Royal couple turns heads in Spain

Spain was abuzz with word that Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, 35, heir to the Spanish throne and one of Europe's most eligible bachelors, is engaged to a commoner with whom he's had a secret relationship since last spring.

After years of public speculation as to whom he would choose to be his bride and the future queen, the prince announced Nov. 1 he had fallen not for one of the European aristocrats to whom he's been linked in the past, but a homegrown girl with none of the pedigree once required of a royal fiancee.

Letizia Ortiz is hardly a new face: The 31-year-old bride-to-be has been a successful television reporter for one of Spain's state-run channels. But few had expected that a daughter of a broken, middle-class marriage - and a divorcee herself - would fill shoes once reserved for the blue-blooded.

The surprise prompted not only a flood of gossip but weighty analysis of the monarchy as an institution. In addition to rose-colored coverage in special editions of celebrity magazines and talk shows, the engagement has been dissected on news programs and newspaper editorials in a broader discussion about the role of the publicly funded crown in a modern, democratic society.

``Some of the attention is the same hunger for gossip that surrounds celebrity weddings elsewhere, but much of it also reflects a particular interest in the monarchy and its future,'' said Paul Preston, a professor at the London School of Economics, and the author of several books on Spanish history, including a recent biography of the prince's father, King Juan Carlos I.

The royal family, a lineage that first reigned here in 1700, is nothing like its counterpart in Great Britain. It is neither sullied by the personal scandals that have rocked Buckingham Palace nor perceived to be as rarefied as Queen Elizabeth and her heirs.

While the Spanish Constitution limits the family's role to that of figureheads, cutting ribbons and presenting medals most of the time, its conduct is considered to have been instrumental in Spain's orderly transition to democracy following the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

As a boy, King Juan Carlos was retrieved from exile by Franco, who sought to educate him as a successor. But after Franco died in 1975, the king supported pro-democracy forces. He pleased Spanish democrats once more in 1981, when he helped quell an attempted coup.

``They're monarchs, but they've worked for democracy,'' said Ricardo de la Cierva, a noted Spanish historian and former minister of culture.

Whether Prince Felipe will enjoy his father's popularity is an open question. His engagement to Ortiz is seen as an attempt to make the crown yet more modern and accessible, especially because Spanish monarchs traditionally marry other royalty. The prince's mother, Queen Sofia, is a scion of the Greek royal family.

``It's important she's a working girl,'' said Maite Rodriguez, a 54-year-old office worker from Madrid, who admits crying in 1992 when Felipe, then a member of the national sailing team, carried the Spanish flag during the opening ceremonies of the Barcelona Summer Olympics. ``We watched him grow up, and now he's marrying one of us.''

The tall, solemn prince describes his betrothed as an ``asset'' whose workaday background will help forge ``another link in the chain of dynasty.''

Appearing before reporters Thursday, the prince and Ortiz strolled around the granite courtyard of a 15th-century palace north of Madrid. As they flaunted their gifts to one another - she donned a ring of white gold and diamonds, he a pair of gold and sapphire cufflinks - Ortiz showed some of the spark that helped her succeed as a newscaster.

When the prince interrupted her amid a response to a question, she grabbed his arm and scolded, ``Let me finish.''

Most of the questions they fielded were meant to feed the curiosity of connoisseurs of royal gossip. In fact, reporters on the royal beat generally avoid posing serious questions about the monarchy.