King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain Find Themselves in Another Controversy Amid Notre Dame No-Show

King Felipe of Spain wearing a blue suit and tie standing next to Queen Letizia wearing a peach dress with a collar in front of a brown wall — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Political leaders and royals from around the world showed up to celebrate the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Saturday, Dec. 7 after its devastating 2019 fire. Everyone from Jill Biden to Prince William—who met with president elect Donald Trump after the event—was there, but King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain have caused a bit of a political scandal after no one from the country showed up.

According to Spanish media outlet La Vanguardia, politician Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who serves as president of the country's People's Party, said it was "a real shame for our country" that no representative of Spain attended the cathedral's reopening ceremony.

An invitation was sent to Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun, who, per La Vanguardia, "declined the invitation due to 'family reasons'" but was seen attending a circus show in Madrid the same day. However, due to the invitation being "non-transferable," per the outlet, the king and queen could not attend "without a government member."

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The outlet continued that "no action was taken to rectify the situation" by the Spanish palace, nor did anyone in the government "propose a change of minister" or "facilitate the attendance of the king and queen, or only the king."

King Felipe and Queen Letizia wearing dark coats walking down the aisle of a church as people clap — King Felipe and Queen Letizia attended a service to honor victims of Spain's devastating recent floods on Monday, Dec. 9.

"The possible presence of the king and queen in Paris was never actually scheduled in their agenda, which suggests that the decision to decline the invitation was made from the chief of the royal household, taking into account the constraints of the king and queen's private agenda," La Vanguardia reported.

Spain's lack of attendance was especially noticeable considering the country's Catholic origins. Prince Albert of Monaco, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg were all at the ceremony to honor the cathedral's reopening, leaving Spain as the only Catholic royal house without a representative.

The Spanish royal household did not give a reason for the king and queen's Notre Dame no-show, stating, per La Vanguardia, "that they only provide one when the presence is announced and then subsequently canceled."

This is the second major controversy in recent months regarding the Spanish royals. In early November, the royal couple visited the Valencia region of Spain—which was devastated by a deadly food—and angry locals pelted the king and queen with mud and other objects.

While they didn't attend Notre Dame's special service, on Monday, Dec. 9, the Spanish king and queen took part in a memorial service for Spanish residents who were killed in the recent floods.

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.