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29 March 2024

Duchess Kate got competition: Spain’s Princess Letizia

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(Photos by Getty Images)

The Kate effect, which has seen thousands of women trying to replicate the Duchess of Cambridge's look, has been sweeping the country and the world.

But Kate has some serious competition in the shape of Spain's Princess Letizia - unquestionably one of Europe's most glamorous royals.

Letizia is elegant, beautiful and intelligent and is now set to become a queen as King Juan Carlos, who has ruled the country for 39 years, announced his abdication on Monday.

Watch out Duchess of Cambridge, there’s a new royal on the world fashion stage.

In 2004, she married Prince Felipe and they have two daughters.

 

On her big day the royal bride dazzled in an ivory gown with a 15-foot-long train and a sparkling platinum and diamond tiara, which her mother-in-law Queen Sofia wore for her wedding almost exactly 42 years previously.

Kate Middleton also wore a long-sleeved gown with a long lace veil when she married Prince William.

Both royals opted for a plunging V neckline and long sleeves. They also both donned a long lace veil and full train with floral detailing.

Letizia regularly tops best-dressed lists in her own country and worldwide. And she has become noticeably slimmer and more groomed since her marriage, much like Kate.

And like the Duchess of Cambridge, her fashion choices are endlessly analysed and minutely picked over by the national press.

Letizia shops at the supermarket and champions Spanish high-street fashion brands such as Zara and Mango, as well as couturiers such as Felipe Varela and Lorenzo Caprile.

Kate, in true British syle, tends to opt for more conservative items while Letizia is more daring - wearing tighter, shorter and more modern pieces.

Both women also have perfectly blow-dried brunette hair and are big fans of nude shoes, classic tailoring and clutch bags.

Letizia, who has been described as a "breath of fresh air" for the Spanish monarchy, has been praised for her modern approach to being a princess.

Letizia also forged a career as a journalist, reporter and TV anchor before she married Prince Felipe and gave it all up.

The couple has since has since had two children, Infanta Leonor de Todos los Santos of Spain - who is next in line - and Infanta Sofía de Todos los Santos of Spain.

A journalist, Letizia Ortiz reported from Washington, DC, on the presidential elections in 2000.

In the same year she received the Madrid Press Assn.'s Larra Award for most accomplished journalist under age 30.

In September 2001, she broadcast live from ground zero following the 9/11 attacks in New York. She also filed reports from Iraq on the war, and from Galicia in northern Spain following the ecological disaster when the oil tanker Prestige sank.