Queen Letizia of Spain's grandmother Menchu Alvarez del Valle dies, aged 93: reports

Menchu Alvarez del Valle, the grandmother of Spain's Queen Letizia, has died aged 93, according to multiple reports.

However, the Spanish Royal Family are yet to put out a statement or comment on the loss.

"There is nothing better than being a grandmother," Menchu had said previously, according to Semana magazine.

María del Carmen Alvarez del Valle, who was born in 1928 in Santander but lived in Oviedo most of her life, was better known as "Menchu".

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She was a veteran radio journalist who retired in 1990, aged 62. She was still receiving honours for her work in 2019, getting an award during a ceremony at Valdes Palace in Spain.

Menchu's son — Queen Letizia's father — Jesús Ortiz was also a journalist who recently retired.

Menchu also has two daughters - Maria del Henar and Cristina - with husband Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco, whom she married in 1949. He died in 2005, aged 82.

The grandmother and granddaughter were said to be very close and Letizia even followed in her grandmother's footsteps when she became a journalist before marrying Crown Prince Felipe.

The Spanish Queen has remained close to her family since taking to the throne, with Menchu pictured at family events, including Infanta Sofia's First Communion in 2017.

It's understood both Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia are also very close to their great-grandmother.