royal in Madrid where where she found herself the star of
the show as the audience sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.
From the royal box, Queen Sofia heard a fulsome tribute to her
led by the singer and TV presenter, Alaska, who praised her for her
work supporting the arts.
She then invited the orchestra and audience to join in a chorus
of Happy Birthday which Queen Sofia acknowledged with smiles and
waves. It came just hours after her actual birthday which falls on
November 2.
The birthday surprise came as Sofia enjoyed a special concert
marking the 40th anniversary of the BMW Painting Prize which is
handed out every year to support Spanish culture and art.
Earlier, Queen Sofia had visited an exhibition of all twelve
finalists for this year’s awards before handing out the prizes.
Over 1,300 people from across the arts in Spain had gathered at
the Theatre Royal for the ceremony.
Following the prize giving, a special concert marking the 40th
anniversary of the prizes was held. It was a charity event, raising
funds for children’s food banks.
Queen Sofia has been a long time and high profile supporter of
the work done by food banks throughout Spain, not the easiest job
to take on at times as her family faced questions over its own
finances when others were struggling to make ends meet. However,
Sofia has always been respected for her work.
That respect was on show at the Theatre Royal as Alaska paid
tribute to the Spanish queen for her work for others and wished her
many more ‘happy birthdays”.
The birthday queen looked somewhat overcome with the reception
she was given and showed her gratitude to the audience
afterwards.
Just a few weeks ago, Queen Sofia received another standing
ovation when she attended the Princess of Asturias Awards in
Oviedo. As she took her seat in the royal box, the audience rose to
its feet and applauded her loudly for several minutes.
There will be another celebration of the queen in a fortnight
when her only son, King Felipe VI, presents her with the honour of
the Toison de Oro. It’s being given as Spain marks half a century
since the restoration of the country’s monarchy and in recognition
of her work for the country in those fifty years.
However, the ceremony has been overshadowed by the decision not
to invite Sofia’s husband, King Juan Carlos, to the public events
marking the anniversary, even though he was the man who restored
the country’s crown.
Instead, the former monarch will be invited to a private lunch
at the Pardo Palace the day afterwards.
King Juan Carlos is about to publish his memoir with the first
editions being sold in Paris on November 5. Previews of the book
show him criticising his daughter in law, Queen Letizia, for
causing division in the royal family but praising Sofia extensively
and saying that he wants to return to live in Spain. He went into
self imposed exile in Abu Dhabi in 2020 after a series of
scandals.
