King Felipe and Queen Letizia marked their fifth anniversary as King and Queen of Spain by presiding over the act of awarding decorations of the Order of Civil Merit with their daughters Princess Leonor of Asturias and Infanta Sofia, in which various citizens were decorated, in recognition of their personal commitment and contribution Social.
The Order of Civil Merit was instituted by King Don Alfonso XIII, by Royal Decree of June 25, 1926, to reward “the civic virtues of civil servants at the service of the State, as well as the extraordinary services of Spanish and foreign citizens in the good of the Nation “.
The preamble of the order states that “its purpose is to reward the merits of a civil nature, acquired by personnel dependent on any of the public Administrations” or “by persons not belonging to the Administration, who provide or have rendered relevant services to the State, with extraordinary works, profitable initiatives, or with exemplary perseverance in the fulfillment of their duties. This decoration may also be granted to persons of foreign nationality, provided that they have rendered distinguished services to Spain or a notable collaboration in all those matters that benefit the Nation.
Royal Family arriving for the ceremony.
The receivers of the 41 Merit orders are from the 17 autonomous communities and the 2 autonomous cities. The oldest receiver is a 107-year-old woman and the youngest is a 19-year-old woman. The receivers including 19 women and 22 men are working in different sectors to make a change in Spain.
Addressing the gathering King Felipe said, “Spain is a nation of citizens, of people who are supportive and committed to the destiny of our fellowmen, inside and outside our borders, a generous nation. Open, and with great presence and drive in the International Community, we are a country that embraces the world, that takes responsibility with a Humanity that we desire in peace and harmony, and for which we work in all international forums.”
A lovely photograph of young Princesses stepping out to help out the oldest receiver of the order.
After the ceremony in the Hall of Columns, Felipe, Letizia, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía, went to the Saleta de Gasparini for a group photograph.
A group photograph including the students of 6th grade in the age range of Leonor and Sofia was also taken to mark the occasion.
A video of the ceremony.
For the day, Queen chose a lovely shade of blue. She was wearing a midi-length dress in the baby blue colourway. The designer of the dress is still unknown.
The dress featured cap-sleeves, two jeweled buttons on the front of the tabbed waistline.
She paired the dress with her Prada Saffino Leather pumps and carried a new Mascaro Ceremony Clutch in baby blue.
Letizia finished her look with Bvlgari aquamarine teardrop earrings
and Karen Hallam ring.
Another new element of her look was the Sapphire and Diamond Bracelet.
Letizia De Princes A Reina suggested that the unknown bracelet could be a part of the set that has the diamond and sapphire epaulette earrings we saw Letizia wearing in July 2017 during the Day two of a State visit to the UK.
I will update the post if we get anything about dress and bracelet.
Dress like Queen
