King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain today undertook their first joint engagement of the year 2023 – The Military Easter. It was also Letizia’s first official engagement of the year. The Royal couple presided over the traditional celebration of Military Easter at the Royal Palace of Madrid, a ceremony deeply rooted in Spanish military life. The ceremony was held at the Plaza de la Almudena of the Palace.
Military Easter is an annual tradition and the first royal event in the Spanish Calendar.
The origin of the Military Easter dates back to the reign of Carlos III, when, on January 6, 1782, the Menorcan town of Mahón was recovered, which was under English rule at that time. As an expression of joy, Carlos III ordered the viceroys, captains general, governors, and military commanders to gather the garrisons on the feast of the Epiphany and notify the chiefs and officers of the armies of their congratulations on his behalf.
Upon arrival, the Royal couple was welcomed by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The military act began with Honours, an interpretation of the national anthem, and a 21-gun salute. Then King Felipe VI, accompanied by the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Chief of the Military Quarter, and the Colonel Chief of the Royal Guard, in command of the formation, reviewed the troops.
The parade at the Plaza ended with a meeting with the staff of the National Heritage and the Military Quarter followed by the traditional Throne room reception at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela.
Felipe presented the medals to the different members of the military commissions and addressed the gathering, “the year 2022 will be forever marked by the unjustifiable, illegal and brutal Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine, which has brought war back to our continent and has seriously altered the international order and puts European security at serious risk… There is no doubt that this conflict at the gates of NATO affects all countries, and hence the importance of maintaining the unity of action with our partners and allies”.
The ceremony concluded with a brief meeting with the authorities and assistants for a few minutes in the Column Hall of the Royal Palace.
Queen Letizia has been attending the event regularly. You can have a look back at her 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 outfits here.
This year once again, Letizia chose to bring another familiar look back and this time from 2013.
Queen Letizia was wearing a red Felipe Varela gown with embroidered patches on the bodice, sleeves and hemline. Letizia first wore the outfit at the 2013 Diplomatic reception and then she again wore it at the 2017 diplomatic reception.
The Queen kept the winter chill away with her black Carolina Herrera cape.
She paired the outfit with her Magrit pumps
and Gold & Roses I Am Red Needle Earrings.
The new element of the outfit was a gold ring with an engraving of Love and Amor with flowers on it.
UfonoMore founds out that the ring is from the Italian label Corterno. It was Corterno’s “Amor che tutto move” (Love moves everything) 18K yellow gold ring.
Next, we will see Queen Letizia on Wednesday next week when she will attend the closing ceremony of the X edition of the “PROMOCIONA PROJECT”.
