[3][4] Felipe was born in Madrid during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco as the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark.

After completing his civil and military studies, he undertook official duties representing his father in different social and institutional events, such as chairing charity foundations or attending inaugurations of Latin American leaders.

[5][6][7] His reign has been marked by his condemnation of the Catalan independence referendum that led to the 2017–2018 constitutional crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and moves towards greater transparency in royal affairs.

[8] Felipe was born at 12:45 (CET) on 30 January 1968, at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital at Madrid, being the third child and only son of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark.

[12][13] His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons.

[50] The wedding, which was officiated by the archbishop of Madrid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Antonio María Rouco Varela, took place on the morning of 22 May 2004 in the Almudena Cathedral, with representatives of royal families from all over the world and most heads of state from Latin America present.

[5] The next morning, after receiving the Captain General's sash from his father (symbolizing the transfer of royal and military power),[60] he was formally sworn in and proclaimed king in a low-key ceremony held in the Cortes.

He indicated as much in a speech to the Cortes on the day of his enthronement, saying that he would be "a loyal head of state who is ready to listen and understand, warn and advise as well as to defend the public interest at all times".

[69] This did not mean, in any way, a change in his relations with the Catholic Church or religion, in fact, on their first overseas trip as king and queen, Felipe VI and Letizia met Pope Francis in the Apostolic Palace on 30 June 2014.

[75] In June 2015, Felipe VI stripped his sister, Infanta Cristina, of her royal title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, after the tax fraud allegations surrounding her and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarín.

[79] In February 2024, the king appointed a new Private Secretary, diplomat Camilo Villarino, at that time Head of the Cabinet of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

[81] Likewise, in April 2024 the king appointed a new private secretary to the Queen, State lawyer María Dolores Ocaña Madrid,[82] replacing the duke of Abrantes.

[83] On 15 March 2020, following the revelation in The Daily Telegraph that Felipe VI appeared as second beneficiary (after his father) of the Lucum Foundation, the entity on the receiving end of a €65 million donation by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia,[84] the Royal Household issued a statement declaring (a) that Felipe VI would renounce any inheritance from his father to which he could be entitled, and (b) that Juan Carlos would lose his public stipend from the part of the General State Budget dedicated to the Royal Household.

The Spanish royal palace stated that his wealth is in savings, current accounts and securities, as well as art, antiques and jewelry; and that he has no real estate or financial dealings abroad.

After months of talks with the different party leaders, and with there being no apparent candidate in a position of support in forming a government, the king issued a royal decree dissolving parliament with new elections being called in June.

[97] This marked the first time since the transition to democracy that an election was called under Article 99.5 of the Constitution, wherein the initiative for issuing the dissolution of the Cortes belonged to the King and not to the Prime Minister.

[100] On 3 October 2017, as huge protest rallies and a general strike took place in Catalonia following the 2017 Catalan independence referendum that was deemed illegal by Spanish authorities, Felipe delivered an unusually strongly worded televised address, watched by more than 12 million people across the country,[101] in which he condemned the actions of the referendum organizers for acting "outside the law", accusing them of "unacceptable disloyalty" and of "eroding the harmony and co-existence within Catalan society itself".

Party officials from the PP, PSOE and Ciudadanos acclaimed the King's "commitment to legality" and the "defense of the Constitution, the [regional] Statute, the rule of law and the territorial integrity of Spain",[105][106] whereas leaders from Unidos Podemos and Catalunya en Comú criticized it as "as unworthy as it was irresponsible", paving the way for a harsh intervention of the Catalan autonomy.

[137][138] After this disastrous result, the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, requested the king to dissolve Parliament and call early elections with the aim of "clarifying the [will of the] Spanish people about the political forces that should lead this new phase and the policies to be applied".

[179] The day after the attacks, a minute's silence led by King Felipe VI, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau was observed at Plaça de Catalunya, which ended with applause and chants of "No tinc por" ("I am not afraid").

Examples of this good relationship are the support that the Portuguese president gave to the king when the monarch was awarded with the World Peace & Liberty Award from the World Association of Jurists in 2018,[203] the private visit that Rebelo de Sousa made to Spain in 2020 to visit the Prado Museum, and having a private lunch with the monarch at Zarzuela Palace,[204] as well as in 2021, when they were seen eating on a public terrace near the Royal Palace of Madrid.

After signing some cooperation agreements and receiving the baton of the city,[211] the royal couple walked through the streets of the Cuban capital and visit the most relevant monuments and buildings.

At the beginning of 2019, the Mexican president asked Felipe VI for an apology on behalf of the Crown and of Spain for the events that occurred during the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

In 2024, incoming Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum officially banned Felipe VI from attending her inauguration on 1 October, citing his failure to respond to López Obrador's letter.

From there, they proceeded to Horse Guards Parade, where they were officially received by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,[230][231] with military honours and ordnance salutes.

In the afternoon Felipe went to the Parliament of the United Kingdom where he addressed a few words at the joint session and held an informal meeting with the leader of the Labour opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.

[236] In December 2015, the King hosted a solemn ceremony in the Royal Palace to celebrate the approval by the Cortes and the subsequent sanction by the Sovereign of the law that granted Spanish nationality to the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 due to the Alhambra Decree.

[240] In his speech, he stated that "there is no room for indifference in the face of racism, xenophobia, hatred and antisemitism"[241] and that "forgetting the Holocaust would be extremely dangerous and an utter disrespect to the memory of the victims.

"[240] On 9 October 2023, King Felipe condemned "with all firmness" the Hamas-led attack on Israel, called for "doing everything possible to avoid greater suffering, destruction, hopelessness and the loss of more human lives" and affirmed that Spain "remains faithful to its commitment to peace and stability in the region".

[243] On 11 January 2024, the King, in a meeting with the diplomatic corps in Spain, called for the release of war hostages and defended the "establishment of the Palestinian State next to Israel" to stop the "cycle of violence".