The king Philip VI He spoke this Tuesday at the lunch he offered at the Royal Palace on the occasion of the oath of the Constitution of his daughter Leonor, who turns 18. The head of state took advantage of the speech to show his support for his heir (“You will not be alone on your path“, he told her) and also warn her and her “generation” that “democracy and freedom are not built overnight.” “They require a continuous care and permanent improvement. You will have that responsibility: to continue building Spain, adapting it to a world in full transformation,” he continued.
In his speech, the King recalled the speech he gave Gregorio Peces-Barba, who presided over Congress in 1986, when it was his turn to swear in the Magna Carta. He has pointed out that Peces-Barba, one of the fathers of the Constitution, stressed that with this step the heir symbolized “submission to the Law”, the “acceptance of the parliamentary system”, the “commitment to service to institutions and citizens.” and “loyalty to the King.” Those words, he noted, have been “a guide” for his work and he hopes they will also be the same for Leonor, “although the historical circumstances are different.”
Furthermore, he has cited statements from these years ago of Miguel Herrero Rodríguez de Miñón and Miquel Roca, both present at the event and also speakers of the Constitution like Peces-Barba. Regarding the first, the Monarch has pointed out the phrase in which he speaks of the fundamental law as a “union of wills” and, of the second, that the Magna Carta of 1978 demonstrated that the Spaniards were capable of live together “from tolerance” and “accept discrepancy and difference.” For Felipe VI, it is “a great collective work on which a free, peaceful and orderly coexistence is based and rests.”
Toast and happy birthday
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On a small lectern in the Royal Palace Gala Dining Roomthe Monarch closed his speech with a toast to Leonor. Felipe VI has invited the hundred attendees at the lunch to raise their glass and “toast to her.” “Long live and success to the Princess of Asturias,” he said. A few seconds later the happy birthday song with violin music played briefly.
The day will end with a private celebration at the Palacio del Pardo where Juan Carlos I will attend, who has not been invited either to the Congress, where the oath of the Constitution was taken, or to the Royal Palace, where Leonor has received the Collar of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III.