Much like her British royal family counterparts, Queen Letizia of Spain is decidedly not having a particularly easy run of it lately, either—but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her.
Letizia—who has been married to King Felipe since 2004—arrived at a meeting with The Federation Against Drug Addiction (FAD) Juventud Board in Madrid today, where her “cheerful expressions betrayed no hint of turmoil after a difficult few weeks for the Spanish royal family, due to claims made by her former brother-in-law in a bombshell book,” The Daily Mail reports. (There truly is not much new under the sun.)
We’ll get to the allegations in a minute, but first, the fashion: The Daily Mail reports that “Letizia followed a business-as-usual approach today and was all smiles as she arrived to meet with board members at FAD,” which is an association that the Queen is an honorary president of, and has been since 2015. Walking into the meeting, she wore a sophisticated double breasted black wool Carolina Herrera coat featuring statement gold buttons; underneath the coat was a silk black blouse from Sandro, which she paired with a belted mid-length white tulle skirt from Adolfo Dominguez. She accessorized with a pair of pearl drop earrings and a black leather bag.
After the meeting today, she posed for a picture with several officials from the FAD and smiled with some of the guests in attendance. The FAD’s main mission is to prevent drug use and other risk behaviors that prevent or hinder the development of teenagers, whether personal or social.
As of late, Letizia has faced explosive claims that she was dating the ex-husband of her sister, Telma Ortiz (read: her former brother-in-law), while romantically involved with King Felipe, including into the beginning of their marriage. Ortiz’s former husband Jaime del Burgo, who currently lives in the U.K., recently was a part of a tell-all book about Letizia, “in which he makes the far-fetched claim that he and Letizia were still romantically involved after her 2004 wedding to Felipe,” The Daily Mail writes. The validity of the claims are deeply in dispute and, naturally, the Spanish royal family had no comment.
Later today, Letizia, Felipe, and their two daughters Leonor and Sofia released their family Christmas card, putting on a united front as they weather the storm as a family. In the image, Letizia wears a Carolina Herrera dress, Bulgari earrings, and a Coreterno ring. Letizia wore the same dress to celebrate Leonor’s eighteenth birthday this past October; it is from Carolina Herrera’s Fall 2013 collection, and the cobalt blue dress features a keyhole neck with embellished detailing, as well as a cinched waist and godet skirt, The Daily Mail reports.
