Well, I’m officially retired. They ask me why I go to the reserve if I’m fine. And I answer that because we have to leave room for others. And okay yes because I need a little more time for my family and my friends. things. With this tweet, Jesús Ortiz, the father of Queen Letizia, announced his retirement. He did it on the 15th, with a message that received a barrage of responses from friends and colleagues to who he responded, kindly, one by one.
Ortiz’s retirement caught many by surprise, but the truth is that the Queen’s father has far exceeded the statutory age: he is 72 years old, although he looks ten years younger. Unlike his daughter’s hair, there is no trace of gray in Ortiz’s. His second marriage, with journalist Ana Togores, 16 years younger than him, also keeps him active and fit. Many doubted his age and he himself had to clarify, also via tweet, that he was born in December 1949.
Bueno: pues ya oficialmente jubilado. Me preguntan que por qué paso a la reserva si estoy bien. Y contesto que porque hay que dejar sitio a los demás. Y vale, sí: porque necesito un poco más de tiempo para mi familia y mis cosas.
— Jesús Ortiz (@JesOrtizAl) February 15, 2021
The father-in-law of Felipe VI leaves the front line but it does not seem that he will disappear completely from the world of communication. In another tweet, he assured that his more than 50 years of experience in all kinds of media are still in the ‘bogeyman’. Someone will be of use to it, I say. Will we see Princess Eleanor’s grandfather giving lectures or talks? It is very probable. And not just because of your experience. Being the father-in-law of the King is an added value in his professional career that he has led, yes, with great discretion.
Until now, Ortiz has been one of the leaders of Estudio de Comunicacion, Lalo Azcona’s consultancy, and public relations firm that runs the best companies in Spain. It was from him that Doña Letizia inherited her vocation for journalism, a profession to which her grandmother Menchu Álvarez del Valle also dedicated herself to a very popular radio program in the 1940s and 1950s in Asturias. Such was Menchu’s dedication to the radio that he used to take little Jesus to the station with him. Ortiz followed in his mother’s footsteps and ended up directing the Antena 3 Radio station in Asturias, where his daughter Letizia took her first steps as a professional, in the program El Columbia.
In the 80s the family moved to Madrid, where Ortiz signed for the Azcona consultancy, an Asturian like him. The journalist, one of the most popular of the Transition, turned into a powerful businessman, had turned his consulting firm into one of the most important in the country. According to Informalia, the father of Lalo Azcona and Menchu Álvarez del Valle had been colleagues in Oviedo, and Jesus was like family.
The engagement with Prince Philip Letizia in 2003 shot his position in Communication Study, where he spent carrying out any corporate communication for companies and institutions to lead the Training Area.
In all these years, the King’s father-in-law has stood out for his discretion. He has never made a mistake and his appearances with the Kings have been limited to family events and the famous roscoe on January 6, which is eaten every year at his home in Pozuelo. Now he will have more time to act as a grandfather, but always in the shadows.
