The Kings, with Princess Eleonor and Infanta Sofia, ended up starring, yesterday, in their own Holy Week procession. Folded and almost incognito, they went to witness what was to be celebrated, leaving from a church on Calle Alcalá in Madrid, to proceed to the Encounter between the image of Our Lady of Solitude and Despair and that of the Reclining Christ. Once suspended by bad weather, Felipe, Letícia, Eleonor and Sofia mingled, greeted and took photos with the thousands of faithful waiting to watch the procession and were met with the surprise and company of the royal family .
The Zarzuela, without warning, improvised on Holy Saturday a joint appearance of the Kings and the daughters, Eleonor and Sofia, in a religious act. The favorable reception and, above all, the repercussion of the presence of Queen Sofia on Maundy Thursday in Málaga to attend the transfer, in the arms of legionnaires, of the Christ of the Good Death, and her subsequent attendance, on Good Friday, with the Infanta Cristina, at the procession of the Christ of the Halberdiers, in Madrid, led to the decision that the Kings, the Princess and the Infanta would also be present in a demonstration specific to Holy Week.
The attendance of Queen Sofia, both on Thursday, in Malaga, and on Friday, in Madrid, was not included in the official agenda of the Zarzuela, but on both occasions, even though it was a private activity, the ceremonies they were celebrated with the protocol and solemnity of religious acts. The echo obtained by the presence of the King’s mother in Holy Week events, and also the appearance on stage of the Infanta Cristina, with Queen Sofia, at the Royal Palace to follow the procession of Christ of the Halberdiers, for the media absence these days of the Kings and their daughters, he advised a joint departure, which, in addition, testifies to their presence in Spain.
Due to the rush of time, the only procession that was close to the Zarzuela was chosen, although the weather finally prevented the steps from making the route. All in all, the purpose of making visible the presence of the Kings and the daughters in an event specific to Holy Week was largely fulfilled. Princess Eleonor left the military academy in Zaragoza, where her parents went to pick her up on Tuesday and Infanta Sofia arrived in Madrid, coming from the boarding school in Wales, on Thursday.
The Kings and their daughters, Princess Eleonor and Infanta Sofia, went last year to the Living Way of the Cross in Chinchón (Madrid) which is performed every Holy Saturday. An activity that was considered private but that Zarzuela communicated, several hours in advance, so that the media could attend. This time, the royal presence yesterday in Calle Alcalá was able to be documented thanks to the media photographers covering Holy Week in Madrid, who, without knowing it in advance, encountered the presence of the Kings and their daughters.
As every year, the image of Our Lady of Solitude and Despair was scheduled to leave the Calatrava church at six o’clock in the afternoon to begin a journey from Calle d’Alcalá and meet at a point determined with the passage of the Reclining Christ, but the rain prevented the development of the procession. The image of the Virgin Mary, the work of Juan de Mena, dates from the 18th century and the one of the Reclining Christ came out of the workshops of Olot in the last century. The two steps briefly left the church to go outside, but immediately returned to avoid deterioration due to the rain.
