Spanish royal couple expecting second child

MADRID - The heir to the Spanish throne, Prince Felipe, and his wife, Letizia Ortiz, are expecting their second child next May, the royal palace said on Monday.

The couple's first child, Leonor, was born last October. She is second in line to the throne after Felipe.

Her birth initiated fresh debate over a law stating that titles are inherited down the male line.

Prince Felipe himself is heir to the throne despite having two older sisters.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has vowed to reform the 1978 law to give women the same inheritance rights as men.

But constitutional reform is complex as needs to be approved by two-thirds of the lower and upper houses of parliament.

Both houses then need to be dissolved, new elections must be called, and the new Congress and Senate must again approve the changes with at least two-thirds in favour.

The changes are then put to a referendum.

- REUTERS