The last image of Queen Sofía was presented moved by the fragility of the old professor Emilio Lora-Tamayo, whose tribute at the Camilo José Cela university in Madrid she attended last Friday. Today, the King's mother turns 85, coping with her own fragility with mixed emotions. On the one hand, her satisfaction at experiencing the reign of her son Felipe and the growing popularity of her granddaughter Leonor up close, and, on the other, her grief, borne with dignity, that the situation of King Juan Carlos causes family disagreements. .
Sofia of Greece, who is more from Spain, where she has lived 61 of her 85 years, leads a quiet life after nine years have passed since, after the abdication of Juan Carlos I, she stopped being on the front line of representation institutional, but that does not mean that it is inactive. She has some events on the royal agenda, and, above all, she is on top of her most beloved legacy: the Reina Sofía Foundation. Not only in everything related to initiatives for research and care of Alzheimer's patients, but also, in recent times, closely following the different food banks, an organization with which he actively collaborates and to which he provides his support. Just a few days ago, Queen Sofía was in Reus, where the headquarters of the Tarragona Food Bank Foundation is located, to learn about her needs and maintain contact with officials and volunteers. This organization is currently going through a donation crisis throughout Spain, and Queen Sofia has already committed to being present in the Christmas campaign to refill the warehouses of the different banks that provide support to the people every day. thousands of vulnerable families.
“Being useful” is Queen Sofía's goal, according to her own words in the interview she gave to La Vanguardia on her 70th birthday. She was still queen consort and her highest aspiration was for the Spanish to feel that she had fulfilled society and her duties.
His last years have not been easy, beyond the issues related to his relationship with King Juan Carlos, which he has always kept to the level of his strictest privacy, without giving the slightest indication of his personal feelings. The crisis of the Crown, in the last years of the reign of Juan Carlos I, followed by the subsequent deterioration of his public image that ended with his self-exile in Abu Dhabi, and above all the deep institutional distancing with family consequences, between father and son. , have affected Queen Sofia's spirit, although she has never let her personal situation affect the many activities she wants to continue maintaining.
The protection of nature, and specifically the seas, leads her, on some Saturdays, to participate with other volunteers in collecting garbage in forests and beaches; It is also a way to maintain contact with ordinary citizens.
Queen Sofia's popularity, as well as the majority respect of Spanish society, has remained intact for years, and has even grown despite her declining public activity. A couple of weeks ago, during her stay in Oviedo to attend the Princess of Asturias awards ceremony, which she has not missed for more than forty years, Queen Sofía said she felt in good health, remembering, after having experienced a busy flight from Madrid to Asturias, other difficult flights in the many trips that, together with King Juan Carlos, he made around the world. Her bearing and care in her clothing remains intact, although with the logical weight of the years. Today she turns 85, and the coincidence with the celebrations for Princess Leonor's 18th birthday allowed her last Tuesday to share the date with her entire family, which is what could make her happiest, worried as she is about the health of his sister Irene, when the death of his brother Constantine of Greece is still recent. But, for Sofía, Tuesday night had a bit of a storybook plot. Before midnight, King Juan Carlos left Madrid and the mirage of a united family left with him.
