At the time of the turn of the Iranian ambassador in Spain, Hassan Ghashghavi, the diplomat greeted King Felipe IV decisively, but did not shake hands with Queen Letizia. The ambassador has put his hand to his chest with a brief bow and has continued walking towards the door.
After this uncomfortable situation, Letizia kept her eyes on Ghashghavi and followed him with her eyes until he left the room where the reception took place.
This small detail gains notoriety due to the controversial situation that Iran is facing regarding the freedom of women in the nation and the reaction of the Queen of Spain to the episode that was clearly not to her liking.
“It is a matter of physical contact between men and women in public. In Iran, women and men do not touch each other in public,” explained Marina Fernández, director of Communication at the International School of Protocol, to the digital portal The Spanish.
Although it is not the first time that this type of rudeness has been detected in which the king is prioritized with a higher degree of formality than the queen.
When the audiences with the winners of the Princess of Asturias Awards took place at the Reconquista Hotel last October 2022, Letizia corrected the behavior of some guests, although the context and reasons were different from those of today.
Most of the people greeted Felipe VI on principle and not Princess Leonor, who was the one who presided over the act as Princess of Asturias. For this reason, the queen did not hesitate to tell the guests that, by protocol, they would have to greet Eleanor first and then the king.