|
She spent part of her
childhood in Egypt and South Africa because her family was forced into exile
during the Second World War. She returned to her homeland in 1946, completed
her secondary education in the Schloss Salem boarding school in Germany and
then returned to Greece where she specialised in childcare, music and
archaeology. She was a reserve member of the Greek sailing team at the
Olympic Games held in Rome in 1960.
On 14 May 1962, she married
Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, in Athens. They have three children:
the Infanta Elena, born on 20 December 1963; the Infanta Cristina, born on
13 June 1965, and Prince Felipe, born on 30 January 1968. They have seven
grandchildren: Leonor de Borbón Ortiz, the daughter of the Prince and the
Princess of Asturias, Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar y de Borbón, the
children of the Infanta Elena and her husband, Jaime de Marichalar, the Duke
and Duchess of Lugo; and Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarin y de Borbón,
the children of the Infanta Cristina and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, the
Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.
In addition to her official
and institutional engagements, the Queen devotes much of her time to social
and welfare activities. She is the Executive President of the Queen
Sofia Foundation. She is also the Honorary President of the Foundation
for Aid for Drug Users and of the Royal Trust for the Handicapped, as well
as of various cultural and musical institutions, including the Queen Sofia
Higher School of Music.
She also participates in a
number of international projects for the promotion of rural women and for
the development of micro-credits for the disadvantaged
The Queen is an Honorary
Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of the Royal
Academy of History. She has received Honorary
Doctorates from the
Universities of Rosario (Bogota), Valladolid, Cambridge, Oxford, Georgetown,
Evora and New York.
Source: Official
site of the Royal Household of HM the King
|
|
Properties in Spain 
airports:
