The Spanish Royal Family are yet to release an official statement about the loss. It is said the Queen was incredibly close to her grandmother, with Menchu Alvarez de Valle even giving a reading at her wedding.

       María del Carmen Alvarez del Valle, or better known as Menchu, was born in 1928 in Santander.

       She lived most of her life in Oviedo and was an award-winning radio journalist.

       In 1949 she married Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco.

       The pair welcomed three children - two daughters and Letizia's father.

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       Menchu retired at the age of 62 in 1990 but still received an award many years later in 2019 at a ceremony in Valdes Palace.

       She worked for many radio stations, including Radio Asturias, Radio Oviedo (later REM), La Voz de Principado, and Radio Nacional de Espa？a.

       Her son and Queen Letizia's father, Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez, is a retired journalist as well.

       Coming from a family of journalists, Letizia also dabbled in journalism.

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       She worked as a journalist for ABC and EFE before eventually becoming a news anchor at CNN and Televisión Espa？ola.

       In 2004 she married Prince Felipe at the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid after becoming engaged a year earlier.

       The pair have two daughters together - Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia.

       They were said to be very close with their great-grandmother as well.

       Letizia is thought to currently be in Madrid while her husband, King Felipe VI, is in Peru to attend the president's swearing in.