King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain have accepted an invitation from the Queen to visit the UK. The state visit will take place from 6 to 8 June, the palace has confirmed, with the Spanish royals set to stay at Buckingham Palace. The trip has been a long time coming. Felipe, 49, and his wife Letizia, 44, were due to visit the Queen in March last year on their first trip to Britain since they became king and queen in 2014. However, a month before their expected departure, the state visit was postponed due to the political situation in Spain.
The December general election in 2015 resulted in a hung parliament for the first time, meaning that Felipe's attention was turned to meeting with political leaders in a bid to try and form a ruling coalition government. An official statement issued by the Spanish Foreign Office said: "Notice is given that due to the process of the formation of a new government currently underway in Spain, [the state] visit has been postponed."
© Photo: Getty ImagesQueen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain will visit the UK in June
Following the announcement, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said that the Queen understood why the Spanish royals had chosen to postpone their trip. "The Queen has been informed of the Spanish Government's decision to cancel the forthcoming state visit," the statement said. "The Queen, of course, fully understands the decision and the context in which it was taken."
GALLERY: The diverse CVs of royals before they married into monarchies
© Photo: Getty ImagesQueen Sofia, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain attend the wedding of Prince William and Kate in 2011
The monarchs were due to visit from 8 to 10 March 2016 and were set to stay at Windsor Castle. The castle, which is a 90-minute drive away from London, is often used by Her Majesty as her weekend home. Details of this summer’s itinerary have not yet been revealed, but royal watchers are hoping that Felipe and Letizia will be reunited with the nation's sweethearts Prince William and Kate. The Spanish king and queen attended William and Kate's wedding in 2011 when they were still styled as the Prince and Princess of Asturias.
Letizia and Felipe hit the slopes with daughters
The last state visit from Spain was by King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia in 1986. Meanwhile, the Queen and Prince Philip paid a state visit to Spain in 1988.
