‘The great Charlemagne, my father, from the Saracens liberated me And from heaven he gave me life, of Meritxell, the great Mother. I was born a Princess, a Maiden neutral between two nations. I am the only remaining daughter, of the Carolingian empire Believing and free for eleven centuries, a believer and free I will be. The laws of the land be my tutors, and my Princes[A] defenders! And my Princes defenders!’