Even though her chin is clamped under her lower lip by a leather strap, Leonor appears confident and likeable. This is how she was seen in pictures after she began her service as a cadet at the Zaragoza Military Academy in August this year. She had to take the oath of allegiance in an old-fashioned military uniform with gold cords and a cap.
This Tuesday, Spain’s future queen turns 18. It is the day on which, eagerly awaited by the public, she completes the most important act of her life as a princess: the oath to the constitution. Benches have been set up in front of Parliament in Madrid for days. Her portrait hangs on every lamppost on Gran Vía, the central boulevard.
The oath to be taken before the democratically elected representatives and the eyes of the public is Leonor’s promise to fulfill her constitutional duties as future head of state. And it is a commitment to constitutional monarchy. “I understand very well and am aware of what my duty is and what my responsibilities mean,” said Spain’s heir to the throne a few days ago at the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony.
Some call her the mysterious one. Her parents have done nothing other than keep her life private as far as possible. And it succeeded, to the chagrin of the tabloid press, which sometimes complains that too little is known about the future monarch. Leonor, like her younger sister Sofía, attended the Colegio Santa María de los Rosales in Madrid. In the summer of 2021, she left her home in the Zarzuela Palace in northwest Madrid to study for her high school diploma in the medieval walls of a college in Wales. Apparently she enjoys playing the cello and volleyball. She is also said to be very interested in languages.
In photos she appears confident, in no way ingratiating, perhaps a bit mischievous. When she meets people her own age, the question of how to address her sometimes arises. “Leonor is good,” she then says. Leonor von Borbón y Ortiz is happy to forego the litany of her titles, from Royal Highness, Princess of Asturias and Girona, Princess of Montblanc to Countess of Cervera. The last part of the name, Ortiz, is important to her. It is the name of her real mother Letizia, which she insists on when it becomes formal.
The princess is currently undergoing military training
At the age of nine she made her first appearance at the Spanish National Day parade. Her father, Felipe VI. had recently replaced the scandal-ridden grandfather Juan Carlos I as head of state, which made Leonor Princess of Asturias. If she had a younger brother, he would be the designated crown prince – modern Spain affords this anachronism.
Leonor will now complete her military training for three years and will even learn to fly. People get up at 6:30 a.m. and the lights go out at 11 p.m. The cadets have the weekend off. Some media outlets noted that the future monarch appeared more relaxed and smiling since she marched in step with her peers and crawled through mud at the military academy.
As a representative of the central state, independence supporters from the Basque Country and Catalonia refuse to follow her and stay away from the ceremonies. The same applies to some politicians from the left-wing Sumar alliance, with which incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is currently planning the future government coalition.
However, according to a survey, almost two thirds of the Spanish population are convinced that Leonor will one day be a good head of state. Apparently she is the right person to save Spain’s temporarily crisis-ridden monarchy into a modern age.