Royals Queen Letizia of Spain Wears Her Mother-in-Law's Dress from Over 40 Years Ago Former Queen Sonja's outfits are finding new life decades later By Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit is a Royals Writer and Reporter at PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 18, 2022 02:46 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Queen Letizia. Photo: Juan Carlos Hidalgo - Pool/Getty Images Queen Letizia of Spain has dipped into her mother-in-law's royal closet again! The royal joined her husband King Felipe on Monday to attend the reception of the accredited diplomatic corps accredited in Spain at the Royal Palace in Madrid. For the occasion, she wore a Valentino dress — a green skirt topped with a floral blouse featuring sheer long sleeves — that previously belonged Felipe's mother, Queen Sofia. Sofia, the wife of former King Juan Carlos, previously wore the ensemble during a visit to Germany in 1977...making this a royal rewear over four decades in the making. Queen of Royal Rewears! See All of Kate Middleton's Best Recycled Outfits Queen Sofia. Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images Queen Letizia is clearly finding fashion inspiration from her mother-in-law. In September, Letizia wore a different outfit out of Sofia's closet: she sported a pink dress featuring floral patterns, worn by Sofia during a 1981 visit to Rome, to host Chilean President Sebastian Pinera at the Royal Palace. Queen Letizia brought new life to the ensemble, pairing the dress with a simple pair of beige heels and feather earrings, which were shown off by pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Queen Silvia; Queen Letizia. Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty; Carlos Alvarez/Getty Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Queen Letizia, 49, is known to go back into her royal closet and reuse some of her favorite pieces over and over again. Despite their status, many royal women (like Kate Middleton and Queen Elizabeth) are known for recycling articles of clothing on multiple occasions — sometimes decades apart. Queen Silvia; Princess Victoria. Ibl/REX/Shutterstock (2) And while it's rare for a royal to wear a piece from a previous generation, it's not unheard of: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attended the 2018 Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm wearing a stunning strapless color-block dress — a piece previously worn by her mother, Queen Silvia. The pink, gold and silver Nina Ricci gown with an oversized bow in the back was originally worn by Queen Silvia at the exact same event back in 1995 — 23 years prior!