The lifelong friends that Felipe VI made in the Navy

“The fact that he entered unaccompanied in Marine, but it’s always like that. That is, they pose in front of the press with the family and others when the Princess or the Infanta begins a new stage, it was for example last year when; Sofia He began his secondary education in Wales. But Eleanor he already does his own second training course In the army, this is nothing new. They were already visiting the facilities in July, when the king handed over the offices to the new officers. So there was no problem, I was able to go there perfectly alone, there is nothing new that justifies the pose,” explains a source close to the team. Operetta.

The tranquility of kings

Although many parents would have wanted to accompany and say goodbye to their children at an event as important as this, the Kings are very calm about where they leave their eldest daughter, for two reasons: the first because they already know the place, Philip VI more than enough, since he also completed part of his military training there, and the second because in addition to his tutor, Pedro Cardona, Leonor is supported by a family made up of all the members of the army, but especially the friends her father, the king, has kept in the army since he spent his formative years there.

The current head of state knows that in the academy they take care of each other, that his daughter will never feel alone and that one of the things she will learn during these months is that her classmates become one of the important pillars of her life. One of the pieces of advice that the king always gives to his daughter is “to make good friends, because the friendships you make during these three years in the army will last a lifetime.”

This is a good example, his most loyal friendships, the ones he has maintained over the years, are those of the school and those of his time in the three academies. And the king would like you Eleanor “would have the same luck,” the same source tells us. “Don Felipe loves this uniform more than many things. Those who know him know that his time Army It was not a simple procedure to complete, he immersed himself in the life of the barracks, he made friends who are now her best company and it’s when he’s with them that he’s most relaxed,” he adds.

So, Don Felipe knows that, in the Navyhis eldest daughter will be cared for by the many friends and acquaintances he left behind during his time in their ranks and still has. For the Monarch, his time in the military academies when he was Prince of Asturias This marked a before and after in his relationship with the army. In Zaragoza, Marín and San Javier he felt like one more, something that rarely happens to him, because wherever he goes he is always the king.

The King’s Link to the Navy

Proof that he maintains the close ties he formed during his naval training period is his participation every summer in the Copa del Rey de Vela, which takes place the first week of August in the waters of the Bay of Palma de Mallorca. An appointment that the Head of State does not miss and in which he launches into the Aifos (Sofía backwards, a name in honor of her mother, the Queen Emeritus), the sailboat belonging to the Spanish Navy, with which she shares navigation, sandwiches and triumphs (although this could not appear in this summer’s edition) with naval officers.

The crew is composed of eleven men And a woman Among them are several of the soldiers he met and lived with in Marín or with whom, after years of competition on that ship, he became very good friends. The first, Admiral Juan Rodríguez Toubes. He Captain of the Aifos He was the one who learned to sail Don Philip and accompanied him during his instruction in the Juan Sebastian Elcano. Although it is much larger than KingToubes is already in the reserve, this has always been the best link between Zarzuela and the Navy, In fact, he already was for his father, Don Juan Carlos, with whom he also maintained a close friendship.

The captain of Aifos, who commanded legendary ships such as the frigate Extremadura or the Juan Sebastián Elcano, is married to an aristocrat, María Goicorretea y Sarri, Countess of Torata. Precisely, while he commanded Elcano, in 2000, he worked as a boatswain, Natalia Diaz Rodriguez. He had completed the non-commissioned officer course in Cadiz, to which she added the titles of professional diver, rescue swimmer and high altitude skipper. With this CV, it is not strange that Rodriguez Toubes He incorporated her into the Aifos crew in 2006.

This middle-aged soldier “was on the verge of being considered a Leonor’s tutor for this new stage in Marín, but her husband is on a mission in Africa and they have two small children, It was not the time to carry such a burden. But he is part of the closest circle of friends of the King, but also of the Queen Letizia. She would have been perfect for the role, although we also thought it was a good idea that this time, unlike the previous one, her guardian was a man,” the same source reveals.

“Another person with whom he has trust and great complicity is the captain Ricardo Alvarez Maldonado”, explains. Maldonado, as everyone calls him, is in charge of electronics and navigation on the Aifos for years. The friendship of Philip VI He has been with the captain since childhood, as he is the son of Vice Admiral Álvarez Maldonado Muela, who was head of the naval station of Port Pi -In Palm, with Marivent and maintained close relations with the royal family. In addition, they came from the same class at the Naval School of Marín, establishing a good friendship that continues today and goes beyond the nautical field.

In addition to embarking in Elcano, the Princess of Asturias will have to carry out maneuvers in one of the many frigates of the Spanish Navy. Although it is not yet known which of them it will be, it could be assigned to another friend of his father, the king, Lieutenant Alejandro Álvarez Brasa, a man from La Coruña who currently holds the position of head of communications of the frigate Álvaro de Bazán and is in charge of controlling the speed and direction on the Aifos. “He is younger than Don Felipe, but they immediately established a good relationship, they have a good feeling,” he explains. “The same thing happens with Ignacio,” he adds. Our source refers to the Cadiz captain Ignacio Iturrioz, 35, who is in charge of handling the boat’s mainsail.

He met a lot of 19 years old. He had just finished his studies NECK In Canada and after crossing the Academy General of Saragossa, Don Felipe began his studies at Navy In Marine. “Even though he already brought a great deal of knowledge of navigation, because like his father, Don Juan Carlos, He loved sailing. They were together 24 hours a day. We lived, slept, ate and worked together five days a week for 52 weeks a year. You end up being very close. With the commanders we treated him like a prince, when we were alone he was Felipe, without further ado. Sometimes we called him Pipe or Winston, because he was long and blond like tobacco. And that’s how it is, so many years later,” confesses one of the king’s friends.

Felipe VI, with the armed forces

The current king considers himself part of the Armed forces. That is why he likes to make regular visits to units and maneuvers. Audiences with military commanders are frequent and he does not miss meetings with his class, the XLIV of the General Academy of Zaragoza, and its equivalents in San Javier (Murcia), where he did the Aire, and in Marín (Pontevedra), for the Navy.

The King presides, when he can, National Defense Council; and the military orders of San Fernando and Saint Hermenegildo. He also elects the head of his Military Quarter, a position with the rank of lieutenant general or admiral, in which the three Armies take turns. And he has the Royal guard, more than 2,000 military whose mission is to honor the head of state, the royal family and foreign leaders who visit Spain.

For Philip VI, his time in military academies when he was Prince of Asturias This marked a before and after in his relationship with the army. In Zaragoza, Marín and San Javier, he felt like one more, something that rarely happens to him, because wherever he goes, he is always the king. “That is why it is so important for the monarch that his daughter, the Princess of Asturias, can have that same security, that friendship without duplicity, which he knows and knows is real,” explains our source.