Meet Kate’s royal style rival
As Queen Letizia arrives in the UK for her first state visit, Bethan Holt charts the making of a style icon
If many little girls dream of being princesses with glittering gowns and diamond tiaras, then their modern-minded, grown-up counterparts could do worse than aspire to the glossy, polished style of Queen Letizia of Spain. Today, she and her husband King Felipe, who ascended the throne in 2014 following the abdication of his father Juan Carlos, arrive for their first state visit to the UK. Alongside the pomp and circumstance, the three days of engagements offer up the first chance we Britons have had to witness first-hand the woman who is widely credited with reinventing royal style for the 21st century.
Before Letizia and Felipe announced their surprise engagement in 2003, she was already a familiar face in Spain as a newsreader on TVE, the Spanish equivalent of the
BBC. She had reported from Ground Zero and Iraq; it was akin to Sophie Raworth or Laura Kuenssberg giving up their starring role on The Six
O’clock News to marry a prince. This modern day fairy-tale came with added frisson, because Letizia had been married briefly already in a civil ceremony.
Her newsreader days stood Letizia in good stead, not just for acting with poise on the world stage, but also for carving out a royal look that is more naturally elegant than many of her European counterparts – only
Princess Mary of Denmark and our own Duchess of Cambridge can compete – but also more astutely targeted than the couture predilections of Queen Rania of Jordan.
After marrying in a high-collared, long-sleeved dress with a 15ft (4.5m) train by Manuel Pertegaz (a couturier recommended for the job by her mother-in-law, Queen Sofia), she incorporated professional staples – tailored blazers, sleek pencil skirts and kick flare black trousers – into her working royal wardrobe. Letizia, a sucker for a lithe silhouette, understood the leg-lengthening, go-with-anything power of a nude pump before they were even a twinkle in Kate Middleton’s eye, but also had the imagination to pepper in alternatives.
Felipe Varela became Letizia’s dresser-in-chief, creating bespoke looks for her most important engagements. He designed the pristine white dress coat with subtly patriotic yellow and red embellishments that she wore to her husband’s coronation and is responsible for most of the strikingly glamorous gowns and cocktail dresses that she has worn for state banquets. They are often an eye-catching red and, like Michelle Obama, she is a devotee of sleeveless looks that show off her athletically sculpted upper arms.
Their partnership hasn’t been without its suggestions of scandal, with Spanish media accusing some of Varela’s designs as being a little too similar to those of Oscar de la Renta. But a Spanish queen must, for the most part, wear Spanish; when Jackie Kennedy became First Lady, she had her personal dresser Oleg Cassini reflect the haute European simplicity she adored so that she could still be seen to be wearing American. Letizia’s most adroit act has been the way she has altered her style to reflect the economic struggles of her country. During straitened times, she has been just as likely to wear clothes off the rails of one of Spain’s world-famous high street stores, Zara or Mango. She is also wellversed in the art of repeat wearing, just last week reviving a miniature blue Varela handbag she’d previously worn seven years ago.
While sophisticated staples have formed the basis of her look, Letizia hasn’t been afraid to experiment. She is known as the “earring queen”; Valencia-based Coolook and Barcelona’s Tous jewellers are go-tos for interchangeable €200 (£177) styles made from semi-precious stones in softly flattering hues. She is also one of very few royal women to veer into jumpsuits, with favourites coming from Massimo Dutti and Hugo Boss.
“She knows when to play it safe and when to take risks,” says Elizabeth Vollman, who catalogues every detail of Letizia’s outfits on her blog “Queen Letizia Style”. “She epitomises modern royal style but what I love most about her is the confidence she exudes regardless of what she wears.”
Vollman says that her readers appreciate it when the Queen wears a budget-friendly or new outfit and “applaud her when she takes a sartorial risk”. The choice that she says caused the most heated debate was a pair of clear plastic heels by Magrit that were dubbed “real-life Cinderella shoes” – “they did raise some eyebrows,” Vollman laughs.
Until 2015, Letizia was self-styled, but has now recruited Eva Fernández, a former fashion editor at Spanish Cosmopolitan. while her own fashion choices have always been appropriate and elegant since her marriage in 2004, no doubt her husband’s accession to the throne in 2014, and her role as Queen, added to the pressure on Letizia – and with a full schedule, it was perhaps inevitable she would seek outside help.
The duo were pictured out shopping together in Madrid earlier
this year, both clad head-to-toe in black, the Queen in brogues and an oversized patterned scarf while Fernández wore skinny leather trousers and leopard-print slippers. The stylist is credited for introducing 44-year-old Letizia to some more daring options – like culottes, leather jackets and pussy bow blouses – and encouraging her to defy those who preach that it is “inappropriate” for her to wear shorter length skirts.
So, what can we expect to see Spain’s style queen wearing when she visits the UK this week? A diplomatic choice could be a look by Loewe, the Spanish fashion house whose current creative director is Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, but his avant-garde style could be an experimental step too far, even for Queen Letizia. In April, she wore a fabulous red caped dress by Stella Mccartney, who would be an inspired choice for tonight’s State Banquet – could it even be time for a jumpsuit at Buckingham Palace?