THE NATION IS HAPPY WITH THE PRINCE´S CHOICE

Prince Felipe's engagement to journalist Letizia Ortiz has gone down very well with most Spaniards, who think she's beautiful and intelligent but the most important thing of all is - she's Spanish. The prince could have chosen his future wife from several unmarried princesses floating around out there in the rest of Europe but he preferred a home-grown commoner, and by doing so he's won himself a lot of new fans. The fact that she was married briefly a few years ago doesn't seem to bother them. As for Doña Letizia, as she's now known, she seems to have won over the Royal Family, but it remains to be seen what Queen Sofia will do about her future daughter-in-law's penchant for wearing trousers. The white suit Letizia wore last Thursday when the prince officially asked for her hand had a notably softer look than the outfits she wore as a working woman. The trousers and jacket weren't quite so tight as the ones she used to favour but still managed to show off her good figure. She also broke with the tradition of giving her fiancé a watch - the usual royal engagement present here - and bought him a pair of sapphire and white gold cuff links instead, as well as an antique book dating back to 1850. Of course, died-in-the-wool monarchists here lament her lack of "blue blood" but they're still crying over the fact that Diana had two sons, rather than a daughter first - who would have made a nice young bride for Prince Felipe.