It must be something in the air . . . one week ago, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark married his Australian bride in Copenhagen, and next week Crown Prince Rashid of Jordan will marry in Amman. But this weekend it is the turn of Crown Prince Felipe of Spain who will walk up the aisle this morning, to marry a former television journalist, Letizia Ortiz, writes Jane Walker
The 36-year-old Prince of Asturias - a title given to the heir to the Spanish throne - has been under pressure for more than a decade to choose a wife, but most of his girlfriends (including a couple of foreign models) have been unsuitable. The name of Letizia Ortiz (31) had never been linked with the Prince and the only known photograph of them together was taken a few weeks before the surprise announcement in November when he met a group of journalists in the Asturian capital, Oviedo.
Before their engagement, very little was known about Doña Letizia, although her face was familiar to viewers of Television Española where she read the news and covered news stories including the 9/11 bombing and the arrival of the Spanish troops in Iraq.
She comes from a middle class family. Her parents are divorced. Her father works for a radio station in Oviedo, her mother is a nurse and trade union official in Madrid, and her grandfather was a Madrid taxi driver. But what shocked conservative royal watchers was the fact that Ortiz is a divorcée after a brief civil marriage five years ago.
This will be the first royal wedding in the Spanish capital for almost a century, and the precedent is not a happy one. In 1906 an anarchist bomb was thrown at the carriage carrying Prince Felipe's great grandparents, King Alfonso XIII and his bride, back from their wedding. More than 20 people died, and the newly-wed Queen Victoria Eugenia arrived at her wedding reception with her gown stained with blood. Their reign was cut short when they were forced into exile in 1931, giving way to a Republic and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War five years later. The monarchy was only restored in 1975 after the death of General Franco and King Juan Carlos ascended the throne.
The King is respected and popular with a majority of Spaniards who admire the way he has worked to establish democracy, although many describe themselves as "Juancarlistas" rather than "monarchistas". From an early age, the Prince - the third child and only son of Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia - has been trained to follow his father. He was educated in Madrid and Canada, passed out from the army, navy and air force academies, has a degree from Madrid University and a Masters in international relations from Georgetown University in Washington, and was even a member of the Spanish sailing team in the 1992 Olympics.
But amidst all the preparations for a state wedding attended by the crowned heads of Europe and their families, presidents and prime ministers from across the globe, including Mrs McAleese, no one can forget that two months ago a terrorist bombing in Madrid killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500.
Many of the celebrations planned for this weekend have been cancelled as a sign of respect for the victims, and the money donated to a fund to build a memorial. There are real fears that terrorists might use the occasion to disrupt the celebrations. The authorities have established one of the tightest security operations in Spanish history. Everyone arriving at borders, ports or airports must show a passport.
Road blocks check vehicles driving into the capital. Apart from commercial flights, no planes can fly within a 50 mile radius of the city and Nato has loaned Spain an AWAC (Airborne Warning and Control system) spy plane which is flying overhead throughout the weekend. Underground train stations and car parks have been closed to prevent attacks.
Even the route the royal Rolls Royce will take after the ceremony from the cathedral to the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha, where the new Princess will follow a Spanish royal tradition and leave her bouquet at the altar, has not been definitively announced. However, it is known that they will stop briefly in the square near where the Madrid bombings took place and where 191 olive and cypress trees have been planted to remember the dead.
Tens of thousands of flowers, banners and photographs of the couple decorate the streets of Madrid. Buildings and fountains are illuminated with multi-coloured lights which are in questionable taste. They prompted one visitor, who joined the thousands who went to look and photograph them, to remark that it reminded her of Disneyland. "I expected Snow White or Donald Duck to appear any minute," she said.
Leading Spanish chefs, including Ferrán Adrià, of El Bulli restaurant on the Costa Brava, and Juan Mari Arzak from San Sebastian are among those who cooked for the 1,400 guests at the pre-wedding dinner last night and who will cook for the wedding luncheon today. The two master chefs are expected to produce original combinations of Basque cuisine with a touch of Catalan taste.
As in every wedding, the couple have been given many gifts they want, and probably several not so welcome. They are known to have received no fewer than 15 coffee services and a set of silver jugs and plates for which they will doubtless find a use. But it still is not clear where they will house a breeding pair of donkeys, two mastiff puppies and a young fighting bull. They have also received a one tonne bronze bell, a camelia bush, an olive and a cherry tree as well as a lace garter and enough gold panned from the rivers of Asturias to make their wedding rings.
After a week of warm sunshine, today's forecast is for clouds and rain. They have already followed a Spanish superstition and sent a basket of eggs to the Clarissa nuns who are supposed to bring dry weather. But, as Prince Felipe said after a week of rain at the beginning of the month: "I think the nuns have already had more eggs than they know what to do with."