New meeting between King Felipe and King Juan Carlos and, like the previous ones, within the framework of a funeral. The royal family and the King’s family came together this Monday, in Madrid, to attend the mass in memory of Fernando Gómez-Acebo, who was the youngest of Infanta Pilar’s children, who died on March 1, which was held in the military cathedral of Madrid, located a few meters from the Royal Palace. In addition to Kings Felipe and Letizia, Juan Carlos and Sofía, the infantas Elena and Cristina, as well as the infanta Margarita and her children María and Alfonso Zurita, attended the ceremony.
The brothers of the deceased, Simoneta, Juan, Bruno and Beltrán Gómez-Acebo de Borbón, together with Nadia Halamandari, wife of the deceased (although they never lived together), and mother of Nicolás, the only son of the deceased, have been in charge of receiving, at the doors of the temple, first to Kings Juan Carlos and Sofía, who have arrived together, and later, to Kings Felipe and Letizia. Since shortly before the start of the ceremony, close friends such as the former heads of the King’s House, Fernando de Almansa and Rafael Spottorno, have been accessing the temple; Teresa de Borbón-Dos Sicilias and Beatriz Moreno, grandmother and mother of Teresa Urquijo, recently married to the mayor of Madrid, also attended; the Duke of Calabria, Eugenia Martínez Irujo, Kubrat of Bulgaria and Carla Royo-Villanova
King Juan Carlos arrived at the church in the same car as Queen Sofía and Infanta Cristina and together they were received by his nephews, children of Infanta Pilar and Luis Gómez-Acebo (both deceased). Especially emotional was the moment in which little Nicolás Gómez-Acebo, 8 years old, hugged the legs of King Juan Carlos after he bent down to give him a kiss. Queen Sofia has approached King Juan Carlos to help him climb the stairs, in an unprecedented gesture in recent times.
The last to arrive at the church, according to official and family protocol, were Kings Felipe and Letizia who arrived on foot near the temple, after getting out of the car a few meters before. Like most of the attendees, Queen Letizia has dressed in mourning, adorning her black dress with a gray pearl brooch surrounded by diamonds with a white pearl pendant that is part of the jewelry box of the queens of Spain.
The ceremony was officiated by the military archbishop, Juan Antonio Aznares Cobo, and Kings Felipe and Letizia occupied, together, the first central bank, next to the one occupied by the four brothers of the deceased. At the ends, the Infantas Elena and Cristina, on one side, and, on the other, the rest of Fernando Gómez-Acebo’s direct relatives.
After the mass, Kings Felipe and Letizia said goodbye to Kings Juan Carlos and Sofia and the Infantas Elena and Cristina, inside the temple, with a loving greeting and then the first ones left the church; Protected from the rain under an umbrella, the Kings walked a stretch of Calle Mayor again until they got into the car that was waiting for them on Calle Bailén. King Juan Carlos left the military cathedral alone and got into a car and, behind him, Queen Sofia left in another car.
