King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain travelled to Valencia today to present the King James I Awards. The award ceremony took place at the Market of the Merchants in Valencia. The awards are one of the staple events of the Winter Royal calendar and are presented in 6 categories each year: categories of Basic Research, Economy, Medical Investigation, Environment Protection, New technologies, and Entrepreneur. On a few occasions, Letizia had to attend the event alone as Valencia has always been a troubled part of the country.
Upon arrival, King Felipe and Queen Letizia received a musical welcome with the interpretations of the “March of the City” and the national anthem, by the Municipal Symphonic Band of Valencia.
The awards recognise the individuals who have achieved or have excelled in their field of work developing most of their professional activity in Spain. Each award is endowed with 100,000 euros and a gold medal. The winners of each category acquire the commitment to allocate a part of the amount of the prize to research and entrepreneurship in Spain.
This year, the jury for these awards has nearly a hundred people, of which 21 are Nobel Prize winners in different disciplines.
The event began with a minute’s silence observed in honour of Santiago Grisolía, Marquis of Grisolía and founder of the Jaime I Awards.
Then King Felipe and Queen Letizia headed for the stage where they presented this year’s awards to the winners of the 34th edition of the King James I awards.
Addressing the guests, King Felipe remembered the founder Santiago Grisolía and said, “the energy and activity of Santiago Grisolía up to the age of 99 was amazing. When asked about the secret to his vitality, he replied: “If you don’t pedal, you fall.” The teacher never stopped pedalling. And that tenacity is precisely one of the virtues that characterize people of Science. Because researchers never stop pedalling; they participate in a distance race, a team race and a relay, where each one begins where the previous one left off”. The King also announced the 2023 awards open at the end of the ceremony. Before leaving, The Royal Couple met with the jury members, authorities and winners.
The Royal couple received warm greetings from the locals outside the venue.
Heading towards, Queen Letizia style – Letizia was wearing her white Emporio Armani Crepon long dress with a polka dot jacquard motif.
We first saw the dress in February 2022 when Letizia visited Huelva. The $575 dress is described as, “A star garment that falls comfortably about the female silhouette, enhanced by a contrasting polka dot jacquard knit. The plissé effect of the skirt and the elasticated flounces at the cuffs emphasise the femininity of the garment, while the lining and the side zip finish the now practical garment.”
Letizia teamed up the outfit with her black croc-embossed Möhel belt that she first wore in Andorra.
The Queen was wearing her black suede Carolina Herrera slingback pumps.
Queen was wearing her diamond and pearl earrings. They are not her Australian pearls but the other pair that looks very similar to Australian pearls.
Her Karen Hallam ring was not missing.
