Princess of Asturias gives birth to a baby girl

Princess of Asturias gives birth to a baby girl
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By h.b. - Oct 31, 2005 - 6:59 AM
The child, who will be called Leonor, was born by caesarean section at 1,25am this morning

Princess Letizia has given birth to a baby girl. The child was born in the early hours of this morning by caesarean section in the Ruber Internacional Clinic in Madrid, and will be called Leonor de Borbón.

Prince Felipe has explained that the couple chose the name Leonor for two reasons, one because it was an historical name and secondly simply because they both liked it.

She was born at 1,25am and weighed 3.54 kilos and measured 47 cms – there were no complications. The Prince appeared alongside the doctor Luis Ignacio Recasens, to give the news in a press conference just before six this morning. A visibly emotional prince said that this was the most beautiful thing that could happen to anyone during your life.

‘To see the face of you daughter and the face of the mother during the birth is something exceptional.’

The fact that the first baby for the Prince and Princess of Asturias is a girl will reopen the debate in a reform of a constitution, as some wish to give precedence in line to the throne independent of gender. The prince himself commented today that his daughter has been born ‘for now’ as an Infanta and not a queen.

Both the main political parties in Spain, the PSOE and the PP have sent messages of congratulation. The leader of the Partido Popular, Mariano Rajoy, emphasised the loyalty of his party to the crown.

‘We want to reiterate our loyalty to the crown and our compromise to work for the validity and development of the Constitution, the freedoms of the Spanish people, and equality among all’

The Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zaptero, also sent congratulations to the Prince and Princess for the birth of Leonor.

‘I want to express, in the name of the Spanish government, my warmest congratulations to the royal highnesses the prince and princess of Asturias, for the birth of their daughter, and extend the greeting to the King and Queen and the entire Royal Family – We share with them, and the rest of the citizens, the joy of such a happy event.’

Minister for Justice, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, said that government was committed to remove the last remnant of male preference in the succession law.

Facing the media scrum outside the clinic later in the day, the King and Queen answered the journalists’ questions.

The King and Queen revealed that everyone was very happy, they all really liked the name of Leonor, the princess was well and recovering and also with the queen revealing that the baby is chubby, round faced and a bit of a cry baby.

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