It was an open secret; now there's proof. Months ago, here at El Nacional's En Blau, we reported on the drama of queen Sofía: Letizia doesn't let her see her grandchildren (in Catalan). A number of journalists who cover the Royal Family vouch that the queen emeritus tells anyone and everyone who'll listen: "I don't even know how they are. I never see them. They don't let me see them. I live next door and can't go to their house". Now, on Easter Sunday, at Palma Cathedral the tension has burst into public, with cameras capturing the following moment between mother- and daughter-in-law, with the heir presumptive in the middle:
There's no sound, but the pictures speak for themselves. As they leave Palma Cathedral, the grandmother tries to have a photo taken with her grandchildren, Leonor and Sofía. The girls' mother is bothered by such an innocent picture and puts herself in front of them to block the photo, going as far as starting to play with Leonor's hair to not have the photo of Sofía with the heir to the throne. Letizia's intentions are so clear they make your hair stand on end, but the worst is still to come. 8 seconds into the video, princess Leonor shoves her grandmother's hand off her shoulder with evident disdain as she tries to pull her closer.
via GIPHY
Leonor, who normally exhibits impeccable manners in public, loses her composure in a way only her mother would be able to explain. En Blau has already reported that the young heir has already put the crown on her head and asked to be curtseyed to at school (in Catalan). Now it seems that Letizia only allows photos in the direct line of succession, like this one:
EFE
Letizia seems to hate her mother-in-law and to have instilled this hate into her daughter. The reason is apparently that Letizia wants it to be her mother, Paloma Rocasolana, that is the grandmother who looks after her daughters. Contributing factors could be Sofía's closeness to her daughter Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin (he is currently appealing a 6-year sentence for various financial crimes) or jealousy over Felipe VI's closeness to his mother. Pilar Eyre has an answer:
Translation: Right, I've talked with someone close to... and they've told me that Letizia's behaviour could be due to her anger that it was Sofía who manoeuvred (with a good plan) so that infanta Cristina would be there today at don Juan's funeral.
During Sunday's Easter mass there was another moment of tension seen between the two queens. Will they be a constant from now on?
GTRES
Social media has lost it: but what's going on here?
First Letizia removes it, and I think that the girl doesn't even know what to do. All very ugly, I even feel sorry for Sofía. A whole life putting up with snubs in public...
Very folksy. I don't want to know what happens when there's only one croquette left on the table.
First she pushes off the grandmother's arm and then it's the granddaughter herself... Juan Carlos sees everything from the left.
The grandfather doing his own thing, the grandmother trying to have a photo with her granddaughters, one of them pushing aside the hand grabbing her shoulder, Letizia blocking the photo and the king trying to mediate. This is a good image campaign for the royal family.
Letizia gives a dirty look... but the girl has bad-manners
The best medicine for this is a good Republic.
EFE