That little by little the Princess of Asturias and Girona increase the weight of her agenda and her responsibilities. That was the strategy that Zarzuela began a year ago, when Doña Leonor performed her first solo act. And this Monday, July 4, the young woman has taken another step in her work by bearing the weight of the words spoken after the delivery of the Princess of Girona awards. Because after delivering the awards, the Heiress spoke first and then the King, but it was she who made the headlines.
“The times we live in are demanding,” reflected the Princess in a speech delivered in English, Catalan and Spanish. “Not so much because of the pandemic, which has caused so much pain. Also because of terrible events like the war in Ukraine,” she said. “I think of the boys and girls of our age who have been able to lose hope in a better future and who cannot access opportunities like the ones promoted by the Foundation here,” she reflected.
The Princess of Asturias, who finished the first year of the boarding school in Wales on June 17, presented the awards to five women who, according to her, develop different projects that have left her “admired and impressed”. The daughter of Felipe VI, who visited Girona for the first time on Sunday, assured that she was able to “verify the opportunities that the Foundation is giving to the youngest who are being trained.” Then, she confessed: “I am also preparing myself. And I identify myself with the values promoted by the Foundation, which are also my objectives.” Then the Princess listed: “Talent, effort, commitment and solidarity.”
After his speech, which was widely applauded by his parents, who could not hide their faces of pride, King Felipe took the floor, who made his daughter’s message his own, which is what “we want to convey to the world: that talent of young people is the great asset that we all have to take care of and make it grow”.
The King focused his words on putting youth at the center, which is the objective of the Princess of Girona Foundation. “Young people must take the floor”, he has asked them because “the future is your future”, he has insisted. Don Felipe has said that the work of the foundation is that the boys “be more prepared, safer”.
“We are facing enormous challenges and young people must prepare yourselves to face the innumerable challenges with sensitivity and collective intelligence,” he insisted. The King has also assured that during the Talent Tour organized by the Foundation in which both he and Doña Letizia have been present, they have been able to “verify the potential you have”.
The Princess and the King have pronounced these words in the auditorium of the Museu de les Aigües, whose CEO, Felipe Campos, was awarded by the Foundation in 2013 in the social category. Before the awards ceremony, the King held a meeting with the Foundation’s board of trustees.
At half past seven in the evening, the Family appeared at the Museum where they toured the mostra del talent. Queen Doña Letizia wore a navy blue dress and her hair was tied in a ponytail. Princess Leonor premiered a sky blue dress and for the first time she gathered her blonde hair in a bun. Her sister, the Infanta Sofía, opted for loose hair and a set of off-white chiffon pants and frock coat.
They were accompanied by the president of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet; the Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría; the Government delegate, María Eugenia Gay; the head of the Opposition in Parliament, Salvador Illa; the mayor of Cornellá de Llobregat, Antonio Balmón and the president of the Diputación, Nuria Marín.
It is the third year that the Princess of Asturias presents the awards, which have been held for 13 years. On this occasion, the awards went to five women: the actress María Hervás, the engineer Elisenda Bou Balust, the physicist Eleonora Viezzer, the psychologist Claudia Tecglen and the conservationist Trang Nguyen.
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