Spain’s Princess Leonor & Sofia are in quarantine, days after returning to school

Princess Sofia Of Spain Starts The School Course

So many European countries did proper shutdowns for the pandemic and they really did the best they could to flatten the curve and keep their internal numbers from spiking. Those same European countries planned out their gradual reopenings this summer, and… as a result of those reopenings, there have been spikes in cases. In France, there have been close to ten thousand new cases just in a day. Spain just became the first European country to close the 500,000-threshold for positive cases. In the past week, Spain has confirmed nearly 50,000 new cases. And just like in America, the surge in cases is happening against the backdrop of kids going back to school.

Last week, Queen Letizia and King Felipe brought their two daughters to school in Madrid. Princess Leonor started 10th grade and Princess Sofia began 9th grade. I didn’t cover the photos of the school drop off because Letizia and Felipe didn’t get out of the car – they really did just drop the girls off, which is apparently the school drop-off protocol now in Spain. Everybody wore masks too, the kids, the teachers, the parents in their cars. And even then… Leonor was still exposed to the virus.

Princess Leonor of Spain will not be returning to school for in-person classes for the next two weeks after one of her classmates tested positive for COVID-19. The heir to the Spanish throne and her younger sister Princess Sofia, 13, will quarantine after heading back to school just days ago, the Royal House announced on Saturday. Leonor, 14, started 10th grade at the Santa María de los Rosales School in Madrid on Wednesday while her sister, 13, started the 9th grade on Friday. The two royals will continue to take classes online at home while awaiting their coronavirus test results.

“Given the detection of a positive case of COVID-19 in one of the students in Princess of Asturias’ class, the School Centre has recommended to the parents that the students of the aforementioned class do not attend for the next 14 days,” the Royal House shared in a statement, according to Hello!

“The Princess of Asturias will follow the regulations and health guidelines imposed in Madrid, as will their Majesties the King and Queen and the Infanta Sofía,” the statement said.

Leonor went to school on Wednesday following months of being forced to skip class due to the coronavirus pandemic. She stuck to the exact rules as all Spanish children over the age of six and wore a face mask throughout, before having her temperature taken by a school official. Sofia and their father, King Felipe IV, 52, also followed the school’s strict COVID rules and didn’t step out of their car, El Pais reported. Leonor’s mother Queen Letizia, 47, decided to not make the journey on Wednesday for the exact same reason.

[From People]

Well, at least it’s just a precaution at this point, and Leonor hasn’t tested positive (that we know of). This is an awful story for the Spanish princesses and I feel so sorry for them, but it’s going to happen across the world with school reopenings, and I know for sure that the American public school system was simply not built to handle this. And all of the parents trying to get back to work too… Jesus, what a mess. And there’s no answer, and no end in sight.

Queen Letizia of Spain brings Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia to school where they had temperature checks

Princess Sofia Of Spain Starts The School Course

Spanish Royals visit Petra

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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48 Responses to “Spain’s Princess Leonor & Sofia are in quarantine, days after returning to school”

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  1. Lara says:

    As someone who works in a school in England it’s just so so difficult. We opened last week and already have 4 cases. We’re also a special school for children with learning disabilities so twice as hard.

    The government here have been worse than awful with rules and regulations for school. They released a whole load of regulations that schools have to follow at 11pm the Friday before children were due to return. How is that helpful in any way.

    • Mel says:

      I’m a teacher in France. Same for us. No actual cases at my school yet but many contacts leading to quarantines. Despite what they are saying the government is absolutely NOT prepared. As usual, we more or less caught the ball when it was dropped last spring so now it’s « they got this, cool ». They don’t show you people struggling in the background. The entire year will be the same. Kids will be in and out of school, same with teachers who also are parents and need to take THEIR kids out of school in case of exposure and parents will be in and out of work for the same reason. Masks are mandatory but the parents must buy them. Once again, the families struggling will be left behind…it’s a mess indeed. I do not want to go back to virtual learning though…we’ll see what happens…

      • Gina says:

        Such a mess the world over. Thanks for sharing. It’s nice to hear what is really going on in other countries.

      • Erina says:

        I’m in France and I work in higher Ed. It’s a joke. Half the students on my campus don’t wear their masks and when you ask them to put it on they laugh. Castex’s speech on Friday shows just how little the government cares.

        I do not feel sorry for two Spanish princesses, I do feel sorry for the millions of children for whom home school is virtually impossible. This pandemic has and will continue to further exacerbate the gap between rich and poor.

    • Desdemona says:

      In Portugal, some private schools have already closed because of clusters, The state schools will be opening this week. The amount of rules is insane, but what’s worse is that due to the lack of facilities, many schools will have classes with 30 students inside a classroom plus the teacher… Let’s wait and see… In the meantime, our government has declared a state of contingency (they’re expecting the numbers to sky rocket).
      Students are suuposed to spend their breaks inside the classrooms, in some cases they can have lunch in there, to not go to the canteen… shorter beaks, they desinfect their own desks, etc, etc, etc…

      • Mel says:

        We do have around 30 plus teachers in the classrooms as well. All windows and doors open. That works for now because it’s still summer but it’s not going to last forever. We disinfect our desks, computer, remotes etc…when we leave but the school staff handles the kids’ desks. The kids are not allowed to touch the disinfectant. We give them a pump of hand sanitizer at the beginning of each lesson. The hardest part is the cafeteria… the school staff is doing an incredible job. I’m assuming the school cleaning staffs around the country are. And nobody thought to hire people to give them extra help.

  2. Aurora says:

    These girls seem so well adjusted. I don’t get any sense that the parents pit them against each other like the siblings in the British monarchy. The older one is actually a better public speaker than the Duchess of Cambridge.

    • Mumbles says:

      Not that this story is about the British RF, but fwiw when the English princes were that age nobody was being pit against each other.

      • Aurora says:

        I recall reading something where Diana said she had to give Harry extra affection because she was aware he was being treated like the “spare”. William was acting entitled from a very young age. It’s clear William got preferential treatment.

    • JT says:

      The Spanish royals have actually been preparing the girls for royal work unlike the BRF. Not only are they more qualified than Kate, but they are also better than William. Felipe and Letizia have made sure that the girls are comfortable in the public and get used to their duties, unlike W&K with their kids. Although it is tough to have your life planned for you, it is a disservice for W&K to keep them in the background until they need them for PR, especially George as the future king. But since Will never had any proper training for his role, George will get the same half assed lessons.

    • minx says:

      Love this family.

    • v says:

      Why the comparison? Did they go to the same royal making academy and some are graduate material and some not ? Both Letizia and Kate married for love. Not cause they were chosen by criteria where public speaking was a must. Had it been like that there would have been cries to the sky. But freedom is not on people’s taste either from what I see. It happened that Letizia was a professional anchor and a career woman, Kate wanted a stay at home mom career. It also happened Letizia to have a special personality, both in values and good sense, that even the former queen could not control. That is something very rare and I bet it comes with not so obvious but less ok parts, like a over controlling. Also Spain monarchy is more fragile now than UK’s for many reasons, one of them being money stolen by both former king and brother in law. Kate’s kids look happy and sane and that is a lot for UK monarchy or any family for that matter. I wish women were less patriarchal and judgmental towards other woman.

  3. Who ARE These People? says:

    Schools can’t really do well if cases are high in the community. Also, temperatures checks don’t mean much with high asymptomatic spread, and with children showing no to mild symptoms generally.

  4. Sarah says:

    They’re NOT twins??? I had no idea they are different ages.

  5. TIFFANY says:

    Those kids are their father’s daughters.

    Yeah, this isn’t ending anytime soon. A straight lockdown is almost needed in all countries not named New Zealand at this point.

    • L4frimaire says:

      The thing is until recently most royal children were educated at home by private tutors. Doesn’t do much for one’s social life but at least they are privileged to have that option.

  6. Izzy says:

    My younger nephew just started college. He was there a whole week before he had to quarantine because of exposure, and now he’s tested positive. It’s going to be such a mess everywhere.

    • Harla says:

      I hope that your nephew will be okay.

    • (TheOG) Jan90067 says:

      Same thing at WISCO, where my nephew is. Last spring, one person in the frat he was living in got sick, and it spread like wildfire through the Greek system. Thankfully, my nephew was asymptomatic and two wks. later tested negative. In late July he moved back to WI, but into his own apt. with 2 friends. School just started a week or so ago, and they are already shutting down the hybrid classes. It’s all online now. I’m just grateful my nephew is a Jr. so he’s gotten the frat party boy thing out of his system, and stays home! His part time job is online as well, so the only time he’s gone out is to do some kayaking on the lake, or solitary runs or runs with his roommates.

      My other nephew is at NYU which thankfully is ALL online. He and his roommates live in Brooklyn, and thank God he’s safer there than in a lot of places (thank you Gov. Cuomo!). His only venture out was last week, to have dinner with his roomies at an outdoor restaurant. I won’t even do that here in So. Cal!

      Sigh…I just can’t see an end in sight for this for a couple of years at least, until we can be SURE there is a REAL effective vaccine/therapies for this. I wouldn’t take ANYTHING #TangerineTwitler’s republiTHUG admin. puts out.

      Hope your nephew will be ok, Izzy! Sending out all good thoughts for him!

  7. McMom says:

    We have 4 different school models in my house right now: my college student, who is on campus and attending school in person. Two high school students, who are 100% online right now. One middle schooler who has been online and will go back in person every other week, starting next week.

    We will see how this works. I’m as worried about their mental health as I am their physical health, so I’m hoping no one gets sick OR loses their mind this semester.

    • minx says:

      Our daughter is in college, completely remote. She is living in her apartment, though, two hours from here, because we signed a lease in the spring and can’t break it. But it’s fine, she and her roommates and her boyfriend have been very careful. There are free tests on campus and she is getting tested every couple of weeks.

  8. Ohlala says:

    My daughter back to school 10 days and already off sick. We had to test yesterday and now selfisolaying awaiting results. Omg what a clusterfuck of a year and my life and lives of others worse off than me

  9. Harla says:

    My co-workers are struggling so much right now with trying to help their children with school work while trying to complete their own work from home, I don’t know how this will be able to continue. I don’t have kids at home so I’m in the office everyday trying to do what I can to help my co-workers but it never feels like I’m doing enough. I hear each of them talk about how guilty they feel and it just breaks my heart.

    • Ana says:

      You’re such a good person @Harla, we need people like you. I struggle every day to juggle my kid taking online classes, going to work and the regular house work. I am exhausted and also feel very guilty.

  10. aquarius64 says:

    I hope the princesses and their classmates. And I hope the student infected will be ok.

  11. MaryContrary says:

    Ugh. Our high schooler is online until the beginning of November-then they’re going back in person but the schools haven’t issued any guidance yet other than masks will be mandatory. He is freaking out about getting sick and bringing it home to the rest of us. My elementary schooler has been virtual but starts back in a hybrid model next week. I am just hoping that if everyone is wearing a mask (properly) it will lessen anyone’s chances of catching it at school. Of course our government refuses to actually track the spread so it’s impossible to really have an accurate perception of school spread when kids are wearing masks/having classes outside. We see tons of anecdotal evidence from colleges across the country being a clusterfuck-but of course a lot of that is because those students live in close quarters.

    • Moxylady says:

      Please prepare yourself that they will not be going back. Or shouldnt. It’s supposed to be an exceptionally bad flu year in addition to Covid.
      However – I’m so worried about people who have had covid getting them flu. Even
      Asymmetric people can have massive damage. Thinking about getting the flu on top of that is so worrisome.

  12. SJR says:

    This is going to be a very long, tough winter for people and mental health, IMO.
    Schools open, closed buildings, heating running, regular flu season PLUS the virus.
    It is tough on everybody.
    I wish people could give themselves a pep talk, if you are masking and following all the CDC guidelines, acknowledge that you are following the rules and being careful. Give yourself a break. We are in the middle of a bad sci-fi reality.
    And, to the folks who are not following CDC guidelines..I got nothing for you, nothing.
    I have hit the wall in trying to be polite with you and your BS. Get away from me.

    • FHMom says:

      I feel like I’m in a sci fi movie, also. Traveling is a surreal experience. The election can’t come soon enough. I’m not very religious, but I am praying hard that we get some leadership soon.

    • Cee says:

      I was out sick for 2 weeks with what seemed like COVID and self isolated just in case. Finally got tested around the second week and tested negative. It was just the flu virus which just shows how tricky detection really is during winter. if the flu took me out for 2 weeks I’m scared to think of what COVID will be like when I finally do get it (as we all will, eventually)

    • L4frimaire says:

      Our medical provider is already telling us to get our flu shots and is setting up to administer them. They don’t want to be dealing with both flu and COVID-19.

      • Cee says:

        I got the flu shot in April and still caught a virus. At least winter is almost over so hopefully things will get easier in the Southern Hemisphere

  13. FHMom says:

    This year is an educational sh**show. I have one at college, living in a dorm but with classes online, and 2 in high school doing 1 week in person and 2 weeks remotely. I’m waiting for the call from my college age daughter that she is sick. We agonized over whether it was wise to send her, but she had spent 5 months in her bedroom and her mental health suffered greatly. I curse everyone responsible for not getting this under control.

  14. Other Renee says:

    My daughter is an athletic coach at a California university. They are bringing just the athletes back to school in one month. The only in-person classes will be some of the labs. I don’t know why the athletes are coming back. She’s not coaching a money sport like football. 🤷‍♀️

  15. Lindy says:

    My 11yo 6th grader went back last week, online only, after the start date was pushed back from the original August 18th date. The Republican-controlled state board of education is mandating 100% synchronous learning, with constant daily assignment deadlines. It’s freaking exhausting and my poor kid, already nervous about starting middle school, is already overwhelmed. My husband and I are working more than full time, also with a 2yo. Since March.

    No way can we send the kids back even if it were an option (the district plans to start in person learning in a month but… It’ll be a disaster given our community spread).

    Knowing there’s no end in sight and knowing how hard it is socially and emotionally is really difficult.

  16. Leah says:

    Why don’t people listen to the warnings about this virus? It’s basically on a sign 100 feet high and blinking red. The virus doesn’t care how old you are or who you are or what condition you are in. If you don’t wear a mask and social distance you are putting yourself at risk. Distance learning needs to be in place until they find a reliable and proven vaccine. Highest infection rate I’ve read is now between 18-49, so it’s more than the elders now.

    This virus is very unusual. People are getting asthma who never had it before. People are getting blood clots in their stomachs. It’s a terrifying.

    I have to wear a mask and socially distance because I have a heart condition and my mother (who I see several times a week) is elderly (she also has a heart condition). I don’t have a choice in the matter because the virus is making the decisions for me.

  17. schoolnurse says:

    I’m a parent of an elementary student and also a school nurse. both of us are back at our respective schools and have been for a month. it’s a no win situation. my heart breaks for these kids.

  18. lucy2 says:

    Most schools around here are online only or have that option, luckily my family members who work in schools are still teaching remotely right now. But 2 of my coworkers sent their kids back to school this past week, and I’m worried for all of them.

  19. L4frimaire says:

    We are so frustrated with online learning and would love to return to school. However our school district is so unprepared they can’t even get enough soap and sanitizer,and haven’t really done much planning since March when they shut down. The teachers union also seem to be pushing back and don’t really want to return to school, but then blame parents when our kids don’t turn in their work on time. It’s a total clusterf*ck. At the same time private schools will be able to reopen so increase the divide. Of course scenarios like a spike in cases with school openings is so frightening but our city is still very much in lockdown with low numbers of cases. It’s a no win situation.We’ll be watching NYC and see how that goes if they actually resume in person school.

  20. Tourmaline says:

    “Everybody wore masks too, the kids, the teachers, the parents in their cars. And even then… Leonor was still exposed to the virus.“.
    Yes—- but hopefully if there was good masking and other precautions in place, there will be low or no transmission at the school. Even if there is zero transmission within a school there will still be students or staff who test positive from exposures outside of school and necessitate quarantine of school contacts. If one is in contact with a case and masks worn still need to quarantine as masks are not 100 percent protective — but should help reduce transmission.
    (It’s still horribly disruptive and sucks though)

  21. Mariane says:

    Its 2020 and people cant even do distant learning for few months!!!😑I understand that there are working parents who cant stay home.
    Why cant they implement rotation system if they are hell bent on opening schools?!! During Italian colonial rule there was 3 school starting times(morning, afternoon, evening). This allowed a small school to cater for theyr large community.

  22. Kim says:

    I’m a teacher. It was our first day back to school with kids after starting virtually. My teaching partner had to send two kids home with fevers. WTF, parents?!!!