The Tragic Reality Of Queen Letizia's Life

The following article mentions suicide.

From an outsider's perspective, Queen Letizia leads what looks to be a perfect life. As the queen of Spain, Letizia lives beyond lavishly. She wears a crown, has tons of expensive jewels, and even sleeps in the famous Zarzuela Palace. Beyond her material wealth, Letizia has a husband who seems to adore her, as well as two daughters — both of whom have avoided the scandals typical of other adolescent royals. All this good fortune could easily leave Letizia's public with the impression that nothing in her life has ever gone awry. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Despite Letizia's current status of privilege, she was not born into Spanish nobility. For decades, Letizia lived the life of a typical middle-class girl, university student, and, eventually, corporate woman. During this time, she confronted many of the same challenges that other normal folks face — including a number of heartbreaking tragedies. She experienced an inappropriate relationship, an unhappy marriage, and ultimately divorce. These experiences added quite a bit of sorrow to the future queen's life.

When Queen Letizia did marry King Felipe VI in 2004, her life just became all the more complicated. As a royal, Letizia suddenly became the target of media harassment and constant criticism from the Spanish people. She also became the subject of lewd rumors — some of which were spread by her ex-boyfriend. All these factors together have prevented Letizia from avoiding one tragedy after the other.

Before Queen Letizia met King Felipe VI, she was involved with other men. Her first relationship, however, was inappropriate and shocking. The reason? A high school literature teacher named Alonso Guerrero Pérez, reportedly initiated a relationship with her when she was just 16 years old. Pérez, who was in his mid 20s at the time, was an instructor at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute of Madrid when Letizia was a student there. Although it is hard to say exactly what occurred between Pérez and Letizia and when, it is worth noting that their relationship is believed to have begun shortly after Letizia's family moved from Oviedo to Rivas-Vaciamadrid in the late '80s. 

Regardless of the exact dynamics between Letizia and Pérez, however, it is clear that their relationship contained power imbalances — and not just because of the age gap. Pérez was not only significantly older than Letizia, but he was a faculty member at her school. While this would change after she graduated, there was a period of time when he was an authority figure to Letizia. As licensed clinical social worker Kaytee Gillis wrote in a piece for Psychology Today, "In relationships marked by a power differential, one partner believes they are inherently superior or more deserving of control and influence."

Despite the power imbalances in Queen Letizia's relationship with high school teacher Alonso Guerrero Pérez, the two stayed together for quite a while. In August 1998 — just one month before Letizia's 26th birthday — the unlikely couple tied the knot in the small town of Almendralejo, Spain. Although their nuptials were small in comparison to the wedding Letizia would one day celebrate with King Felipe VI, they were still sizable. Reports indicate that around 90 guests attended the civil ceremony. The event was followed by a festive dinner at the El Paraíso restaurant and a night at the Hotel Espronceda.

Shortly after Letizia and Guerrero Pérez walked down the aisle, however, things began to change for the future queen. No longer an unsure high school student, Letizia was on her way to becoming a career journalist — and she seemed to grow more successful by the day. As she signed on with major news agencies like CNN+, Letizia found that her relationship with her former literature teacher began disintegrating rapidly. Of course, it's difficult to pinpoint why the couple's internal dynamics took a turn for the worse. However, it should be noted that tensions increased at a time when Letizia's journalistic achievements had started to overshadow Guerrero Pérez's own literary aspirations. In 1999 — just one year after their wedding — Letizia and Guerrero Pérez filed for divorce. 

After securing a divorce from Alonso Guerrero Pérez, Queen Letizia was ready to embark on her next chapter. Her journalistic career continued to take off, and she was frequently selected to travel around the world and report on breaking news. On September 11, 2001, Letizia covered the attacks in New York City live from the remains of the World Trade Center. When there was an oil spill along the coast of northern Spain, Letizia rushed there to report on the environmental disaster. What she did not know is that the dashing Prince Felipe — then still the heir to the Spanish throne — had planned a trip to that same location.

When Letizia and Felipe's paths crossed, they hit it off. They decided to meet up a few more times and eventually started dating. However, due to Felipe's prominent position, the couple needed to keep their budding romance on the wraps. Not even Letizia's work friends were clued into the fact that she was falling in love.

All that changed on October 31, 2003, when Letizia and Felipe announced their intention to wed. The news rocked all of Spain, and the public clamored to learn more about their princess-to-be. As the media rushed to her apartment building, Letizia instantly lost the right to return home. Instead, she was sequestered in the Zarzuela Palace — where officials feared for her safety. This sudden change in media status was likely overwhelming for Letizia.

Privacy is not the only thing that the future Queen Letizia lost upon announcing her engagement with then-Prince Felipe. Like many other royal wives, Letizia had to step away from her career in order to pursue her relationship with Felipe. For a woman of her professional background, this was devastating. To put things into perspective, Letizia had been recognized as one of the most promising up-and-coming journalists of her generation. The Madrid Press Association even granted her the Larra Award — cementing her position as the best journalist under the age of 30 in all of Spain. Letizia's decision to marry Felipe meant walking away from years of dedication and hard work.

Commenting on Letizia's transformation from journalist to princess in the documentary "Letizia — The Queen of Spain," her former colleague, Sagrario Ruiz de Apodaca mused, "She was completely independent, and it can't be easy for someone like that to become a part of the royal family." Whereas Letizia had once been free to travel the world and report on gripping stories of international importance, she was now confined to the Zarzuela Palace. She was also obligated to adhere to a royal role. Although Letizia presumably knew what she was getting into, abandoning her career was likely a challenge. As Ruiz de Apodaca put it in the same documentary, "It was difficult for her to adapt and give up her freedoms." 

Even though Queen Letizia struggled in the beginning of her marriage with King Felipe VI, she eventually adjusted to her new life. In 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Princess Leonor, and by 2006, she was pregnant again — this time with Her Royal Highness Infanta Sofia of Spain. Tragically, though, when Letizia was just six months into her second pregnancy, she suffered a shocking loss. Letizia's younger sister, Erika Ortiz, died by suicide. Erika was 31 years old at the time of her death.

For Letizia, losing a sibling was heart-wrenching. She attended Erika's February 2007 funeral with a black umbrella in her hand and tears in her eyes. As much as the royal family tried to comfort her, Letizia was inconsolable. As reported by Hello!, she still did her best to acknowledge those who supported her during that difficult time. "Thank you to everyone who has shown sympathy following the death of my little sister," she reportedly said.

Following Erika's death, her daughter, Carla Vigo, struggled with the loss. According to the Daily Mail, Carla once told the Spanish-language outlet, Lecturas, that Erika's death had left her feeling "abandoned." It cannot have been easy for Letizia to watch her young niece suffer such a tragedy. 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

By the time the year 2018 came rolling around, King Felipe and Queen Letizia had already been crowned king and queen of Spain. The couple kept busy by fulfilling their royal duties and raising their daughters. Their days were so long that they likely did not waste a lot of time thinking about Letizia's ex-husband and former teacher, Alonso Guerrero Pérez. Guerrero Pérez, however, seemed to spend a lot of time obsessing over the marriage he had left nearly 20 years before. While Letizia focused on sending aid to women in developing countries, her ex apparently was busy writing a book. And, while there's nothing wrong with a little bit of cathartic journaling, Guerrero Pérez went much further than that.

In 2018, the teacher-turned-author published "El amor de Penny Robinson," a short — but supposedly "fictional" book — about a man whose ex-wife went on to marry the king of Spain. The autobiographical overtones in the book were meant to be sensationalized, and many of the readers who purchased it hoped to learn some of the queen's most intimate secrets. At one point it is revealed that the character meant to represent Guerrero Pérez has nude photos of the character corresponding to the queen. Although Guerrero Pérez later denied that such photos were ever taken of Letizia in real life, the damage had already been done. "El amor de Penny Robinson" proved demoralizing for the queen.

As if the whole incident with "El amor de Penny Robinson" was not humiliating enough, Queen Letizia was forced to watch on as other so-called "experts" wrote tell-alls about her life. In November 2023, Jaime Peñafiel — once a former colleague in the small world of Spanish journalism — published a book titled "Letizia and I." The publication included an interview with Jaime del Burgo, who was married to Letizia's sister, Telma Ortiz, from 2012 to 2014. In the interview, del Burgo told Peñafiel that he and Letizia first met in the 1990s. Del Burgo went on to claim that — seconds before he was about to get down on one knee and pop the question — Letizia told him that she was seeing King Felipe VI.

Making matters worse, del Burgo alleged that the queen had continued to romance him after marrying Felipe. Then, in a 2024 sequel titled "Letizia's Silences," Peñafiel interviewed del Burgo once again. This time, the book claimed that Letizia's infidelities had all but broken Felipe. Peñafiel even alleged that the queen and del Burgo almost ran away together.

Although these accusations were largely unsubstantiated, Letizia found them devastating. As reported by the Independent, book reviewers posited that Peñafiel and del Burgo were trying to dethrone the queen. Interestingly, both men have been known to harbor anti-monarchical sentiments. 

Jaime Peñafiel and Jaime del Burgo are not the only ones who have opposed Queen Letizia's time on the throne. Many Spaniards from across the country have questioned the importance of having a monarchy at all. Unlike the British royal family — which continues to garner lots of support from the public — the Spanish royal family faces a strong opposition movement. In effect, this means that Letizia's daughters may not have the same future that Prince William and Princess Catherine's kids are looking forward to. It also means that the queen herself may not have done enough to save the monarchy.

In June 2024, when King Felipe VI was set to commemorate 10 successful years on the throne, a large number of Spaniards were opposed to any kind of celebrations. As such, thousands of protesters hit the streets of Madrid and voiced their pro-republican sentiments. "Ten years was enough," they chanted while marching through the streets. For the Spanish royal family, it is likely very difficult to watch this movement grow. If anti-monarchical sentiment continues to increase, Letizia's eldest daughter, Princess Leonor, may not be able to fulfill her goal of one day wearing the crown.  

When it comes to street marches and other protests, Queen Letizia and King Felipe have largely been able to avoid the brunt of anti-monarchical sentiment. However, in 2024, they found themselves thrust straight into the center of the controversy. The trouble began in late October when a terrible flood swept through much of southern Spain. The environmental disaster killed hundreds of people and wiped away entire villages. In light of this immense destruction, Letizia and Felipe traveled to the flood zones. However, they did not receive the hero's welcome that they perhaps expected.

Footage of Letizia and Felipe's official royal visit shows that they were greeted by fuming crowds. Although the king and queen did not play a role in causing the floods, many Spaniards felt that the privileged royals had no place at the flood site. Many protestors hurled insults at Letizia and Felipe, and some even flung mud at them. Tensions reached a boil when the crowds started throwing eggs at the king and queen, as well. This incident proved very difficult for Letizia — who began crying under all the pressure. With tears in her eyes and mud streaking her cheeks, the queen looked simply defeated. This disconnect between the royals and their people just goes to show that Letizia and her family may not exactly be beloved by all. 

It is hardly a secret that Queen Letizia's relationship with the press is complicated. As a former journalist herself, Letizia has been on the production side of the media world. As the queen of Spain, she has also been the target of a great deal of press criticism. Perhaps, for this reason, Letizia has historically held her head high in the face of tabloid rumors. Experts, though, say that the relationship between the Spanish media and the local monarchy is more complicated than that.

Speaking to Town & Country, former editor-in-chief of "El Mundo," David Jiménez, explained that the gossip mill does not typically sway public opinion in Spain. "Spain is a country where privacy is usually respected, and if a politician is having an affair, that would rarely make it to the media," Jiménez said.

While that may be true in Spain, the same could not be said about Great Britain, where tabloid journalism is famously aggressive. As rumors of infidelity continue to swirl around Letizia, the queen has found the British press increasingly present — with plenty of criticism to dole out. Although it is difficult to know how Letizia has reacted to this criticism in private, one thing is for sure: the queen has continued to face the public with a smile.