Sofía | |
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The Queen in 2003
|
|
Queen consort of Spain | |
Tenure | 22 November 1975 – 19 June 2014 |
Anointing | 27 November 1975 |
Born |
Psychiko, Athens, Kingdom of Greece |
2 November 1938
Spouse | Juan Carlos I of Spain (m. 1962) |
Issue |
Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo Infanta Cristina of Spain Felipe VI of Spain |
House |
Glücksburg (by birth) Bourbon (by marriage) |
Father | Paul I of Greece |
Mother | Frederika of Hanover |
Religion |
Roman Catholicism prev. Greek Orthodox |
Signature |
Queen Sofía of Spain (Spanish: Sofía Margarita Victoria Federica; Greek: Σοφία Μαργαρίτα Βικτώρια Φρειδερίκη; born 2 November 1938) is the former Queen Consort of Spain as the wife of King Juan Carlos I. Sofía is the first child of King Paul I of Greece and Queen Frederica. 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 Don Juan, on 14 May 1962 with whom she would have three children: Elena, Cristina, and Felipe.
She became Queen Consort 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.