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MONARCHY

Where to watch King Charles III’s coronation on TV in Spain

If you want to tune in to watch the first British coronation in 70 years on Saturday May 6th, here are the TV channels and other platforms that will broadcast the event in Spain.

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From 11am (mainland Spain time) on Saturday May 6th, Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE will begin its live feed and commentary of the coronation, lasting until 3pm. (Photo by Yui Mok / POOL / AFP)

The highly anticipated coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and his wife Camilla as queen on Saturday is the centrepiece of a weekend of events to mark the occasion, with millions of people likely to tune in to watch from Spain and around the world.

Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are among the 2,000 distinguished guests that will attend the ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.

It remains unclear whether emeritus King Juan Carlos I (in self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi) and former Queen Sofía will also be attending, although recent reports suggest this is unlikely.

If you’re in Spain and want to watch King Charles III’s coronation live on TV, these are your viewing options.

From 11am (mainland Spain time) on Saturday May 6th, Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE will begin its live feed and commentary of the coronation, lasting until 3pm. 

That means that all the main proceedings – from the King’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey beginning at 11.20am to the enthronement – will be broadcast live in Spain. 

This can be watched on television for free on either La 1 or their Canal 24h news channel, or online through rtve.es. The narration and interviews will all be conducted in Spanish.

British-Spanish writer Tom Burns Marañón and journalist Sarah Morris will be among the panellists, and an interview with the UK Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott is scheduled. 

You can also expect most of Spain’s other main terrestrial TV channels to cover the weekend’s events, although this will also be in Spanish and may not be live. 

Luckily for those who don’t speak Spanish or prefer English commentary, BBC, ITV and Sky will broadcast the coronation and day’s proceedings. 

This will be either through their websites and streaming platforms like the BBC’s iPlayer (for which you’ll probably need a VPN), or on their YouTube channels (You can watch Sky News live here).

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MONARCHY

Spain’s king and queen mark 20th wedding anniversary in new era for crown

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, widely credited with having regenerated the scandal-tainted monarchy for a new era.

Spain's king and queen mark 20th wedding anniversary in new era for crown

To mark the occasion the royals released over the weekend a series of previously unseen pictures of them posing along with their daughters, Princess Leonor, 18, and Princess Sofia, 17, in the gardens of Madrid’s royal palace. No public events are planned.

Felipe, then 36, exchanged vows and gold rings with Letizia Ortiz, a 31-year-old divorced journalist, at Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral on a rainy May 22, 2004 in a lavish ceremony attended by statesmen and royalty from around the world.

He became king – and Letizia Spain’s first commoner queen – after his father, Juan Carlos, abdicated in June 2014 following a series of scandals over his finances and love life which caused the popularity of the royal family to plunge.

Adding to the monarchy’s woes, Felipe’s elder sister, Princess Cristina, was indicted on tax fraud charges. She was later acquitted.

“The crown was in crisis, and they turned things around during these 10 years,” Javier Ayuso, who headed the royal palace’s communications departments between 2012 and 2014, told AFP.

Pilar Eyre, the author of a series of books about the monarchy, said Felipe and Letizia “found the crown in a deplorable state”.

“Everyone was saying that they were not going to last and that the monarchy’s days were numbered,” she told AFP.

READ ALSO: How much do Spain’s king and royal family make?

‘Code of conduct’

The new king promptly ordered an audit of the royal household’s accounts and issued a “code of conduct” for its members.

Then in 2020 Felipe renounced any future personal inheritance he might receive from his father and stripped him of his annual allowance after fresh details of his allegedly shady dealings emerged.

Even though investigations of Juan Carlos’s finances in Spain and Switzerland have since been dropped, Felipe has continued to keep a distance from his father, who left Spain for Abu Dhabi in 2020.

The royal couple have also loosened protocol at most events to try to “bring the crown closer to the citizens,” said Ayuso.

The daughter of a nurse and the granddaughter of a taxi-driver, Letizia initially faced opposition from Spain’s most conservative factions when she married Felipe.

“It was a milestone in Spain’s contemporary history because no crown prince had ever married a person deemed unequal, that is not being royal,” José Antonio Zarzalejos, a royal expert and former director of the conservative daily newspaper ABC, told AFP.

Spain’s Queen Letizia, Crown Princess of Asturias Leonor, Princess Sofia and King Felipe VI pose during a visit of the “Jardines de Albabia” gardens on the island of Mallorca during their summer holidays in 2023. (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP)

‘Breath of fresh air’

Felipe and Letizia dated in secret before their engagement was announced in November 2003.

But to her supporters, Letizia’s down-to-earth middle-class roots are an asset.

“She has brought one of the ingredients needed to maintain a monarchy: closeness to the people,” said Ayuso, adding that the queen has brought “a breath of fresh air to the crown”.

Since the royal couple’s eldest daughter Leonor turned 18 on October 31st last year, the public has increasingly turned its attention to the heir to the Spanish throne.

READ MORE: Leonor turns 18 – What you need to know about Spain’s crown princess

Leonor swore loyalty to the Spanish constitution that day during a nationally televised ceremony in the lower house of parliament, a necessary step for her to be able to succeed to the crown and someday become queen.

She has appeared frequently in the media lately along with the term “Leonormania,” underlining her growing popularity as the modern face of the future monarchy.

“The future of the Spanish monarchy now depends more on Leonor than on Letizia,” journalist Abel Hernandez, the author of several books on the royal family, told AFP.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain’s princess doing the military service?

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