His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias

His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, the third child of Their Majesties King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, was born in Madrid on 30 January 1968 in Nuestra Señora de Loreto clinic. He was baptised with the names of Felipe, Juan, Pablo and Alfonso de Todos los Santos in memory, respectively, of the first Bourbon King to reign in Spain, of the Head of the Spanish Royal Household, his paternal grandfather, of the King of Greece, his maternal grandfather, and of the former King of Spain, his great-grandfather Alfonso XIII. His godparents were His Royal Highness the Count of Barcelona, Juan de Borbon, and his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenia.

On 30 January 1986, at the age of 18, he swore allegiance to the Constitution and to the King in the Spanish Parliament, fully accepting his institutional role as successor to the Crown.

By Royal Decree 284/2001 of 16 March, HRH the Prince of Asturias's Guidon and Standard were created. The Decree describes his Coat of Arms his Guidon and his Standard.

His education and military training

He studied at kindergarten, primary and secondary levels, at Santa Maria de los Rosales, a modern school in Madrid which he attended as a day student until 1984.

He then spent the equivalent of the university entrance year at Lakefield College School in Canada.

From September 1985 to July 1988, His Royal Highness trained at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, the Naval School in Marin and the General Academy of the Air Force in San Javier, and in July 1989 received despatches as Infantry Lieutenant, Sub-Lieutenant and Lieutenant of the Air Arm.

From October 1988 to June 1993, he studied at the Autonomous University of Madrid and graduated with a degree in Law. He also studied a number of subjects from the Economics syllabus in order to round off his training in that area.

In September 1993, he enrolled for a Master's degree in International Relations at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at the University of Georgetown (Washington DC), graduating on 26 May 1995.

The ranks he holds in the Spanish Armed Forces today are those of Lieutenant Colonel of the General Land Army Corps (Infantry), Commander in the General Navy and Wing Commander of the General Air Force. He is also a helicopter pilot, qualified for instrument flight in Air Force Squadron 402. He has his Helicopter Pilot's Wings for both the Land Army and the Navy.

From September 1999 to June 2000, he attended a refresher course in Security and Defence.

His activities in Spain and abroad

Since completing his academic studies in the United States, Prince Felipe has fulfilled his institutional commitments in his capacity as Heir to the Crown, chaired many official events in Spain and participated in key events in different sectors and aspects of Spanish public life.

Since October 1995, he has made a series of official visits to the Spanish Autonomous Communities with a view to gaining in-depth knowledge of Spain and making contact with other Spaniards.

He holds regular meetings with constitutional bodies and the main State institutions in order to keep in touch with their activities. He also attends meetings of the various bodies of the Central Administration and of the Autonomous Communities as required by his national and international institutional activities.

He grants public and private audiences to a large number of people with a view to receiving up-to-date information on national and international affairs. In particular, he holds meetings with people close to his own generation with outstanding careers in political, economic, cultural and media circles.

When HM the King is unable to attend, he presides over the annual presentation of despatches to Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces, and participates in military exercises held by the three Services.

He has made many official visits to European countries and to Latin America as well as to countries in the Arab world, the Far East and Australasia. He shows special interest in all matters related to the European Union, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.

Since January 1996, the Prince of Asturias has represented the Spanish State at the swearing-in ceremonies for Latin American Presidents.

He has also played a very active role in the promotion of Spain's economic and commercial interests and of Spanish language and culture in foreign countries. He frequently presides at economic and trade fairs held by Spain abroad (Expotecnia, Expoconsumo and Expohabitat) and is especially interested in promoting the creation of Centres and University Chairs to disseminate the history and current situation of Spain in the main foreign universities.

In addition to his official activities, Prince Felipe is Honorary President of several Associations and Foundations, such as the Codespa Foundation, which finances specific economic and social development activities in Ibero-America and other countries, and the Spanish branch of the Association of European Journalists, which is composed of outstanding communications professionals. Most noteworthy is the Príncipe de Asturias Foundation, where he presides annually the Awards ceremony of these highly prestigious Awards, at the international level, that carry his name.

Within the framework of these institutions which work towards aims of general interest, he focuses his interest on activities in the fields of development projects, voluntary work, the environment, universities, the integration of young people in the workplace and business, relations between business circles and society and social communication.

On the occasion of the United Nations declaration of 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, named Prince Felipe an "Eminent Person" so that he could contribute on an international level towards enhancing the importance of voluntary workers.

A keen sportsman, he was a member of the Spanish Olympic sailing team in the Soling class in the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, finishing in sixth position and obtaining an Olympic Diploma. During the opening ceremony, he paraded with the Spanish flag at the head of the Spanish team.

On the 1 November 2003, Their Majesties the King and Queen announced the engagement of their son and heir apparent, H.R.H. The Prince of Asturias, to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, solemnised at the Cathedral of Madrid "Santa María la Real de la Almudena", on the 22 May 2004. They have two daughters, Leonor, born on 31th October 2005, and Sofía, on 29th April 2007, both in Madrid.