Sofía of Greece and Denmark
| Sofía of Greece | |
|---|---|
The Queen in 2003
|
|
| Queen consort of Spain | |
| Tenure | 22 November 1975 – 19 June 2014 |
| Anointing | 27 November 1975 |
| Born |
2 November 1938 Tatoi Palace, Athens, Kingdom of Greece |
| Spouse | Juan Carlos I of Spain (m. 1962) |
| Issue |
Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo Infanta Cristina of Spain Felipe VI, King of Spain |
| House | Glücksburg |
| Father | Paul, King of Greece |
| Mother | Frederika of Hanover |
| Religion |
Roman Catholicism prev. Greek Orthodox |
| Signature |  |
Queen Sofía of Spain (Greek: Σοφία; born 2 November 1938) is the wife of King Juan Carlos I, who reigned from 1975 to 2014. Sofía is the first child of the Greek king Paul and Frederica of Hanover. As her family was forced into exile during the Second World War, she spent part of her childhood in South Africa, returning to Greece in 1946. She completed her secondary education in a boarding school in Germany before returning to Greece where she specialised in childcare, music and archaeology. She married the future King Juan Carlos, son of the Spanish pretender Infante Juan, on 14 May 1962 with whom she has had three children: Elena, Cristina, and Felipe.
She became Queen of Spain upon her husband's accession in 1975. On 19 June 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of their son, Felipe VI.
Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born on 2 November 1938, in Psychiko, Athens, Greece, the eldest child of King Paul and his wife, Queen Frederica. Sofia is a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty. Her brother is the deposed King Constantine II and her sister is Princess Irene.
Princess Sophia spent some of her childhood in Egypt where she took her early education in El Nasr Girls' College (EGC) in Alexandria. She lived in South Africa during her family's exile from Greece during World War II. They returned to Greece in 1946. She finished her education at the prestigious Schloss Salem boarding school in Southern Germany, and then studied childcare, music and archeology in Athens. She also studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, now though not then a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. She represented Greece, alongside her brother Constantine, as a reserve member of the Gold Medal-winning sailing team in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
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