MADRID, Spain – Spain’s Crown Princess Letizia gave birth Monday to her first child, a girl who becomes second in line to the throne after her father Crown Prince Felipe.
With Felipe by his wife’s side, Leonor was delivered through a Caesarean section at Madrid’s Ruber International Clinic, three weeks before the scheduled due date. Both mother and child were doing fine, said a visibly moved and happy Felipe accompanied by the team of doctors who assisted in the birth.
“This is the most beautiful thing that can happen in someone’s life,” Felipe told reporters. “Both Princess Letizia and myself are absolutely happy and radiant with the birth of our daughter.”
The little princess weighed 73/4 pounds, Dr. Luis Ignacio Recasens said.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia expressed “great happiness” at the birth of their seventh grandchild.
Princess Leonor is second in line to the throne after Prince Felipe, who is the third child and only son of King Juan Carlos. But her place in the royal succession could drop if Felipe and Letizia have a son.
The Spanish constitution now allows a female heir to the throne only if she has no brothers. Felipe’s older sisters, Princesses Elena and Cristina, are below him in the line of succession.
However, the Socialist government is looking into changing the constitution to give female royals the same right as males to accede to the throne, in which case Leonor could become queen one day.
Felipe said Leonor will be educated for that possibility.
Associated Press
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