Her Royal Highness the Infanta Elena

Her Royal Highness, the Infanta Elena, Maria, Isabel, Dominica de Silos de Borbon y Grecia is the eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain.

She was born in Madrid on 20 December 1963 and was baptised at La Zarzuela Palace, her godparents being her paternal grandmother, the Countess of Barcelona, and His Royal Highness Alfonso de Orleans y Borbon.

Her education

She received her secondary education at Santa Maria del Camino School and then trained to be a teacher at the ESCUNI University School in Madrid, qualifying in 1986 as a primary teacher specialised in English language teaching.

After a year working as an English teacher at Santa Maria del Camino School and after taking a course in Sociology and Education at Exeter University in the United Kingdom, she completed her studies at the University of Comillas in Madrid where she was awarded a degree in Education in June 1993.

Her activities in Spain and abroad

As soon as she came of age, she began to take part in institutional activities as a member of the Royal Family on the occasion of visits to Spain by foreign Heads of State. She has travelled officially to several European cities such as Frankfurt and London, and to the United States, Argentina, Japan and the Philippines, amongst others, where she presided over different events, most of them cultural. She inaugurated a Spanish-language television channel in Manila.

Nowadays, she is Director of Cultural and Social Projects of Mapfre Foundation.

On 18 March 1995, she was married in Seville Cathedral to Jaime de Marichalar y Saenz de Tejada, the son of the Counts of Ripalda. On that occasion, His Majesty the King granted her the title of Duchess of Lugo.

She has two children, Felipe Juan Froilan de Todos los Santos, who was born on 17 July 1998, and Victoria Federica, born on 9 September 2000, both of them in Madrid.

In addition to her official activities, the Infanta supports and participates personally in a number of educational and cultural activities. She is especially interested in sports for the disabled and is the Honorary President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee. She attended the Paralympic Games in Barcelona, Atlanta,Sydney, Atenas and Pekin to support the Spanish participants.

She loves horse riding and snow sports.