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Moving towards

a simpler and closer treatment

has been the intention of the Royal House, even at the cost of the ups and downs that this entails for the protocol and for those who closely monitor it.

In this fine line,

Queen Letizia's gestures

and her ability to manage her image through her outfits play a fundamental role.

Intentional or not, her way of

interpreting her protocol,

or even

skipping it,

is being one of the keys to the

modernization of the institution.

The first notice came very soon, in the form of

white pants from Armani

for the proposal.

The traditional etiquette

does not contemplate the use of pants

in women.

If he had followed her, the young fiancée of the Prince of Asturias should have worn

a knee-length skirt

for her.

Queen Letizia's pants on the day of the royal engagement

But all you had to do was look around that day,

at the journalists

who were covering the event: the vast majority were wearing pants.

Also the vast majority of women who were watching the event on television.

And those who were not interested at all.

In 2003,

the wardrobes of Spanish women

had been full of pants for a long time... Why the one of

Don Felipe's fiancée,

a woman who a few months before would have been on the other side, behind the cameras along with the rest of the press covering the event, wasn't he going to be?

The rules, like the wardrobe, change;

Few would have opted in their day for a royal wedding that had a woman far removed from the usual image of the royals at the altar,

professional and divorced.

Queen Letizia, with pants on the day of her engagementGETTY

Doña Letizia and her 'speech' at the coronation of King Felipe VI

In another of those great moments that have marked her life, when her husband was proclaimed

King of Spain

and she became Queen consort, Doña Letizia decided

to take another step forward

and send a clear message.

That day he had no speech in the Congress of Deputies, only the Head of State.

But Letizia spoke,

and a lot, relying on the use of

protocol etiquette as a strategy.

When locals and strangers expected that Don Felipe's wife would appear at the event wearing a wonderful long dress, just as Doña Sofía did at the time of her, the Asturian preferred to wear

a dress-coat

at knee height.

In his proclamation speech, the new King of Spain undertook to represent a new

modernized,

responsible, closer and more aware monarchy and the new Queen consort became

the

moving image of those words.

Doña Letizia, the vest and a very modern style

A third mainstay of change is

the vest that Doña Letizia wears

proudly on her cooperation trips, like the rest of the Spanish delegation.

The Queen is committed to the causes she represents, she investigates them thoroughly and exhaustively.

But, although she makes very elaborate speeches, she is aware that

an image is usually worth more than a thousand words

and makes the impact multiply.

Perhaps not many Spaniards stop to listen to what she says about her, so she lets

the vest speak for her.

Low cost models, garments made in Spain, shapes and fabrics that

are very different

from what the

European queens

of the previous generation wore but that are close to what

Spanish women wear today

who, like her, are around 50. And, Of course, models that are repeated over and over again, like those of any good wardrobe.

Recycling clothes from one event to another, making small changes and even lending them to her teenage daughters... The reality of the Queen consort of Spain is not so far from that of 99% of Spanish women in 2022.

In short, the day of the coronation of Felipe VIGETTY

Not only Queen Letizia's wardrobe modernizes the crown...

In addition to her wardrobe, Doña Letizia also relies on

her attitudes

to drive change.

The Queen

hugs, approaches, gestures,

smiles... And, sometimes,

she moves away from the protocol.

Acting as a magnificent hostess during the

NATO summit in Madrid,

Doña Letizia received

Brigitte Macron

with two affectionate kisses instead of the mandatory handshake.

It is not a careless or spontaneous gesture, on the contrary, it implies

a protocol change

that is part of the comprehensive communication strategy designed for the occasion.

Even those who do not know which river runs through Paris understood with that simple greeting that

the political and institutional relations

between the two countries were wonderful.

Slip or strategy?

But do these gestures that break with what is expected

always respond to a

thoughtful strategy or have they ever been a slip?

Both.

Yes,

she has made several mistakes,

especially during her time as Princess of Asturias, when she was still

a protocol student.

We have seen her

make a mess

with the right and the left, get lost when it comes to positioning herself for the family photo... but those mistakes, in light of the path traveled since then, remain mere anecdotes.

Doña Letizia is not Doña Sofía, she is not Queen

Paola of Belgium nor Sonia of Norway.

But it is that the country that has touched Queen Letizia

is not the Spain of Sofía,

nor the Belgium of Paola nor the Norway of Sonia.

Doña Letizia is a new model of queen consort that represents a modernized institution in which today's women can see themselves reflected.

She is not the only one.

Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and even

the very traditional Buckingham

also have their

foreign exchange agents.

Change is not always easy.

Not all of society understands and supports it, there will always be critical voices.

But if the royal houses do not change at the rhythm of the society they must represent, they become

animals in high danger of extinction.

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