Spanish court distances self from queen's comments on gay marriage

Oct 31, 2008, 12:20 GMT

Madrid - The Spanish royal court distanced itself Friday from comments expressed by Queen Sofia in a new biography in which she opposes gay marriage, among other political comments.

The queen was making the comments 'in a private framework,' a statement from the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid said. The queen's comments had also been misquoted, the palace said.

The new biography, The Queen Up Close, is the first time Sofia has made public comments on political issues.

Author Pilar Urbano said Sofia spoke out against gay marriage, abortion and quotas for women in politics.

Urbano rejected the palace's claim that the queen had been misquoted.

'The quotations in my book reproduce exactly what the queen said,' Urbano said.

The queen knew from the start that her conversations with Urbano would be published in a biography.

She said the book had been reviewed by the royal palace before publication and given 'the green light.'

Popular author Urbano published a biography of the queen 11 years ago.

Women's groups, gay organizations and left-wing politicians have protested the queen's comments.

Madrid's El Mundo daily said they showed that the queen had an outdated view of the world.

'The comments were inappropriate,' the newspaper said, and they described the palace's claim that Sofia was misquoted as 'not very credible.'

Publico newspaper ran the headline, 'Why didn't she keep her mouth shut?'

The book is being released in conjunction with her 70th birthday, which falls on November 2.