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News, December 2005Successor to throne born, heralding change to Constitution31 October. Early this morning Princess Letizia gave birth to a daughter, Leonor. She is the first child of Letizia and Prince Felipe and thus his immediate successor to the Spanish throne. However, as things stand, the line of succession folows Salic Law, such that, should a boy be born to the royal couple, he would take over the succession, just as Prince Felipe is heir to the throne despite being the third child of King Juan Carlos. Everyone is agreed that a change is needed to ensure the equality of women's rights with this new generation. Any change will be lengthy, as changes to the Constitution require agreement of the Cortes,, elections and a referendum to make them binding. This could also be the case for the new Catalan Estatut, if the Partido Popular has its way in demonstrating that the term 'Nation' is unconstitutional and that to accept any derivative of this would require a change to the Constitution itself. Evangelicals will be interested that the Infanta's name, Leonor, means God is my light. May this be true, although other aspects of the name's history are, perhaps, less encouraging. One of her medieval predecessors with the same name was Leonor of Plantagenet, mother of the first Prince of Asturias and daughter of Leonor of Aquitaine, mother also of kings Richard the Lion Heart and John - in addition to haivng been first married to Louis 7th of France and subsequently divorced. A King Arthur revival also surrounded Leonor of Aquitaine. More similarities? The press is keen to find them! Sources: TVE, El Mundo, etc.. |