On Wednesday, 23rd November, the King's Household issued a communique announcing the engagement of Her Royal Highness the Infanta Elena to Jaime de Marichalar Saenz de Tejada. The announcement came as a surprise to many people, since the couple had conducted their relationship with the greatest discretion.

The formal request for Infanta Elena's hand in marriage was made on the following Saturday, the 26th, in the presence of both families. During the ceremony, which went off in an atmosphere of cordiality and good humour, the couple went out to meet the photographers and journalists who were waiting in the Palace gardens, and talked to them.

A few dyas later, another communique from the Royal Household set the time and place for what is to be the wedding of the year 1995. Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar will be married in Seville on March 18th.

Infanta Elena, the eldest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, is second in the line of succession to the throne, after her brother Prince Felipe. The bridegroom is the fourth son of Amalio de Marichalar, Count of Ripalda, and Concepcion Saenz de Tejada. Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar are the same age, 31, and first met in Paris in 1987, where he works as an economist.

The engagement confirms the wish expressed by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia that their children should marry the persons they themselves choose, and that they should not be necessarily members of other royal families.