Why Letizia with Z and not with C? The story behind the Queen’s name

On September 15, 1972, Paloma Rocasolano and Jesús Ortiz became the parents of their first daughter in the Miñor Sanatorium in Oviedo, Asturias. The little girl’s name would be Letizia, which would bring an original touch to the classic Leticia with C. Why Letizia with Z and not with C? The history of its name is not the result of chance. Since she became the girlfriend of the then Prince of Asturias, many theories have sprung up about the Z bearing her name. One of the most famous claimed it was a simple mistake by the civil registrar who registered her at birth, a version that indicated that employee was of Italian descent and had written the name as is customary in his country.

Another hypothesis also spoke of human error. There was speculation about the possibility that Paloma Rocasolano was confused by writing it herself in the Civil Registry. Anyway, The world exclusively offered the supposedly correct version of this story. The royal’s mother was a big fan of the group long live the people in the early 1970s, and even got to know them personally. One of the singers was of Italian descent and was called Letizia, and Paloma did not hesitate to name her first daughter Jesús Ortiz. However, when her father went to register her with the registry office, they told her that she could not put that name, since Letizia was not on the Catholic list of saints.

According to the aforementioned media, the option left to Jesús Ortiz was to add María in the front, being then Maria Letizia the name his eldest daughter might receive. The queen’s father did not give up and went to the diocese to ask permission, since he did not want to give his daughter a compound name. Once there, he contacted a religious man he knew about the consecration of a virgin venerated in an Italian shrine called Madonna della Letizia. That’s how he obtained the license and then registered his little girl as we know her today, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolanoa name and surnames that would eventually make a name for themselves in Spain.

Letizia was baptized in the parish of San Francisco de Asís in Oviedo. His godparents were his maternal uncle, Francisco Rocasolano Rodríguez, and his paternal aunt, Cristina Ortiz Álvarez. Paloma and Jesús had two more daughters, Telma and Érika, and divorced in 1999. The Queen attended La Gesta public school in Oviedo and continued her studies at the Alfonso II Institute, while taking ballet lessons three days a week. After school, he studied computer science at the Complutense University of Madrid, following in his father’s footsteps on a professional level.

Letizia Ortiz started working in television at CNN, a private news channel owned by Grupo PRISA. The journalist was on the morning news for many years, which began broadcasting at five in the morning. In the year 2000 he joined Televisión Española and started working on Weekly report during the summer season, and later joined the editorial team of Newscast. Also, presented the morning news, and was specially sent to different places in the world to cover current events, such as the attacks of September 11, 2001 or the sinking of the Prestige or the invasion of Iraq, among others. Before King Felipe came into her life, The journalist married Alonso Guerrero Pérez, professor of language and literature at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute in Madrid. The monarch married after a courtship of almost ten years, which ended in divorce in 1999.

Finally, On May 22, 2004, she became Princess of Asturias. after going through the altar with the then heir to the throne. Almost two decades later, the couple still enjoys their love and the affection of their two daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, who are gradually gaining more relevance in the public acts of the Spanish royal family.