Summer in Mallorca has always been synonymous with the Borbón family's familiar image. The photo session at Marivent, the regattas, and the informal dinners made up an album of institutional normality that, year after year, sought to convey unity. However, behind the palace walls, reality seems to be far from that idyllic image.
This year, Queen Sofía's presence at the traditional reception for Balearic authorities was hanging in the air until the very last second, and her attendance, far from being a voluntary gesture, reveals a personal drama that strongly resonates in the halls of Zarzuela.
Although her absence was expected, the emeritus queen eventually attended. A decision that, according to various sources, wasn't her own, but rather the result of her son King Felipe VI's direct insistence. Queen Sofía, once again, gave in due to a deep sense of institutional duty, but her face and body language told a very different story.
The official excuse and the hidden truth
The reason initially given to justify Doña Sofía's possible absence was the delicate health of her sister, Irene of Greece. "Aunt Pecu," as she is affectionately known, is going through a very advanced stage of her illness, a cognitive decline that requires constant care.
The emeritus queen, deeply attached to her sister, would have preferred to stay in Madrid to care for her. However, this version, although understandable, seems to be just the tip of the iceberg of a much deeper discomfort.
Journalist Maica Vasco has shed light on what would be the real reason for Sofía's fear of spending the summer at Marivent: fear. A literal fear of being left alone with Queen Letizia and her granddaughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía.
According to the journalist, this feeling isn't new and last summer the emeritus queen already confessed her anguish to her daughters, the infantas Elena and Cristina. When Felipe VI leaves for his regatta commitments, she feels completely isolated in the palace, a loneliness that turns into panic at the prospect of living together without her son's support.
"I'm afraid of them": an unsustainable coexistence
The words Queen Sofía would have uttered, according to Vasco, are so forceful that they leave no doubt about the family rift: "I'm afraid of them." The journalist goes further and claims that the emeritus queen would have assured that "not even drunk on wine" would she stay alone with her daughter-in-law and granddaughters, whom she describes as "dangerous." If the tension perceived at public events is already evident, what happens in the privacy of the palace must be a real ordeal for her.
This version is reinforced by the analysis of veteran royal chronicler Pilar Eyre, who has closely studied the images from the recent reception. Eyre describes an emeritus queen "making an effort to keep a smile she doesn't feel like showing," with "sad eyes" that reveal her emotional state.
Lo que hay detrás de la tensa escena entre la REINA LETIZIA y doña Sofía | Gente
The gesture of her granddaughters, holding her arm, isn't interpreted as a show of affection, but as a forced act, "like when you help an 80-year-old lady across the street." A detail that shows, according to the journalist, that Doña Sofía isn't part of the close family circle and that her relationship with Leonor and Sofía is practically nonexistent.
A bad relationship that goes way back
Letizia Ortiz's behavior toward her mother-in-law has always been bad. There are several anecdotes about it. One of the things that hurt Sofía the most is that, when the girls were little, Paloma Rocasolano had total access to them. Letizia's mother was with Leonor and Sofía almost every day, something the paternal grandmother couldn't do. People also remember when Letizia forbade her mother-in-law from giving "sweets" to the girls.
The peak of the disagreement happened, precisely, during a vacation at Marivent. A public argument between Sofía and Letizia over some photos of Leonor at Palma Cathedral. The images went viral and the public could see that what had previously been rumors was a clear reality.