The Royal Palace of Madrid once again dressed in gala on the night of Tuesday, September 29 to host the first State Dinner of the new season, held in the Throne Room in honor of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife Brigitte. An evening with around a hundred guests from the worlds of politics, art, and civil society in which the small details were the great protagonists. And, also, the aspects that MUJERHOY’s editorial team has discussed the most as we viewed photos and videos of the solemn event.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia acted as hosts of the Macron couple on the first day of the State Visit to our country. With an intensive institutional agenda, the gala dinner at the Royal Palace was the capstone to a day in which our kings had received the French president and his wife with military honors before lunch together at the Zarzuela Palace.
The most striking details of the gala dinner at the Royal Palace
With French punctuality, the Macrons arrived at the Royal Palace around 8 p.m., and there they were received with all the solemnity but, also, with notable gestures of affection and complicity, by King Felipe and Queen Letizia. After posing together in the Salón Teniers, they moved together to the Throne Room, where the French presidential couple and our kings had the opportunity to greet and chat with the hundred guests at the gathering, they began the toasts, the speeches, and a dinner served by Joan Roca, present at the reception.
The evident complicity between Queen Letizia and Brigitte Macron
A solemn occasion such as a gala dinner in honor of an international leader calls for strict royal protocol. Yet, during this encounter at the Royal Palace, the good rapport between Queen Letizia and the First Lady of France was more than evident, as had already been shown in their first meeting on this official trip. The queen and Brigitte Macron once again shared affectionate greetings, exchanged looks filled with complicity, and carried on a relaxed conversation.
While the president Macron kissed the queen’s hand, as protocol prescribes, Doña Letizia and Brigitte intertwined their hands before greeting each other with two affectionate kisses on the cheeks. Moreover, it was the queen herself who indicated to the presidential couple where to stand to pose before the press. Minutes later, as they walked together toward the Throne Room and during the celebration of the traditional besamanos, host and guest never stopped smiling and could be seen very comfortable and affectionate.
Leonor and Sofia, absent from the table but present in the atmosphere
Leonor and Sofia traditionally do not attend this kind of solemn events. And we editors don’t hide how much we would love to see them wearing tiaras and gala gowns as the daughters of Maxima and Willem-Alexander sometimes inspire us. The gala dinner in honor of the Spanish president and his wife was no exception. However, both the heiress and her sister were very present at the evening: when making their toast, and after a brief speech that began in Spanish, Emmanuel Macron raised his glass also in honor of the princess and the infanta, thus recognizing our kings but also their daughters as guarantors and heirs of our monarchy.
Felipe VI: “Spain and France are two neighboring and friendly nations that value, respect, and learn from each other”
The gala dinner began with a speech by King Felipe, in the attentive gaze of Macron, the queen Letizia and President Sánchez, right in front of the monarch. In it, he referred to the shared history of France and Spain, “two neighboring and friendly nations that value, respect, and learn from one another,” he referenced Jorge Semprún, extolled the virtues of the neighboring country, spoke of values, humanity, and dignity, and praised Macron’s ten years in the Élysée “in times that were by no means easy,” highlighting his selfless commitment to European construction, to international law, and to the advancement of our bilateral relations. The king also spoke about the situation in Ceuta and how France has always been a faithful ally of our country.
Macron dares with Spanish and remembers Leonor and Sofia
When it was Emmanuel Macron’s turn, the French president sought to thank our kings, in fairly fluent Spanish, “the warm welcome you give to my wife, to me, and to our delegation. This palace is a reminder of how our two nations are interwoven. Felipe V was, before becoming king of Spain, Philip of France.” After these words, the Frenchman returned to his mother tongue to give an overview of the benefits of the relations between the two countries, the strategic alliance it represents, and to praise the king’s fundamental work as Head of State. He also referred to our culture and, before concluding his speech, returned to Spanish, quoted Ortega y Gasset, spoke of the sobremesa and raised his glass to toast our kings but, also, to “the princess Leonor and the infanta Sofia”.
The Black Ball and Rosalía at the gala dinner in the Royal Palace
Spanish culture is at a sublime moment and, as one might expect, was one of the major talking points of the night, as well as among the guest list. It was Macron himself who, in his speech, cited Ortega y Gasset, Javier Cercas, and Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Moreover, what surprised us most in the editorial was when the president mentioned La Bola Negra by Los Javis after its Cannes run and its Oscar bid, spoke of the undeniable success of Rosalía, singer Luz Casal (present at the dinner) and, also, of Pedro Almodóvar.
Joan Roca’s dinner with a French accent
French gastronomy is regarded as one of the most exquisite in the world. But when it comes to a chef who conjures magic in the kitchen, the name is written in Spanish: Joan Roca, the magician behind Celler de Can Roca, invited to the gala dinner at the Royal Palace and the architect of the menu served to the guests. At the imperial table that hosted more than a hundred guests were served truffle-steamed brioche, foie nougat, lobster parmentier, and dairy desserts. The perfect blend of Spanish savoir-faire and French delicacy.
Clothes speak: looks with meaning and imposing jewelry
A separate chapter and, undoubtedly, one of the most talked-about details in MUJERHOY’s editorial has been the choice of looks by Queen Letizia and Brigitte Macron, not to mention the impeccable tailcoats and the decorations exchanged that were worn by King Felipe VI and the President of the French Republic.
For this occasion, Queen Letizia appeared in the Throne Room more sublime and regal than ever wearing a dress (loaned by the brand) from Carolina Herrera, belonging to the Puig group. It is undoubtedly already one of MUJERHOY’s editorial favorites. With her choice, the queen leaves her comfort zone with a striking crepe design in “cloudy blue” (perhaps a nod to the blue of the French flag, though in a softer shade) with dramatic cape-style medieval sleeves and a marvelous transparent Bardot-neckline effect with beaded embroidery in contrast. The queen also wore imposing jewelry: the floral tiara, one of her favorites from the royal jeweler, and the cluster-stone earrings from the set. The look was completed with the red sash and the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration.
Meanwhile, Brigitte Macron also earned the editors’ unanimous praise by choosing a minimalist silhouette in ivory white with a flattering jewel-embellished detail along the sides and sleeves that not only flatters and elongates the figure but adds a wonderful note of sophistication and thus compensates for the fact that she, as the First Lady of the French Republic, cannot wear tiaras like Queen Letizia. The design is signed by Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton and was part of the 2018 collection of the maison.
