Fashionable Princess Letizia, likened to Kate Middleton, to be crowned Queen of Spain

MADRID, June 4 (UPI) -- The ultra glamorous Princess Letizia is capturing the global spotlight after her father-in-law, Spain's King Juan Carlos, unexpectedly announced his abdication on Monday.

Princess Letizia's husband, Prince Felipe de Borbon, 46, will assume the throne and she will be crowned Queen of Spain.

The 41-year-old princess has drawn comparisons to British royal, Kate Middleton. Both are slim, fashionable, brunettes who have embraced their roles as public figures. And both were born into non-aristocratic families.

Letizia Ortiz studied journalism and became a reporter, like her father, and then a TV anchor. She covered historic events, including 9/11, reporting live from Ground Zero and the Iraq War. Well before becoming a princess, her career made her a household name.

The courtship between Letizia and Prince Felipe began while both were on assignment in northern Spain, where she was reporting on an oil spill and he was representing the Spanish royal family.

They married in 2004 and have two daughters, Leonor, born in 2005, and Sofia, born in 2007.