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Queen Letizia left with hand out as ambassador bows in palace line

Frances KelsallPublished 18m ago2 min readBased on 6 sources
Queen Letizia left with hand out as ambassador bows in palace line
Image by ddzphoto from Pixabay

Queen Letizia of Spain put out her hand in the palace line. One ambassador did not take it.

The moment came on Monday 12 October in the Throne Room, the Salón del Trono, of the Royal Palace of Madrid, during the formal greeting that follows Spain's National Day parade. Queen Letizia, 54, stood with King Felipe VI, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía to welcome ambassadors in turn, with handshakes as the routine, HELLO! Magazine reported.

The four royals were greeting ambassadors and representatives from Ceuta and Melilla individually, shaking hands as each guest stepped forward. When one ambassador reached Queen Letizia, he did not offer his hand. She was left briefly with her hand outstretched.

The ambassador is believed to be Reza Zabib, the Iranian ambassador in Spain. Instead of shaking hands, he clasped his hands together and bowed his head to each royal as he passed, leaving Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía without a handshake.

A similar moment was recorded at the same reception in 2023. On that occasion Queen Letizia and the then Iranian ambassador, Hassan Ghashghavi, also did not shake hands. After the ambassador greeted King Felipe VI, the Queen did not extend her hand.

The greeting is known as the besamanos, the formal line in which guests greet the hosts one by one. It closed a full National Day programme. On 12 October 2026 the King and Queen, with the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía, had presided over the tribute to the National Flag and the military parade in Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo in Madrid, after arriving together after 11 a.m., according to RTVE.

After the parade the King and Queen hosted the traditional Fiesta Nacional reception at the Royal Palace for the highest institutions of the State. The reception gathered more than 1,000 guests, with the greeting held in the Throne Room, Casa Real records.

What makes the clip stick is how quickly routine reasserted itself. The line kept moving. The handshakes went on.

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