Few know their names outside the country, yet Spaniards consider them three of the most powerful women in Spain. The reason lies in the role they play at Zarzuela: Eva Fernández, Natalia Belda and Luz Valero make up the team that takes care of Queen Letizia’s image, who owes much of her popularity to style.
Their last “summit meeting” was backstage at the shoot created by photographer Annie Leibovitz to commemorate 10 years of the royal couple on the throne: together, the four women worked on the success of a portrait destined to be part of the Bank’s collection of Spain, together with those of Carlos III painted by Francisco de Goya and that of Alfonso XII painted by Carlos Luis de Ribera.
Real
Letizia di Spagna’s beauty secrets, from make up routines to wellness practices
by Alessandra D’Acunto
The personal stylist: Eva Fernández
He is the person to whom Letizia owes everything. What she has made of a woman with a rather indecisive style (there were quite a few style slips by Letizia Ortiz, at the time of her engagement to the crown prince) into a paradigm of style.
How did they meet? It seems that they met by chance in a showroom when Letizia was “just” a television journalist; Eva could boast a double degree in Advertising and Fashion Design and work experience at magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan, but from the moment she was hired as the Queen’s personal stylist this became her full-time job. The then future queen placed herself in the hands of Eva Fernández in 2015 and the change was sudden. Having entered the queen’s wardrobe, the personal stylist was able to intercept her stylistic needs, especially of a professional nature: a princess does not dress like a journalist. Then, she studied to understand which cuts best suited her physique and finally she began to choose them based on very specific criteria, in order to send messages, “speak” through her fashion choices.
In composing his “grammar of style”, Fernández had to keep three needs in mind: first, support Spanish fashion, be it fast fashion giants like Zara or small brands like Cherubina and Lola Li. Second point, no less important: study each new outfit taking care use the same items over and over again, from a virtuous ‘recycling’ perspective. In the end, make the queen’s image “accessible”, so that everyone could identify with her. That is, dress like the queen, spending the right amount. So, if before her arrival Letizia had found her ‘comfort zone’ in Felipe Varela, with Eva the high fashion brands are combined with modern brands little known to the general public, but which can be purchased with the salary of an average Spaniard. Fernández was therefore responsible for the so-called “Letizia effect”, which leads women from all over the world to buy what the Queen of Spain wears, generating a profitable economic return for the brands. Letizia recently also entrusted her daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, to her because she knows she can count on the absolute discretion of the woman, who has never given interviews nor officially admitted to being in the queen’s service.
Luz Valero, who styled her hair before going on air on the evening news
Letizia met Luz Valero in the spotlight. The hairdresser was part of the staff of the Spanish television network RTVE and was responsible for styling her hair before her daily appointment with the evening news. As soon as the journalist’s engagement with Prince Felipe was announced, her life also changed for Luz Valero because she wanted her as her personal hairdresser.
After many years of service, Luz is not only one of the oldest members of the Letizia team, but she is also one of his most trusted friends. She accompanies her on every trip and official appointment, but it is not uncommon to see them go out together for leisure, as happened when the two women were seen at the Teatro Real, in 2022, enjoying together Marion Cotillard’s superb performance in the role of Joan of ‘Bow. However, when Luz cannot go on a trip with her, Letizia follows some simple advice from her, as she said The worldtype put on curlers on the plane and take them off just before getting off.
Luz did Letizia’s hair on all the most important occasions: the wedding day, the baptisms of her daughters, the succession to the throne which saw her husband Felipe become king.
And naturally she is responsible for the queen’s changes in her look, those that launch trends in Spain and beyond: from the popular bob cut of 2015, to the decision to abandon the highlights she sported in her first years as a princess, up to the choice of proudly show off gray hair, naturally. The hairdresser is also known for her discretion, she released her only official statement years ago to El Mundo, to say that every decision regarding the queen’s hair is agreed with her. No head shots, then.
The make-up artist “stolen” from Spanish stars
Natalia Belda is one of the best known make-up artists in Spain thanks to her fruitful collaboration with the actress Blanca Suárez. With her, she was the protagonist of some of the most talked about moments between photocalls and red carpets, and is known in the jet set for having done the makeup of other actresses such as Bárbara Lennie, Irene Escolar, Anna Castillo or Candela Peña. For us, however, the only name that matters is that of Queen Letizia. Natalia Belda recently joined the Queen’s styling team; she was seen together with Eva Fernández leaving the hotel where the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony was held in October 2023, after having done makeup for the queen and her daughters. Some insiders say that the make-up artist had been working at the Palace for some time, but Natalia naturally makes no statements.
However, Belda is not the only one to “put her hand” on Letizia’s face; following her for her skin care is the dermatologist Pedro Jaénlisted by Forbes in third place in the ranking of the most qualified doctors in the whole country and shared by Letizia with her mother, Paloma Rocosolano.
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– 2024-03-15 00:00:05
