Infanta Sofía of Spain (; born 29 April 2007) is a member of the

Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...

. She is the younger daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia and, as such, is second in the line of succession to the Spanish throne behind her sister,

Leonor, Princess of Asturias Leonor, Princess of Asturias (; born 31 October 2005) is the heir presumptive, heiress presumptive to the Spanish throne. She is the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Leonor was born during the reign of her paternal grandf ...

. Sofía was born at the Ruber International Hospital in Madrid during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Juan Carlos. She has received the same education as her sister, being educated at the Santa María de los Rosales School and, in 2023, she started an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

at the UWC Atlantic College in

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, United Kingdom.

Early life and family

Infanta Sofía was born on 29 April 2007 at 16:50 ( CET) at the Ruber International Hospital in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

by means of a

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

, two days after due date. Like her elder sister, her birth was announced by the royal family to the press via

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

. It was announced that her

umbilical cord In Placentalia, placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or ''funiculus umbilicalis'') is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord i ...

stem cells In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

would be sent to a European private bank in Belgium and to a Spanish public one. The parents, then the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Princess of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the Spanish Crown. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978: The title originated in 1388, when King John I of Castile gr ...

, did the same with Leonor's cells: they were taken to a private center in Arizona, which caused controversy in Spain. Sofía was named after her paternal grandmother, Queen Sofía. She was christened on 15 July by the Archbishop of Madrid, Antonio María Rouco Varela, in the gardens of the Palacio de la Zarzuela. Her godparents are Paloma Rocasolano (her maternal grandmother) and Konstantin, Prince of Vidin (Konstantin-Assen de Bulgaria). Like her sister, she was given one name, with the additional name of (of All the Saints), at her christening, a Bourbon tradition. She received her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

on 17 May 2017 at the parish Asunción de Nuestra Señora, and was accompanied by her parents, her older sister, her grandparents, her maternal great-grandmother Menchu Álvarez del Valle, her step-grandmother Ana Togores, and her godfather Konstantin-Assen of Bulgaria, Prince of Vidin. On 23 May 2023, she received the sacrament of confirmation.

Education

Like her older sister, in 2009, Sofía started her education at the Escuela Infantil Guardia Real, the daycare for the children of the Spanish Royal Guard. On 13 September 2010, she began her first year of primary school at the Santa María de los Rosales School in Madrid. In August 2023, she began studying a 2-year

program at the UWC Atlantic College in the

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. On 24 May 2025 she graduated from UWC Atlantic.

Activities

As Infanta of Spain, it is very common to see her in official events with her parents and sister, such as the opening of Parliament, the National Day parade or the Princess of Asturias Award and Princess of Girona Award ceremonies. At the age of 3, she attended her first event, an official reception at the Royal Palace on the occasion of the victory of the Spanish national football team in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. In 2021, Infanta Sofía and Princess Leonor participated in their first joint act without their parents, representing the "A Tree for Europe" campaign of the European youth association Equipo Europa. While her sister was studying abroad, she took center stage by accompanying her parents to different events, such as the 2021 and 2022 National Day parades and the 2023 Copa del Rey final. On 16 July 2022, she accompanied her sister Leonor in her first international trip. Both royals traveled alone to support the Spanish women's national football team, which was playing for a place in the quarterfinals of the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

against

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. In late August 2023, she travelled with her mother, Queen Letizia, to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to see the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

between

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Queen and the Infanta delivered the trophy to the World Champions, Spain, and celebrated with them on the pitch. Indirectly, this drew criticism to the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

for their absence from the event. In July 2024, she travelled with her father, King Felipe, to watch the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

national football team compete in the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

final. Sofia presented the trophy with her father following their victory. In April 2024, Patrimonio Nacional announced that she would be a patron of a photo contest. The photography contest aims to showcase the beauty of Spain. On 5 December 2024 announced that the photography contest would only feature Sofía and not her parents or her older sister. The Royal House also announced the photo contest would be held at the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid () is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Eu ...

on 13 December. She handed the awards on 13 December. This marked her first solo act for the crown of Spain.

Titles, styles and honours

As children of the prince of Asturias, Sofía was born

infanta Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

and styled "Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Sofia". Although with the same dignity and status as a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, Sofia does not hold the title of

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

, because in Spain only the heir to the Crown is allowed to carry that title. Following her father's accession to the throne on 19 June 2014, Sofia is second in line to the Spanish throne.

Honours

Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (GYC, 30 April 2025).Real Decreto 358/2025, de 30 de abril, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Católica a Su Alteza Real la Infanta doña Sofía de Borbón y Ortiz
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofia Of Spain, Infanta 2007 births Living people House of Bourbon (Spain) Felipe VI Nobility from Madrid Royal children Spanish infantas Daughters of kings People educated at Atlantic College People educated at a United World College 21st-century Spanish women Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic