I’m always surprised by the number of requests we get to cover other royal families beyond Monaco and the United Kingdom. I’ve been trying to do more coverage of the other European royals over the past few years, to mostly positive results, but I’ve yet to really devote a post to Spanish royals Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia. Felipe and Letiza have been together for a little more than a decade – they announced their “surprise” engagement in 2003 after a whirlwind courtship and they were married the next year. Felipe is the crown prince, or heir, to the throne of Spain. He and Letizia have two children together, daughters Leonor and Sofia. Previous “scandals”: this is Letizia’s second marriage – her first marriage only lasted a year, 1998-1999. And she had a career before marrying Prince Felipe – she was a journalist and a TV news anchor. Also, she’s really “peasanty”. She has no royal or noble blood whatsoever.

Anyway, I’m talking about them now because suddenly last week there were several interesting pieces of gossip about Letizia and Felipe’s marriage. Apparently, their marriage is being described as “in crisis” by the Spanish and European press and Letizia is said to have “fled” her husband’s home in Mallorca for an unplanned and sudden trip to Switzerland. Here’s more:

Princess Letizia of Spain is in breaking news for the alleged crisis in her marriage to Felipe de Borbon, heir to the crown. A few days ago, Letizia left the island of Mallorca, the traditional summer destination of the royal family, leaving behind her husband and their daughters, Princesses Leonor and Sofia. After returning to Madrid, she took a flight to the Swiss city of Zurich, where the press lost her trail. Her final destination may be a remote resort where she can find enough peace and privacy to reflect on what´s going on with her marriage and public responsibilities that seem to increasingly overwhelm her.

It´s no surprise that princess Letizia does not like spending her holidays on Mallorca. While this summer she has only spent five days on the island, in recent years she even asked her former colleagues in the press to leave her alone, since she was trying to take a vacation. Maybe the Princess forgets that her staying on the island, even if only for a few days, is part of her duties as the heiress to the crown. Once they are over, she usually enjoys her own luxurious and private holidays with her husband and their daughters, paid for entirely by the Spaniard people.

But it would seem that lately, appearing polite and friendly with the media and people in Mallorca is an exhausting job for Letizia and she’d rather be left alone. Prince Felipe, who returned to Madrid a few days after his wife, is in Paraguay to mark the inauguration of the new president, Horacio Cartes. It is unknown if after he completes his official duties will meet his wife or continue to spend a lonely summer.

Felipe and Letizia got married in 2004 after a short courtship. Public opinion was shocked when a story emerged that the attractive heir had chosen the evening news presenter as his wife. Not only was she a woman with no links to the stale world of the aristocracy, but she was also a divorcée. She soon lost the freshness she displayed during her years as a bright young journalist, and became a woman with a tense air and increasingly artificial look, the result of her continuing aesthetic makeovers.

Her cold, controlled style does not bring forth the sympathies of the Spaniard citizens, even though she used to be one of them. Recently, Spanish media reported that the Princess felt under so much pressure that she asked Felipe to give her some private space, away from the cameras and also from her husband´s friends, members of the aristocracy used to a life of luxury and privilege that Letizia doesn´t relate to.

The Princess, who is 41, prefers dancing at indie music festivals, meeting her friends at trendy rooftop bars and even shopping at chain stores downtown, like any other woman her age. She´s usually escorted by her old group of girlfriends, with whom she can relax and stay away from the public eye. Her friends, even though they are journalists, have shown absolute loyalty and there are no pictures of Letizia´s nights out on the town.

2013 is becoming a turbulent year for the Spanish monarchy. The scandals follow one another in quick succession making the Borbon no longer the untouchable family they were a few years ago, when neither politicians nor journalists dared to criticize some of their behaviors. Things have changed.

The trial against Inaki Urdangarin, husband of Princess Cristina (the youngest daughter of Juan Carlos and Sofia), accused of alleged misappropriation of public funds for personal gain, has caused public outrage. Juan Carlos himself also lost his respectable image after traveling to a hunt in Botswana with his alleged mistress, Princess Corinna. And, although he publicly apologized, many Spanish citizens are tired of giving their taxes away to a family they feel alien to the harsh reality of their country.

With her fussy and unprofessional attitude, it seems very unlikely that Letizia will ever become the savior of the Spanish Crown. Bad news for the more traditionally-minded citizens, but encouraging for those who believe the monarchy is an obsolete, useless institution in the XXI century.

[From Voxxi]

That was a super-bitchy article, right? But it gives you an idea of what we’re dealing with. Can you imagine if a UK newspaper wrote about the British monarchy this way? Heads would roll! Here’s something that surprised me: although Letizia has tried to play the “modern monarchy” game which Prince William & Duchess Kate are currently playing, Spanish outlets say that the Spanish people aren’t buying it and that Letizia’s popular support has taken a nose dive. She’s seen as “rigid” and like she doesn’t know how to interact with people. There are rumors that she’s addicted to plastic surgery too. YIKES.

Latin Times also has a story that I’ve never heard before now – Letizia’s cousin David Rocasolano wrote a tell-all book about Letizia and he says that she had an abortion one year before she met Felipe. And the cousin says Letizia and Felipe signed a prenup which said that if Letizia ever left Felipe, he would get custody of their kids. Modern Monarchy, y’all.

Photos courtesy of WENN.