Infanta Elena Maria, Isabel, Dominica de Silos de Borbon y Grecia is the eldest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia. At the present time she is the second in line for the succession to the Crown, after her brother the Prince of Asturias.

She was born in Madrid on December 20th, 1963. On the 27th of the same month, she was christened in the Palacio de la Zarzuela by the Papal Nuncio. Her godparents were her paternal grandmother, Maria de las Mercedes de Borbon y Orleans, the Countess of Barcelona, and His Royal Highness Alfonso de Orleans y Borbon.

She completed her secondary education at Santa Maria del Camino School, and then qualified as a schoolteacher at the ESCUNI University College, which is part of Madrid's Complutense University. In 1986 she qualified as a primary school teacher, specializing in English language.

Having completed this stage of her education, she worked as an English teacher at Santa Maria del Camino School, and pursued further study by doing a specialist course in sociology and education at the University of Exeter, in Great Britain.

Subsequently, she completed her education at the University of Comillas, in Madrid, where she graduated in education in June 1993.

After coming of age, she began to perform institutional activities as a member of the Royal Family, on the occasion of visits to Spain by foreign Heads of State. She has made official visits to several countries, from Japan to Argentina, to preside at cultural or economic events involving Spain.

In addition to her institutional activities as a member of the Royal Family, she supports and takes part personally in many activities of an educational, cultural and sporting nature. She is honorary president of the Spanish Peadiatrics Society, and of Special Olympics Spain, which promotes the participation of the mentally handicapped in sports activities, and of the Spanish Anti-AIDS Foundation.