The family tree that unites the royal families of Spain and the United Kingdom

The Bourbon and Windsor families maintain very close ties that link the Spanish monarchy with the British Royal House. Relations between the two families have always been quite close and, as far as is known, very cordial. Queen Elizabeth II, acted as hostess in two high-level visits from both Juan Carlos and Sofía in April 1986 and Kings Felipe and Letizia in July 2017 and during her reign she tried to promote the relationship between the two countries through through the personal ties that united them. Juanito, as Elizabeth II affectionately called the king, and Lilibeth, as the Bourbons called the queen of England, are third cousins. To see where this relationship comes from, we must go back to Queen Victoria (1819), known as the grandmother of Europe, due to the vast genealogy she gave rise to. Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía are great-great-grandchildren by different branches of Queen Victoria. She had nine children, two of them are: Beatriz de Battenberg (1857) and King Eduardo VII (1841) . For her part, Beatriz de Battenberg had a daughter, Queen Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg (1886) (good name of Don Juan Carlos and godmother of King Felipe VI) who met her future husband, King Alfonso XIII, in Buckingham Palace itself ( 1886). From that union was born Don Juan, Count of Barcelona (1913) and father of King Emeritus Don Juan Carlos de Borbón (1938). On the other hand, King Edward VII had King George V (1865) who in turn had Henry VI (1895), father of Queen Elizabeth II (1926). The family tree that unites the royal families of Spain and the United Kingdomniusdiario.esFelipe of Edinburgh is Doña Sofía’s second uncleBut the thing does not stop there, Doña Sofia is in turn the second niece of Felipe of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. In this case, we must go back to King George I of Greece (1845) who had two sons: Constantine (1868) and Prince Andrew of Greece (1882). On the one hand, Constantine had Pablo I (1901), father of Doña Sofía. On the other hand, Prince Andrew of Greece is the father of Philip of Edinburgh (1921), husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Doña Sofía’s father, Pablo I, was a first cousin of Jorge I, grandfather of the Duke of Edinburgh, which makes the husband of Isabel II Doña Sofía’s second uncle. The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Sofia are therefore uncle and niece in the second degree, which in turn makes the mother of the King of Spain a second cousin of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and Felipe VI a third cousin. of the Prince of Wales, William, Duke of Cambridge. The family tree that unites the royal families of Spain and the United Kingdomniusdiario.esThe parents of King Felipe VI are therefore third cousins ​​to each other. All this leaves King Felipe VI with a triple tie with Queen Elizabeth II. By paternal line, Don Felipe is the great-grandson of Queen Victoria Eugenia, granddaughter in turn of Queen Victoria. But by maternal line the relationship is stronger, since both Doña Sofía’s maternal great-grandfather (William II of Germany) and her paternal grandmother (Sofia of Prussia) were Victoria’s grandchildren. And this bond is further strengthened if we take into account that the husband of the British Queen, Alberto de Sajonia, was also Doña Sofía’s great-great-grandfather.