Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia, the third child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, was born in Madrid on January 30th, 1968. 

His birth, which ensured the male succesion to the Crown was a dynastic event whose importance was emphasized in the symbolic names he was given at his shristening of Felipe, Juan, Pablo and Alfonso de Todos los Santos, the names of the first Bourbon to reign in Spain, his paternal and maternal grandfathers, the Count of Barcelona and King Paul of the Hellenes, and his great grandfather King Alfonso XIII, and in the fact that his godparents were the head of the Spanish Royal Hosehold and Queen Victoria Eugenia, who set foot on Spanish soil for this purpose for the first time since 1931. 

He began his education at Santa Maria de los Rosales school, a modern institution where he could fit in without any special distinctions, where he remained until 1984. 

Heir to the Throne since the proclamation of his father as King, 1975, in 1977 he received the title of prince of Asturias, together with those of Prince of Girona and Viana, the titles vested in the first born of the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarre, the union of which in the 15th century gave rise to the Spanish Monarchy. 

Having completed his secondary studies, he did a year s preparation for university at Lakefield College School in Canada, and then began his military training at Academies and Colleges of the three services for a period of three years. 

In 1987 he did his practice voyage as a midshipman on the Navy training ship the Juan Sebastian Elcano, during which he was received by the Presidents of Argentina, Brazil, the United States, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

On January 30th, 1986, at the age of eighteen, he took the oath of loyalty in the Cortes to the Constitution and the King, thus taking on his full institutional role as heir to the Throne. 

From 1987 to 1993 he studied at Madrid's Autonomous University,, where he took his degree in law, and also attended courses on economics. At the present time he is doing a master s course on international relations at the University of Georgetown, in Washington. 

In the last few years he has made several official visits to European countries and Latin America, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Morocco.

He is honorary president of the Spanish Section of the Association of European Journalists, the Autonomous University Foundation and the Prince of Asturias Foundation, where each year he presents the prestigious international prizes bear his name. 

He takes part in several sports, such as skiing, motocross and, especially, sailing. He was a member of the Olympic sailing team in the Barcelona Games in 1992, and took part in the opening ceremony as the Spanish team' s standard bearer.