In his first public act in Madrid since he took office last Monday as head of the King’s Household, Camilo Villarino wore the diplomatic uniform to accompany the King at the ceremony for the presentation of credentials to the new ambassadors accredited in Madrid who have took place this Wednesday at the Royal Palace. Villarino, whose first appearance with Felipe VI took place on Tuesday at the NATO headquarters in Mons (Brussels), is a career diplomat and to date has held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Camilo Villarino, the second person, after Jaime Alfonsín, to occupy the position of head of the King’s House since the proclamation of Felipe VI in 2014, is also the fourth diplomat to head the Zarzuela. Before him were Fernando Almansa (1993-2002); Alberto Aza (2002-2011) and Rafael Spottorno (2011-2014), all during the reign of Juan Carlos I. In addition to those mentioned, diplomats Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner (Secretary General between 2002 and 2011) have also held positions of responsibility. and Alfonso Sánz-Portolés, who after being head of Protocol between 2000 and 2011 and Secretary General between 2011 and 2014, currently remains at the top of Zarzuela as Diplomatic Advisor.
Camilo Villarino, Alfonso Sánz-Portolés and the head of the Military Quarter of the King’s House, Emilio Juan Gracia Cirugeda, accompanied the King this morning at the credentials ceremony, the third to be held so far this year. In the absence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who has traveled to Morocco with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Manuel Cuesta, attended the ceremony.
The protocol of this act, one of the most solemn in terms of ceremony, requires gala uniformity. Villarino has opted for the diplomatic uniform, on which he has worn the decorations that he has.
Felipe VI, in the dress uniform of the Army, received six new ambassadors, of which four were women and two of them, Zeineb Ely Salem and Raghed Basem Al Saqqa, represented Mauritania and Jordan, respectively. Vesna Andree Zaimovic has presented herself as the new ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Jennie Chua, as diplomatic representative of Singapore. The two men who presented their credentials were Yao Jing, ambassador of China and Eduardo Jorge Lima Barros, ambassador of Cape Verde.
As in the last two ceremonies to present new ambassadors, the six who presented their credentials this Wednesday traveled to the Royal Palace in official cars instead of in the period floats that have been used since the 18th century, since the Guard Real is in the process of renovating some of the horses that are used to pull the gala saloon.
