Queen Letizia’s sister Telma Ortiz, 50, had a baby at 47 with Sharon Corr’s ex – and got engaged to man who claims he was the Spanish monarch’s lover after just two months of dating
- READ MORE: Queen Letizia of Spain attends annual meeting with husband King Felipe amid rumours the royal had ‘affair’ with her sister’s husband
Telma Oritz has been forced into the spotlight after her ex-husband claimed he had a relationship with her sister Queen Letizia of Spain before their marriage together.
Jaime Del Burgo, 53, who is currently based in the UK, has recently contributed to a tell-all book about the Spanish royal, where he makes the far-fetched claim they were still romantically involved after Letizia’s 2004 wedding to King Felipe.
The entrepreneur – who claims he was dating Letizia when she met Felipe – also shared a selfie the Queen, 51, took in a mirror during one of her pregnancies as ‘evidence’ of their relationship on X, formerly known as Twitter, last night.
Jaime alleges Letizia abruptly ended their relationship when she called him and said: ‘We can’t continue seeing each other’ in August 2011. The following year, he got engaged to Letizia’s younger sister Telma.
Telma, 50, who used to work in Barcelona’s City Council and already had her daughter Amanda from her relationship with ex-partner Enrique Martin Llop, accepted the proposal after just two months of dating.
Telma Oritz, pictured centre left, with her partner Irish lawyer Gavin Bonnar, and Queen Letizia and her two daughters in 2019
At this time, Jaime claims he was still close to Letizia and Felipe.
Author Jaime Peñafiel wrote in his new book Letizia & I: ‘When [Jaime del Burgo] is going to marry Telma, it is Felipe who advises him on the marriage agreements and, over the years, they have maintained a great friendship.’
In 2012, the pair relocated to New York to start their married life – but Telma returned to Barcelona the same year before announcing their permanent separation in 2014.
The couple’s first attempts at divorce had been squashed by the groom’s father Jaime Ignacio del Burgo, who told a court that his son and Telma repented and wanted to give their marriage another go.
Telma’s partner is now Irish lawyer Gavin Bonnar and the couple welcomed their first child together in October 2021, when Telma was aged 47. Gavin shares two children with his first wife musician Sharon Corr.
In her recent album The Fool & The Scorpion, Sharon wrote lyrics including ‘the queen’s twisted sister’ – which fans speculated were inspired by her children’s new step-mother.
Letizia and Telma grew up in a middle-class family and attended a public school. Their mother Maria Rodriguez, was a nurse. Their father Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, and stepmother Ana Togores, are both journalists.
Telma prefers to stay out of the limelight – but it’s thought she still has a close relationship with her family, with the mother-of-two invited to several special family occasions, including the Princess of Asturias Awards in 2019.
Jaime Del Burgo and his ex-wife Telma Oritz seen in 2012 before their wedding. The couple divorced in 2014
The couple (pictured with Telma’s daughter Amanda) relocated to New York after their wedding in 2012 before returning to Spain
Queen Letizia and King Felipe with their families ahead of Princess Leonor’s christening in 2006
At the lavish event, she watched her niece Princess Leonor, 18, who is heir to the Spanish throne, give a speech.
This summer, when in Madrid to attend a talk on renewable energy starring Amal Clooney, she told the media her nieces were ‘the best’.
An economist by training, Telma works for NGO Concordia, a ‘global convener of heads of state, government officials, C-suite executives, and leaders of nonprofits, think tanks, and foundations to find cross-sector solutions that address the biggest challenges of our time,’ according to its website.
For her job, she has rubbed shoulders with Queen Rania of Jordan in New York in September 2022.
She’s also been pictured borrowing garments from her sister before, after she was spotted in a red blouse of Letizia’s for a work event, according to local media.
Telma spent her early career working on the frontline in humanitarian relief projects after graduating in economics from Barcelona University, the IWEC Foundation revealed.
She obtained her postgraduate and masters in marketing and administration from Rome, Mexico and Barcelona universities. She can also speak Spanish, Catalan, French, English, Italian, Portuguese and some Arabic.
Telma’s ex Jaime Del Burgo shared an undated selfie the Queen, 51, took in a bathroom mirror during one of her pregnancies as ‘evidence’ of their relationship on X, formerly known as Twitter, last night.
Queen Letizia’s sister Telma Oritz with her second husband Robert Gavin at the Princess of Asturias Awards in 2019
Telma Ortiz is seen leaving the EDP Gran Via Theater after attending the ‘We Choose Earth Tour’ on June 22, 2023 in Madrid
In the selfie, the royal can be seen wearing a black pashmina – which Jaime claims belonged to him – and he also typed out a message, supposedly sent to him by the Spanish Queen.
It read: ‘Love. I wear your pashmina. It’s like feeling you by my side. It takes care of me.
‘It protects me. I count the hours until we see each other again. Love you. Get out of here. Yours,’
TIMELINE OF JAIME’S CLAIMS ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH SPAIN’S ROYAL FAMILY
- Pre-2000 – Letizia Oritz, who was a newsreader at the time, meets Jaime del Burgo – the son of a politician – and the pair start dating
- 2001 – Letizia and King Felipe meet on the site of a oil spillage. Jaime claims he was planning to propose when she told him about her new royal romance
- 2003 – Letizia and Felipe announce engagement.
- 2004 – the couple marry at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. Jaime claims he was asked to be a witness during the ceremony
- 2005 – the couple welcome Princess Leonor
- February 2007 – Letizia’s sister Erika suddenly passes away
- April 2007 – Princess Sofia is born. During one of her pregnancies, Jaime claims Letizia sends him a selfie confessing her love.
- 2010 – the couple reportedly profess their love for one another and allegedly meet with lawyers. Jaime claims they looked at properties in the US to move to. He also claims Letizia suggested they use a surrogate in LA to have a baby
- 2011 – Jaime claims Letizia ends their relationship over the phone
- 2012 – Jaime marries Letizia’s sister Telma. The couple relocate to New York
- 2014 – Telma and Jaime announce their separation
After sharing the image, other X users questioned the validity of Jaime’s claims – given there is no evidence that Letizia sent him the photo or accompanying message. The businessman has since deleted his X account.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Royal Family told FEMAIL: ‘We have no comment to make about this.’
It comes just weeks after Jaime – who was married to Letizia’s sister Telma from 2012-2014 – made a series of shocking allegations about his relationship with the Queen in the new book ‘Letizia & I’ by journalist Jaime Peñafiel.
Speaking to El Cierre Digitial, the author, 91, said Letizia was Jaime del Burgo’s ‘great love’ and the pair’s relationship turned into a ‘great friendship’ after she became romantically involved with King Felipe.
The businessman told the author that he met Letizia before 2000 and their relationship began on a romantic trip to Venice, years before she met King Felipe.
Jaime – who is the son of the former politician Jaime Ignacio del Burgo – claims he was planning to propose to Letizia when she announced that she was dating a mysterious ‘diplomat’ over dinner at the Ritz hotel in Madrid in 2002.
Describing how ‘serious and significant’ their relationship was, the author made the unlikely claim that Jaime was ‘carrying an engagement ring his his pocket’ that evening.
Letizia reportedly told him that she had ‘met someone who would oblige her to quit her profession’, which Jaime said led him to deduce her mystery partner was Felipe.
After the pair reportedly decided to just be friends, Jaime is said to have advised Letizia: ‘Don’t announce the romance, just the wedding.’
Following their engagement announcement in 2003, Letizia – who had divorced her first husband in 1999 – asked Jaime to be a witness at their wedding.
What’s more, the royal’s ex-brother-in-law also made the outlandish claim that he ‘dealt’ with Letizia’s pre-nuptial agreement and helped to front the cost of the Queen’s family’s wedding outfits.
He is quoted as saying: ‘When the wedding with Felipe came round, I dealt with the pre-nuptial agreement as you know, amongst other things.
‘I also had to pay Letizia’s family’s expenses because [former King] Juan Carlos refused to pay or even go halves with me. So with the help of my friend Felipe Varela, I dressed her mum, grandmother and her sisters. And with the help of Jaime Jason, her father, grandparents and a cousin.’
Jaime also makes the incredible claim that the Queen asked to see him the night before the wedding at the exclusive El Latigazo restaurant in Madrid – where she asked him to ‘never leave’ her.
Telma Ortiz arriving at the Palace in Madrid before attending an official dinner on the eve of her sister’s wedding in 2004
King Felipe and Queen Letizia on their wedding day in Madrid in May 2004. Jaime Del Burgo claims he was going to propose to the newsreader until she announced she had met King Felipe
He sensationally claimed: ‘When we met, she took hold of my hand and asked me why I had never asked her to marry me. Obviously I didn’t reply. I encouraged her as best I could. The last thing she said to me before we said goodbye to each other in that restaurant was a request: ‘Never leave me.”
In the book, Letizia’s alleged ex-lover describes Felipe as a ‘kind-hearted man’ and even goes on to say that he had a ‘great friendship’ with the royal. He told the author: ‘I told him my problems and he told [me] his.’
The businessman even claims that Felipe ‘uses [him] as a good man because he felt incapable of calming [Letizia] down’ on occasions.
Following the wedding, Jaime described how Letizia was like a ‘fox in a chicken coop’ as she was ‘cleverer than any of them’.
Jaime – who says the Queen nicknamed him her ‘yogi pal’ – claims he still had a romantic relationship with Letizia even after the wedding in 2004. He also claims he has kept ‘photographs, videos, mobile phones’ and text messages as evidence.
The businessman claimed that ‘love was always there’ in their relationship since they travelled to Venice together. The photograph Jaime shared on Twitter last night was taken during one of Letizia’s pregnancies between 2005-2007.
In the book, Jaime sensationally claims that Letizia whispered that she loved him when they were lying in a hammock by a pool at her home following Princess Leonor’s birth.
Jaime – who joked that Letizia’s alleged ex-lover should have been his co-author – is quoted as saying in the book: ‘Lying in the same hammock, under the pool porch, facing each other, Letizia told me ‘I love you’ and I responded ‘I love you’.’
Jaime Penafiel goes on to write that Jaime del Burgo subsequently wrote a play called ‘La Hamaca, which in English is ‘The Hammock’ and edited it but never distributed it.
Following this, Jaime alleges they ‘took steps forward with the goal of being free’ – which involved seeking legal advice and looking at properties in the US.
One of the most damaging claims Jaime reportedly makes is that Queen Letizia suggested they have a child together using a surrogate in Los Angeles.
Around this time, Jaime claims that he confronted Letizia after photos of her kissing Felipe appeared on the covers of Spanish magazines.
He claims the Queen told him: ‘I had to do it to protect us.’
He says in the book Jaime del Burgo told him Felipe and Letizia had a ‘difficult relationship’ and told him: ‘Felipe uses me as a good man because he felt incapable of calming her down.’
Jaime Penafiel goes on to write that when Sofia was born, Jaime del Burgo became uncle to both of the girls.
It then quotes him as saying: ‘It was a beautiful period. I didn’t have children, and those girls made me so happy. I was working in Brazil and suffered a pulmonary embolism.
‘I was in intensive care for a fortnight. I managed to get the Albert Einstein Hospital to give me a telephone Letizia and I spoke to each other every day on [the phone].
‘During my visits to Madrid I would often go to the cinema with Felipe, Letizia and some friends. Letizia and I would always sit together, holding hands. They were moments of happiness.’
However in August 2011, Jaime alleges Letizia abruptly ended their relationship when she called him and said: ‘We can’t continue seeing each other.’
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