3 NOVEMBER 2003
Crown Prince Felipe has taken the people of Spain by surprise by announcing his engagement to a glamorous newsreader. The handsome 35-year-old will marry Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, who presents the nine o'clock news on Spanish television, in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral next summer.

Felipe is expected to formally propose to the 31-year-old divorcee in the Zarzuela Palace on Thursday. Their engagement has been welcomed by the Spanish public, who have long been hoping for their popular prince to marry and start a family. Letizia has been described as "a perfect contemporary queen of the 21st century".

The couple are said to have met for the first time at a mutual friend's home in September 2002. They began dating four months ago, but managed to keep their courtship under wraps until now.

Even the bride's father has admitted to being a little surprised by the happy news. "She suddenly told me recently that she had met someone," revealed the Crown Prince's future father-in-law. "Then she said it was getting serious and now this."

The future queen is already well-known to the Spanish public, thanks to her high-profile job. "She is a typical 21st century young woman," said a spokesman for the royal family. "She is independent, serious and responsible and she knows where she is going."