The Princess of Asturias is, as her title indicates, the great protagonist of the awards that were presented this Friday in Oviedo, but, on this occasion, it was also the sense of her institutional role on which she guided both the speech of the Princess Leonor herself, like that of her father, the King. Leonor, in what were her last words before reaching the age of majority next week, said: “I understand very well and I am aware of what my duty is and what my responsibilities entail.”
In this year’s edition, the Princess of Asturias Foundation has honored Meryl Streep, Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts; Eliud Kipchoge, Princess of Asturias Sports Award; Haruki Murakami, Princess of Asturias Award for Literature; Medicines for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation; Jeffrey Gordon, E. Peter Greenberg and Bonnie L. Bassler, Princess of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research, and Mary’s Meals, Princess of Asturias Award for Concord. Also awarded, although unfortunately they died before the awards were presented, were Nuccio Ordine, Princess of Asturias Prize for Communication and Humanities, and Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, Princess of Asturias Prize for Social Sciences.
“I understand very well and I am aware of what my duty is and what my responsibilities mean,” the Princess said in her words after having handed out the corresponding scrolls to the different winners, from an excited Meryl Streep to a shy Haruki Murakami, passing through the proudly African Eliud Kipchoge of whom, along with the rest of the winners. Leonor has stated that she aspires to feel identified with the values ??they represent.
The Princess has referred first to this October so crucial for her life that goes from the last swearing in of the flag, in Zaragoza, to the next swearing in of the Constitution before the Cortes. Between one event and another, the celebration of the Princess of Asturias awards was the occasion to make a declaration of principles that does not, of course, cease to have extraordinary relevance. Leonor knows her responsibilities and has a behavioral guide in the actions and works of the different winners.
Princess Leonor’s words preceded those of the King, in charge of closing a ceremony that, like the previous ones, becomes a message of hope year after year. The winners are not only relevant people, they are also sources of hope to, as the King said, “continue trusting in humanity and our ability to move forward; and thus, not give in to the worst omens.”
The King defended this Friday that if Spain wants to build “something solid, lasting and permanent”, it must be done with “the collaboration and commitment of all” and with “an integrative will”, after remembering that the solutions will come “from unity, never division.”
“It is with union, with collective effort and supportive attitudes that great works are built. This is how the answers emerge that really allow us to move forward,” the king proclaimed when referring to the situation at the national level in his speech at the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo.
Accompanied by Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, Felipe VI has asked to be aware of what Spain has achieved “as a nation” and of everything that has been “built and prospered with so much effort”, which is why aimed at “conserving it and preserving it from that which could erode it.”
“Our problems are many and the solutions will come, as has always happened and the history of Spain demonstrates, of unity, never of division,” he recommended.
Some desires that, at the beginning of the 21st century, have been interrupted with “the terrible return of wars that cause tragedies of such magnitude and global reach, that they ignore and despise life, dignity and human rights.” How can we not keep in mind the 1994 ceremony when the International Cooperation award was presented to the then Prime Minister of Israel, Isaac Rabin, at the 2023 awards ceremony, when “the conflict in the Middle East is once again causing heartbreaking suffering?” , and the president of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat. Together they received the award and together they reiterated their efforts to create conditions of peace in the region following the process of the Madrid Conference. The King had words for them and their role as well as for King Hussein of Jordan, who also advocated for understanding in the area.
“Wars test the international order and as a result of instability the economy suffers with especially harmful effects for the most vulnerable,” the King continued, extending the long shadow of conflicts to democracies and the principles that support them. “Its fragility is a reminder not to fall into passivity.”
In her speech, the American actress Meryl Streep, winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, claimed this Friday the “gift of empathy” as a form of “rapprochement and diplomacy” in an “increasingly hostile and volatile” world and importance of society adopting the rule that they teach all interpreters: “The important thing is to listen.” During her speech, the three-time Oscar winner showed her joy at receiving the Princess of the Arts among “such outstanding honorees.” In that sense, she has ironically said that she receives the award because she has been “taken” for one of the “extraordinary people” that she has played.
The Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, Princess of Asturias Sports Award 2023, who also spoke at the ceremony, said that running “is not just a physical movement”, it is a “vehicle that has the power to unite us” and where it does not matter origins or “the color of your skin.”
The marathoner has highlighted that there is a strong parallel between running and everyday life, where to “be happy” people must focus on their mental health and overcome “challenges before reaching the proverbial finish line.”
The athlete has pointed out that he does not celebrate his victories by partying “late into the night with champagne”, but instead returns to his training camp in Kenya and plants a tree, since the “moment of glory is fleeting”, but the growth of that tree “lasts many lives.”
In this sense, he has vindicated the importance of caring for the environment and promoting education, a mission on which the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation is focused.
