King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain will be paying a State Visit to Malta between Wednesday and Thursday, at the invitation of the President of Malta, George Abela.



His Majesty the King Juan Carlos

King Juan was born on 5 January, 1938 in Rome where the royal family was living, having had to leave Spain when the Republic was proclaimed in 1931. His parents were Juan de Borbon y Battenberg, Count of Barcelona and head of the Spanish Royal Household since his father, King Alfonso XIII, relinquished this status, and Maria de las Mercedes de Borbon y Orleans.

His education included studies at the Military Academies and Colleges of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, reaching the rank of Officer. On 14 May 1962, in Athens, he married Princess Sofia of Greece, the eldest daughter of King Paul I and Queen Federica. Their first daughter, the Infanta Elena, was born in 1963, followed two years later by the Infanta Cristina and in 1968 by Prince Felipe.

After the death of the Head of State, Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was proclaimed King on 22 November 1975.



Her Majesty the Queen Sofía

Queen Sofia was born in Athens on 2 November 1938, the first child of King Paul I and Queen Federica of Greece. Her family belongs to one of Europe’s oldest Royal Households. She spent part of her childhood in Egypt and South Africa because her family was forced into exile during the Second World War.