Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Princess Beatrix – formerly Ruler of the Netherlands – and more recently, Crown Princess Leonor. They are the only women, since the award ceased to be exclusively male in 1985, to have received the famous Golden Fleece. To their name was finally added, this January 10, that of Queen Sophie, reports the Official Journal. According to the wish of his son, Felipe VI. “Wishing to demonstrate my royal gratitude to Her Majesty Queen Sophie and publicly recognize her dedication to the service of Spain and the Crown, and having heard the advice of my ministers, I award to my mother, Her Majesty Queen Sophie , the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece”, we can read in the decree dated October 29, 2024. If the decision to grant this prestigious honor belongs to the sovereign, it must however be submitted to the government. In ten years of reign, the king has only granted it once so far: to his daughter, the Princess of Asturias, on the occasion of her tenth birthday. However, he waited three years, on January 30, 2018, to give it to him.
Felipe VI always had great admiration for his mother’s work. During his proclamation as king on June 19, 2014, he praised it in front of Parliament. “Also allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to thank my mother, Queen Sophie, for a lifetime of impeccable work in the service of the Spanish people. Her dedication and loyalty to King Juan Carlos, her dignity and her sense of responsibilities, are an example that deserves a moving tribute that today – as his son and as king – I want to dedicate to him.” Words which earned the woman who was Queen of Spain for almost 40 years a round of applause. Moved, she will blow him a kiss from the tribune of honor.
An order of chivalry almost six centuries old
Even today, Sophie of Spain’s commitment to the institution is unwavering. At 86, she continues to support humanitarian, cultural and environmental projects. It is therefore not surprising that she received the highest distinction of the Crown, created by the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, in 1430, on the last day of his wedding to Isabella of Portugal. But his name, it is said, pays homage to the golden hair of…his mistress, Maria van Combrugghe! In reality, it would above all be a reference to Jason, hero of Greek mythology, who, on board theArgowent to conquer the golden fleece of a ram even in the ancient kingdom of Colchis. Later, some members of the Order preferred to see it as having a biblical resonance, making the story of Gideon and his woolen fleece their own.
-Whatever the case, it is indeed a ram, or rather its remains, which adorns the badge. Its gold chain is made up of 26 rectangular links, a succession of lighters with curly ends and flints which, together, form the emblem of the Dukes of Burgundy. The imposing necklace is the exclusive property of the Order. Therefore, if one of its holders dies, it is automatically returned to them. On the death of Charles the Bold, son of the founder, the order passed into the hands of the Habsburgs. But when in 1700, the dynasty died out in Spain, and the war of succession broke out, the Order was split in two. One will become Austrian, while the other, remaining Spanish, will be awarded to the most deserving. One day, perhaps, Queen Sophie will be doubly knighted in the Order of the Golden Fleece?
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