On February 16, local time, King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia attended the opening ceremony of the immersive exhibition "Sorolla through light" held at the Royal Palace of Madrid to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla this year.
It is reported that both Felipe, 54, and Letizia, 49, are art lovers who are also committed to the promotion of culture.
Letizia, wearing a red leather jacket and a little black dress, and the king's husband are very serious about admiring the paintings projected into the house, and I have to say that her temperament is really good, and because she is very thin and her face is also very stylish, she appears in the camera very eye-catching.
On the same day, Spain's weekly magazine also published the 2023 revenue budget of the king and queen.
Unlike other royal countries, the Spanish king and other members of the royal family are open and transparent about their income, or anything related to property. The initiative was introduced in 2014, the year that Felipe succeeded to the throne from the old King Juan Carlos I. Apparently Felipe did this to reverse the image of the royal family, and a series of scandals in the old king greatly affected the reputation of the royal family.
Felipe reportedly gave a "raise" to his family, including himself, this year.
Said to be a family member, in fact, it is his queen's wife and the queen mother's mother, although the two sisters bear the title of nobility, but have long ceased to work for the royal family, although the two daughters will occasionally perform their duties, but because they are not yet adults, they cannot get a salary. As for the old king, his annual allowance was canceled in 2020, and he was even "exiled" to the UAE by his son.
The "salary increase" is a happy thing, but it is not large, only 2.5%. In this way, the king himself will receive a total annual salary of 269,296 euros (about 1.97 million RMB), Queen Letizia will receive 148,105 euros (about 1.08 million RMB), and Queen Sophia, who was once a Greek princess, will receive 121,186 euros (about 887,000 RMB).
It is worth noting that Spain's total budget for "supporting" the royal family has not changed, and is still 8.43 million euros (about 61.69 million RMB), the same for the third consecutive year.
The report did not specifically explain why the salary increase was made by 2.5%, but it may have something to do with the increase in expenses for the royal family this year.
In September, their youngest daughter, Princess Sophia, who is about to turn 16 (and her grandmother's namesake), will also study abroad. Like her sister, Princess Leonor, now 17, she attends UWC in Wales, an international school popular with European royal families.
It is reported that UWC tuition fees are 67,000 pounds (about 550,000 RMB) a year, which will be borne by Felipe and Letizia, who are parents, and will not use public funds.
That is, the king and queen have to pay for the tuition of their two daughters and other living expenses in a foreign country (security fees may not be borne by them). The two princesses' tuition for one year is basically their mother's salary for a year, but fortunately, Leonor will graduate this summer (the school is a two-year program).
As the future Queen of Spain, Leonor will study next, which is still unknown. But some analysts believe that she may go to a military academy for a period of time and then enter a prestigious university, as Belgium's future queen Elizabeth did. The 21-year-old, who also graduated from UWC, is currently attending Oxford University after a year at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium.