If the rich also cry, the royals also read. Although we do not have access to the books that rest on their nightstands, over the years we have learned about some of their reading tastes. The
Queen Letizia is no exception and also has its favorites.
In the case of members of European royalty, Kate Middleton has confessed on numerous occasions her fascination with the classic ‘Sense and Sensibility’ by Jane Austen and Meghan Markle adores ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
From King Philip We know that he has a predilection for the well-known ‘Trojan Horse’ saga by JJ Benítez, while the late Isabel II was a fan of the thriller novel writer Dick Francis. But what are Queen Letizia’s favorite books?
The Asturian taste for culture in all its facets is well known. The same visits a street art exhibition in Holland with Máxima and Guillermo who raps some rhymes by El Chojin in a speech about the importance of mental health. There has also been a lot of talk about
his passion for cinema. Some of his favorite films are ‘Parasite’ by Bong Joon-ho, ‘Spirited Away’ by Hayao Miyazaki or ‘The Life of Adèle’ by Abdellatif Kechiche.
Her father, Jesús Ortiz, already said it in that famous interview about her that he gave in ‘Salsa rosa’: “My daughter loves culture, literature, she is an inveterate reader.” A hobby that we know she has also tried to instill in her daughters Leonor and Sofía.
And one of the first clues about her tastes in literature was given to us on the same day of the proposal at the El Pardo palace, where she revealed the engagement gift she had given to her future husband: a brand new edition of
‘The young man of Don Enrique the Suffering’, by Larra. «A very nice book that I was looking for a long time, from 1850, by Mariano José de Larra, a beautiful edition of a chivalric story from the 15th century. A book that she wanted for him », she said then.
Queen Letizia at the Madrid Book Fair in 2022. /
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Today, taking advantage of the
Book Day celebration which commemorates the deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, we are going to delve a little more into its recommended readings that could well be a perfect gift for a fan of the royal universe.
The book fair and special gifts
Queen Letizia is a regular in Madrid bookstores such as
Infamous guys or La Central, but it is at the Book Fair where his presence has been most common and where we have been able to experience his literary tastes live most often. Some very varied tastes if we stick to the copies he bought on his last visit, by surprise, to the last 2023 edition.
During her visit, the wife of Felipe VI walked through a good number of booths, where
looked through many books but it ended up bringing works of film, photography and even a classic by the master of cosmic horror. Those chosen were: ‘The use of the photo’, by Annie Ernaux; ‘The Walk’, by Robert Walser, ‘Total Kubrick’, by Sergio Peral; ‘The City of God’, by Pier Paolo Pasolini; ‘Letters to Hawthorne’, by Herman Melville; and ‘Literary Essays’, by HP Lovecraft.
Also in the
gifts in the form of reading that he has carried out over the years we have been able to glimpse which are the works that he treasures most affectionately. For example, when she gave Penelope Cruz the book ‘The Small Virtues’, by author Natalia Ginzburg, which the publisher describes as “war and its atrocious bite of fear and poverty and the intricate experience of being a woman and mother.”
From feminism and Middle Earth to supporting her friends
It is known that books on feminism – by writers such as Vivian Gornick or Marta Sanz – and the seventh art abound on Doña Letizia’s shelves, but it may be a little more surprising.
his appreciation for fantasy literaturespecifically for JRR Tolkien’s magnum opus, ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
Queen Letizia at the Madrid Book Fair in 2023. /
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The royal mentioned the book during a
youth literature awards ceremony ensuring that “it had a special importance in my beginnings as a reader, many years ago. Sharing with you the fact that Tolkien was one of my first and most precious readings gives an idea of how comfortable and grateful I feel to be here again.
In the past, we have also seen Doña Letizia queue for an author to sign a book for her. For up to 40 minutes she waited patiently for her great friend Sonsoles Ónega to dedicate a copy to her last year of ‘The Maid’s Daughters’, the work that won the last Planeta Prize.
The journalist, criticized precisely at that moment for receiving the precious award, received the affection of her friend in a public way
with very affectionate gestures and hugs which became one of the Queen’s most applauded gestures.
