Leonor, Princess of Asturias

Leonor, Princess of Asturias (Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz; born 31 October 2005) is the heir presumptive to the Spanish throne. She is the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.

Leonor was born during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Juan Carlos I. She was educated at Santa María de los Rosales School, the same child school as her father; after finishing her secondary studies, she studied an International Baccalaureate at the UWC Atlantic College in Wales, United Kingdom. On 17 August 2023, Leonor joined the General Military Academy to start her 3-year military education.

In 2014, when her father ascended the throne after the abdication of her grandfather, Leonor was granted all the traditional titles of the heir to the Spanish crown, these are: Princess of Asturias, Princess of Girona, Princess of Viana, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cervera and Lady of Balaguer. Leonor was formally proclaimed as the heir before the Cortes on 31 October 2023, her 18th birthday. 

If Leonor ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Spain's first queen regnant since her 4th great-grandmother Isabella II, who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

Birth
Leonor was born to Felipe and Letizia, then the Prince and Princess of Asturias, on 31 October 2005 at 01:46, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Juan Carlos I, in the Ruber International Hospital in Madrid by means of a caesarean section necessitated by non-progression of labour. As the daughter of the heir apparent, she was an infanta and the second in the line of succession to the Spanish throne. Her birth was announced by the royal family to the press via SMS.

Leonor left the Ruber International Hospital with her parents on 7 November 2005. She was baptised in the Zarzuela Palace by the archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela, on 14 January 2006.  Like her father, Leonor was baptized – with water from the Jordan River – in a Romanesque baptismal font that has been used to christen Spanish princes since the 17th century.

Her godparents were her paternal grandparents, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía. She received the name of Leonor de Todos los Santos.

Education and military training
Leonor's education began at Escuela Infantil Guardia Real, the daycare for the children of the Spanish Royal Guard. She began her first year of primary school on 15 September 2008 at the Santa María de los Rosales School in Aravaca, just outside Madrid. Her father is an alumnus of the private school and her younger sister, Sofía, is also enrolled there. In September 2021, she began studying a 2-year International Baccalaureate program at the UWC Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. She graduated in May 2023, having successfully completed her studies. Leonor is fluent in both Spanish and English (the latter learnt from her British nanny and also from her grandmother, Queen Sofía) and has studied Mandarin.

In March 2023, it was announced by Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles that the government had approved a royal decree for Leonor to begin a 3-year military training education program. On August 17, 2023, she started her first year of training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. In preparation for her presumed role as Spain's head of state, she is expected to follow in her father's footsteps with two further years of naval and air force training at the Naval Military Academy in Marín and the General Air Academy in Murcia, respectively. Whilst attending the military academies, Leonor will renounce her salary and any money that cadets receive. Leonor is using both her parents' surnames "Borbón Ortiz" in her military career.

Princess of Asturias 
In May 2014, Leonor made her first official visit to the San Javier Air Force base in Murcia. On 18 June 2014, King Juan Carlos signed the Abdication Act, and the following day at the stroke of midnight (18–19 June 2014) Leonor's father ascended the throne becoming King Felipe VI, and Leonor became his heir presumptive and Princess of Asturias. In October 2014, a wax figure of Leonor was unveiled at the Museo de Cera in Madrid. On 20 May 2015, Leonor received First Communion as per Catholic custom.

According to the Spanish constitution of 1975, the succession to the Spanish throne is under a system of male-preference cognatic primogeniture, meaning that Leonor, as the elder of Felipe's two daughters, is first in line to inherit the throne. Under the current law, however, if her father has a legitimate son while still being king, Leonor would be displaced in the line of succession and again become an infanta of Spain. There have been discussions about changing the succession law to absolute primogeniture, allowing for the inheritance of the eldest child, regardless of sex; however, the birth of Leonor, followed by that of her younger sister Sofía, stalled these plans. Despite a change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture for Spanish titles of nobility in 2009, as of  no legislation has been passed affecting the succession to the throne.

On a day before her 10th birthday, she was granted the Order of the Golden Fleece by her father. In addition, the Council of Ministers approved the design of her personal standard and guidon. Coinciding with the 50th birthday of King Felipe, in January 2018, the King officially gave Leonor the collar of the Golden Fleece in a ceremony at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

In September 2018, Leonor conducted her first public engagement outside the palace by accompanying her parents to Covadonga to celebrate the 1,300th anniversary of the Kingdom of Asturias. On 31 October 2018, Leonor gave her first public speech, held at the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid, where she read the first article of the Constitution of Spain. The speech coincided with the 40th anniversary of the constitution and her 13th birthday. On 18 October 2019, she made her first significant speech at Premio Princesa de Asturias.

On 4 November 2019, she made her first speech at the Princess of Girona Foundation awards in Barcelona, in which she spoke in Spanish, Catalan, English and Arabic.

She carried out her first public solo engagement on 24 March 2021 by attending a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the Instituto Cervantes.

On 16 July 2022, she made her first international trip. She did it without the presence of her parents, although she was accompanied by her younger sister, Infanta Sofía. Together, they attended a match between Spain and Denmark at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022. In December 2022, Leonor visited the Spanish Red Cross headquarters in Madrid where she met young volunteers of The Red Cross Youth, the youth section of the Spanish Red Cross.

On 7 October 2023, Leonor swore allegiance to the Flag of Spain at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza.

On 31 October 2023, on the occasion of her 18th birthday, the Princess swore an oath in front of the Spanish Parliament as required under the Spanish Constitution. Following her oath, King Felipe invested her as a Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III at the Royal Palace. To complete the day a luncheon-based event was organised at the Royal Palace of El Pardo, which consisted of speeches and a toast.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Leonor was initially styled "Her Royal Highness Infanta Leonor of Spain". Upon her father's accession to the throne, she became known as "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias" as heir. She also holds the titles Princess of Girona, Princess of Viana, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cervera and Lady of Balaguer.

She is currently an officer cadet in the General Spanish Military Academy.

Honours
As heir to the throne, she is the nominal chairwoman of the Princess of Asturias Foundation and the Princess of Girona Foundation, although until she became 18, those functions were assumed by her father.

Also as traditional for the first in line to the throne, her father created her a knight and invested her the with insignia (Collar, Medal and Bow) of the Order of the Golden Fleece (awarded 30 October 2015, presented 30 January 2018). On 10 October 2023, she was created a Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Charles III (10 October 2023, presented 31 October 2023).

Arms

See also

Princess of Asturias Awards
Politics of Spain

Notes

References

External links

Official website

2005 births
Living people
Daughters of kings
Nobility from Madrid
Spanish infantas
Spanish princesses
Princes of Asturias
Felipe VI of Spain
House of Bourbon (Spain)
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Spanish people of Greek descent
People educated at Atlantic College
Heirs presumptive