WHEN the current king and queen of Spain married twenty-two years ago yesterday, 25 million Spaniards – more than half the population – watched on TV.
Letizia was 32 at the time.
She is originally from Oviedo in the Asturias, and she was already famous in Spain as a news anchor on CNN and Spain’s version of the BBC.
There was one controversial note – Letizia had been married (briefly) before.
In 1998 she entered into a matrimony with a writer which lasted less than a year.
For the wedding with Felipe, she wore the same platinum tiara that Sofia (Felipe’s mother) had worn at her marriage ceremony, 43 years earlier.
Letizia’s dress was long-sleeved, tight-waisted and made of white silk with gold and silver needlework.
Felipe wore his army uniform, with a full set of medals.
Ten weeks before the wedding day, four terrorist bombs had torn through commuter trains just east of Madrid, killing nearly 200 and injuring thousands.
In a gesture which Spain appreciated, the royal couple laid a wreath of remembrance at eight in the morning, before getting on with the festivities.
23 MAY, 1533 – THE MARRIAGE OF HENRY AND CATHARINE IS ANNULLED
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer announced on this day that the 23-year marriage of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon (daughter of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain) was over.
It wasn’t a surprise.
Cranmer had been appointed seven weeks earlier specifically to get Henry out of the union with Catharine.
The king had three pressing reasons for freeing himself up.
1. He needed a male heir. The Tudors had grabbed the throne fairly recently, and were vulnerable to a challenge. A boy prince would stabilise the situation. Catharine was now 48, and had produced only a daughter.
2. Meanwhile, a very sexy young woman had caught Henry’s eye. Anne Boleyn (26) had been the focus of the king’s romantic attention for the last seven years.
3. Northern Europe was breaking away from the Roman Church. When the Pope refused to cancel the Henry-Catharine marriage, the die was cast. England would have its own Church – and divorce would be allowed.
23 MAY, 1627 – LUIS GONGORA DIES
Gongora is one of Spain’s most famous poets, but his life was far from inspiring or cheerful.
He wasted years on two futile pursuits: he wanted to be a man of standing, honoured by the king, and he conducted a long feud with another poet, Francisco Quevedo.
The first thing never happened, and he resoundingly lost the second.
Gongora was born and raised in Cordoba. He decided at a young age that his best chance of a comfortable living was in the Church.
He became a Catholic priest in 1605.
Gongora was – roughly speaking – a contemporary of William Shakespeare. Like Shakespeare, he was personally criticised by other poets, but the nastiness of his dispute with Quevedo is a bit special.
The younger poet (Quevedo was Gongora’s junior by 20 years) ended the rivalry by making Gongora homeless!
64-year-old Gongora’s health went rapidly downhill after this.
He moved back from Madrid to Cordoba, where he died the following year.
23 MAY, 1973 – JUAN JOSE PADILLA BORN
There’s a saying in the bullfight fraternity: “to face a bull when you’re afraid is really something, but to do it if you feel no fear is meaningless”.
Juan Jose Padilla, matador from Jerez, does not know what fear is, and has paid the price.
If you believe that bullfighters get what they deserve, read on: if injuries make you feel squeamish, you might want to skip the next paragraph.
In 2011 in Zaragoza, he was gored badly – indeed, almost fatally.
The bull’s horn entered under his chin and came out through his left eye.
His jaw and skull were fractured, he lost his eye, and his face remains partially paralysed.
He now wears a permanent eyepatch.
His nickname when he returned to bullfighting was ‘El Pirata’ – however, his career never really took off again.
Already 38 when the goring occurred, he was finished.
Observers of the ‘fiesta brava’ say that his rash antics, which bordered on recklessness, brought about his downfall.
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