Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo

This was the first royal wedding in Spain since the wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg in 1906.

Around 1,500 guest, including representatives of 39 royal houses, attended the event.

150,000 citizens filled the streets around the Cathedral.

Also, to celebrate the occasion, King Juan Carlos created Infanta Elena as Duchess of Lugo.

Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (Elena María Isabel Dominica de Silos de Borbón y de Grecia; born 20 December 1963), is the first child and eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía.

As the eldest sister of King Felipe VI, Elena is the third in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.

She has another younger sister, Infanta Cristina.

Infanta Elena was born on 20 December 1963 at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital, now known as ORPEA Madrid Loreto, in Madrid.

She is the first member to be born in hospital from King Juan Carlos I's family and she is eldest child of King Juan Carlos I, the former Spanish monarch, and his wife, Queen Sofía (born Princess of Greece and Denmark).

She has one sister and one brother.

After this, in the late 1980s King Juan Carlos ordered the construction of stables and a riding arena at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela so that her daughter could practice her hobby in the palace.

As of 2022, although she no longer resides in Zarzuela nor is she part of the royal family, she continues to use these facilities that she upholds financially.

Elena was described by fellow equestrian Luis Jaime Carvajal y Salas, 5th Duke of Aveyro, as a "very good [rider]" but he pointed that her problem was that it "requires time and she doesn't have it" (as member of the royal family.

She debuted in an official competition in 1982 at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

Elena studied at Santa María del Camino School in Madrid and got a diploma as teacher of secondary school in 1986, with a specialty in English studies.

She later moved to Paris in order to study French literature; it was during this time that she met her future husband.

Elena met Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, Lord of Tejada, son of the Amalio de Marichalar y Bruguera, 8th Count of Ripalda, for the first time in 1987 in Paris.

Elena was studing french literature at the French capital while Jaime was working for the Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

After working as an English teacher at her childhood school, she graduated in Education Sciences by the Comillas Pontifical University in 1993.

Since she was a child, Elena showed a special preference for horse riding, a passion that she inherited from her grandmother, Princess María de las Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona.

It was during her adolescence that she began to make a name for herself in the world of show jumping.

Soon after that meeting, they started a relationship but it was not until 1993 that the press got the first photographs of the couple and during 1994, the wedding rumors increased.

On 23 November 1994, the Royal Household made official their engagement.

The formal marriage proposal was made on 26 November 1994 at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela.

The engagement ring was a diamond ring part of a tiara belonging to the groom's mother, María de la Concepción Sáenz de Tejada y Fernández de Bobadilla, Lady of Tejada.

In addition to the immediate royal family, Princess María de las Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona (the bride's grandmother), Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (the bride's aunt) and the Duchess and Duke of Soria (the bride's aunt and uncle) were also present.

On 3 March 1995, on the occasion of her marriage to Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, Lord of Tejada, she was created Duchess of Lugo by her father, King Juan Carlos.

The title, as part of the titles belonging to the Spanish crown, was granted to her for life and her descendants will not be able to inherit it.

Since the ascension of her younger brother to the Spanish throne, Elena is not part of the royal family.

However, just as she did during her father's reign, she currently represents the Crown when required by the monarch.

She has also represented her family abroad on several occasions, having travelled to Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Argentina, Japan, Peru, and the Philippines.

Their wedding took place on 18 March 1995, in the Seville Cathedral.

The couple have two children: Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón (born 17 July 1998) and Victoria de Marichalar y Borbón (born 9 September 2000) were born at Ruber International Hospital in Madrid.

On 26 June 2003, a few days later after the king announced the third pregnancy of his daughter, Elena suffered a miscarriage.

The most relevant are Felipe de Zuleta y Alejandro from 2006 to 2015, an official of the Royal Guard and brother of the Duke of Abrantes, private secretary of Queen Letizia, and Luis Astolfi Pérez de Guzmán, a former boyfriend and currently a close friend to the infanta.

Among the most notable horses of the Infanta are Qant (her favorite horse since 2011) and Jordano EB (Qant successor), a chestnut-bred horse that she bred herself.

Luis and Elena relinked their friendship in 2013 after many years without contact.

She shares this hobby with her daughter, Victoria, Grandee of Spain, as well as watching bullfighting.

As of 2016, Elena owned, at least, eight different horses.

Elena has had several equestrian teachers; since she left the royal family, she has not had an official one.