31/10/2005 (AFP)

MADRID - Princess Letizia, the wife of Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Bourbon, gave birth to the couple's first child, a baby girl named Leonor, the royal palace announced.

Letizia, a 33-year-old former TV news presenter who married the heir to the Spanish throne in May last year, and Leonor were said to be doing well, royal sources said.

There had been much media speculation over the sex of the royal baby. If it had been a boy he would automatically have become next in line to the throne after the Crown Prince. However a girl could be pushed down the pecking order by the subsequent arrival of any brothers, according to the Spanish constitution.

Spain's socialist government has said it will seek to change the constitution to remove the primacy of males in the royal succession.

Felipe, 37, himself has two older sisters.

If Leonor does acceed to the throne she would become Spain's first female head of state since Queen Isabel II (1833-1868).

The Spanish crown prince accompanied his wife to the clinic when she was admitted late Sunday and had expressed the wish to be present at the birth.

A throng of reporters and photographers waited outside the clinic for six hours in pouring rain for news of the royal birth.

The announcement came just after the arrival at the clinic of the princess's mother Paloma Rocasolano, herself a trained nurse.

The birth at a private maternity clinic north of the Spanish capital Madrid at around 2:30 am (0130 GMT) on Monday came slightly early, having been expected in mid-November.

Leonor is the seventh grandchild of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Felipe's sisters, Elena and Christina, have four sons and two daughters between them.

Tight security measures were in place at the maternity clinic, whose staff have signed a confidentiality agreement.

The clinic does not have especially luxurious facilities but is near the couple's home, the Zarzuela Palace, and is where Letizia's gynaecologist works.

Letizia briefly stayed at the clinic on October 18 after early contractions.

Princess Leonor is christened
14/01/2006 News24.com

Madrid - Spain's Princess Leonor, firstborn of Spanish crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, was christened before King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at a ceremony in Madrid's royal Zarzuela Palace on Saturday.

The princess was born on October 31.

She was baptised Leonor de Todos los Santos ("Leonor of all the saints") with water from the River Jordan.

If Spain proceeds with a mooted constitutional reform to allow a woman to succeed the throne, Leonor could become Spain's first female head of state since Isabella II (1833-1868).

The royal baby, clad in a cream gown, slept through most of the ceremony, which was attended by the king and queen's six other grandchildren.

Madrid's cardinal, Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, carried out the ceremony.

Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, headed the political dignitaries at the ceremony.