In Spain, the first in line to the throne is a 15-year-old girl. Princess Leonor is the eldest daughter of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, and she will one day be Queen of Spain. But she’s also just a young teenager! Let her be a teenager and do teenage-girl things! But no – Leonor’s parents seem okay with gently introducing her to public life, so much so that Leonor did her very first solo royal event this week.
Princess Leonor of Spain is flying solo! The 15-year-old heir to the Spanish throne helped celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid on Wednesday. In her first solo royal outing, the future Queen of Spain deposited the same copy of the Spanish Constitution she read aloud during her first public address two years ago on her 13th birthday — also at the Cervantes Institute.
The document will now rest inside a secure facility at the Institute alongside 60 priceless Spanish cultural items, including a copy of the classic novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, which Leonor and her younger sister Princess Sofia, 13, read live on social media to celebrate Book Day in April 2020.
“Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias, on the occasion of her visit to the Cervantes Institute on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, deposited two copies of the Spanish Constitution and Don Quixote de la Mancha in the Box Of letters. March 24, 2021,” read the inscription on the safety deposit box. Leonor then moved to the assembly hall to learn about additional celebrations being planned for the Institute’s 30th anniversary and to discover more about the technical and digital preservation work being carried out by its experts. The teen princess then moved on to the main hall where she was presented with three books in the co-official languages of Spain and took part in a group photograph.
Leonor’s solo outing is the latest milestone in her royal life. On Feb. 11, it was announced that the daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will join UWC Atlantic College in Wales starting in September, following in the royal footsteps of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Princess Raiyah of Jordan, and Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, who started at the college in 2018.
“Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias will study the International Baccalaureate program,” said a statement released by the Spanish royal family, which added that King Felipe would fund her $92,000 school fees directly from his annual allowance. Princess Leonor will reside, like the rest of the students, in the boarding school that the UWC Atlantic College has established within its campus,” the statement continued. “(She) will make this period of her education compatible with the progressive development of her institutional commitments in Spain.”
There’s no real American equivalent to Atlantic College, I don’t think. It’s basically a boarding school, finishing school, two-year university and advanced-level high school all rolled into one, from what I understand. It’s kind of cool that a Spanish princess will be spending a few years in Wales in what is considered a radical two-year international course. As for Leonor’s solo event… she’s obviously a good kid and a smart kid, and on one hand, it’s cool that her parents trust her and have faith in her abilities, and they’re preparing her for her future role. On the other hand, I do wish she had more time to just be a kid.
PS… On a superficial note, Leonor has gorgeous hair! She’s a really beautiful young lady.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Both the princesses are beautiful and seems to have inherited their mother’s intelligence & grace.
It’s crazy how Kate or even William looks in comparison. I didn’t realise how dim witted they are until I saw the other European royals.
LOL as someone who watches many royals…. oh my goodness this was funny to read.
Yes its been this obvious to everyone all along.
Pillar of strength, natural leaders my ***….
“If you have to tell people you are the king, then you are not the king”
She is young, but for a “Royal” event, it’s actually a nice tie-in with her 13th birthday address- seems kind of like a follow-up to her reading from the Constitution then, which I think actually has a logic if you will to her doing this, as opposed to randomly cutting ribbons or some other public event.
I loved her 13th birthday address. Her father’s face was a picture of pride and love.
I loved it too Elizabeth. One thing I see in most of the Gen X generation of continental royals is how genuinely loving they appear to be with their families. The parents always look so proud of their children.
Good for her! The event seems appropriate for a 15year old to begin practicing public engagement skills. Some royals *ahem Kate* are unable to solidly shoulder events solo.
I’m sure she’ll get her teenage time away at the boarding school, and here’s hoping her classmates and the press allow her some freedom there.
I was just thinking that we all know at least one (future) future queen who still wouldn’t be able to do this kind of event solo despite more than a decade of preparing for the role.
It seems as though the Spanish royals have an organized rollout plan in place, and that seems smart.
There’s already a princess at the school, and no doubt children of high profil people from around the world. The school should be used to keeping the kids safe and out of the public eye.
The parents of the “new” generation of heirs seems to be easing them into their future role with a few events pr year, while they get to live a normal teenage life the rest of the time. From the few events I’ve seen they seem to be more comfortable with it than Keen, and they’re still very young! That said, most of them seem to have parents who are involved with their life and provide them with a different childhood than the dysfunctional British RF. For instance; Princess Ingrid of Norway won a gold medal in surfing last year, her father is an avid surfer, and Fredrik of Denmark has involved his family in running. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/visitnorway/pressreleases/norwegian-princess-surfs-up-3046572
https://www.newmyroyals.com/2019/06/danish-crown-prince-family-participated.html (there’s a cute photo of Fredrik and Mary kissing behind the scene).
In reality, the championship that Ingrid won had only two participants: her and another boy. It is not a great achievement. Ingrid only has family photos, no important public events. The crown princess of Holland is totally missing and is almost 18 years old and that of Belgium is 19 years old and she has not had any solo act yet.
She’s adorable, and she has wayyyy more poise than I did at 15. I hope the Atlantic College program will allow her a little freedom and time to have fun, be herself, and grow as a person, outside the pressure of her royal family.
Per Tatler, Atlantic College is known as the Hogwarts for rich hippies.
The International Baccalaureate is pretty full-on, though – I always got the feeling it’s for the kids who feel A-levels (the exams done in the last two years of high school in the UK, although not Scotland) aren’t challenging enough.
IB at AC is a great program. Future queen of Belgium just graduated and the 2nd daughter of the king of Netherlands is going this fall. The Netherlands is a family that knows how to raise spares and extended family with grace and kindness. Even though I think Q Max might be a tad too much to take as a mom
I graduated from an IB program in the 90’s. It’s a great, scalable curriculum designed to foster critical thinking. Good for her!
It’s lovely to see that the next generation of European royals are mostly women–the heirs to the thrones of Sweden, Netherlands, and Spain are all young girls who will hopefully reshape the idea of what it means to be a “Princess” and then a “Queen.” This is how the British royals will further be left behind, just as the UK will be left behind in Europe. Hopefully these women will be raised to their roles in a way that the British royals fundamentally havent been–with the Queen taking the job well before she was ready to, and Charles both undermined and coddled, and William just coddled. As girls, they will face additional scrutiny, and the young heiress of the Netherlands (whose name escapes me) has already been body-shamed. But I think, with their parents’ support, they have a chance to grow into confident leaders on a scale not yet seen before in European monarchy. While over the in the UK, the Cambridges have doubled down on Royal cosplay: Will-di Amin cosplaying as “strong king” and Kate cosplaying as posh “coolest of the cool girls Royal Barbie”.
Based on the choices of their parents, these girls will be able to make their own choices of spouses, and hopefully create a new, fresh vision of royalty that looks forward instead of backward. While the image of royalty may start to wane in the UK (due to their own actions, and a line of old, stale kings on the way), the image of royalty in Europe has a much brighter future (and no one can throw these girls at George/Louis because they will be Queen Regnants of their own countries)
The heir to the throne of Belgium is a girl, too! So is 2nd in line to the throne of Norway (after her father).
Only Luxemburg and Denmark have male heirs or am I forgetting someone?
…and they’ll be almost 10-15 years older than George and Louis. The boys are however among the wealthier European royals.
You do not get much wealthier than the Belgium Royals and the Netherland Royals.
Not only are they rich but they own some amazing things, art, property, etc..It is so embarrassing that a sedentary egg will be king of England someday when you look at the other royals, except I’m not sure about Monaco, they have some demons in that family .Maybe that curse will have died out with Grace’s children..
You are so right!
You can add Belgium (Princess Elisabeth mentioned in the article) and Norway on the list of countries with future queens.
They are all around the same age and are going to be quite a powerful force for female leadership! Many of the families socialize outside official engagements as well, so they’ll know eachother quite well. Their parents seems to have a completely different approach to how they raise their children. The other monarchies have evolved more with time, while the British is already far behind. Some of these future heirs have already done more hands on work for charities than Keen, and they havent even finished school.
I forgot about Norway and Belgium! Even better! the future of monarcy in Europe is FEMALE!! That’s where the attention of royal watchers should be. The Uk RF needs to be tossed in the rubbish bin.
It’s too bad Japan couldn’t deal with this when Empress Masako gave birth to a girl. But no, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law had to go back and produce a male heir to take over for his uncle because the Japanese Government didn’t do the right thing.
Japan is another example of a royal family that quite frankly needs to die out. Empress Masako was a dynamic young woman who had the soul sucked out of her by the rigid Japanese court. Their entire dynasty rests on 1 young boy–women cannot inherit. So the entire dynasty is more likely than not to die out in a generation or two, as all of the heirs born have been women aside from the 1 boy. The pressure on that kid to marry and have male children is going to be intense. I fear for any woman who marries him. It will be worse for her than it was for Masako if she doesn’t pop out boys. I wouldn’t be surprised if that kid doesn’t find any woman to marry him at all–Emperor Narohito had to beg and beg Masako, and quite frankly, she should have refused him and kept her diplomatic career. Her story is one of the saddest, most infuriating royal stories today. The Japanese monarchy has outlived its time, and needs to go the way of the Japanese nobility (which was disbanded after WW2)
@lanne you killed me at will-idi-amin lmaoooo
Unfortunately Leonor’s grandfather Juan Carlos did some shady things and had to resign as a king and now hides in the east. I think there were some scandals with Carlos daughter as well.
So Felipe and Letizia have to work hard to maintain a good image for the monarchy. And I guess thats why Leonor has to engage with her parents work much earlier than they thought.
I really like the family and the two infantas are just beautiful girls.
It’s kind of interesting though that her event involves the Spanish Constitution, given probably the biggest “positive” role a Royal can realistically play is the one Juan Carlos did during and following the fall of the Franco dictatorship. Had he not had the scandals and really questionable behavior, Juan Carlos I think could have held an incredibly favorable place in Spanish history. This event is maybe a nice (and subtle) call back to that?
I do think the constitution here was deliberate, as a signal that they understand their role in the country and as a reminder that Juan Carlos did play a big role in bringing Spain out of the dictatorship. I took a class at the University of Salamanca ages ago about the transition to democracy and it was fascinating. Then the scandals really took away from that, which isnt to say that they shouldnt – just that its kind of a shame that he could have had a good legacy but ended up being corrupt and shady AF.
@Becks1 – I agree that it really is a shame. Not that the scandals aren’t serious and rightfully viewed negatively, but in weighing the two, I do think it’s really unfortunate that they seem to overshadow or “outweigh” the legacy of what he did post-Franco. You’re so right that the history of what happened during that time period is so fascinating- it also continues to have reverberations in Spain with the (re)rise of the Franco…not sure what to call them..apologists/supporters/neo-francists.
I’m sorry but Princess Leonor is already more prepared for the throne than the Other One. She’s given speeches, attends so many engagements with her parents, (and now solo), and she’s studying an international program. Why wasn’t the BRF preparing William in this way? They allowed him to push of consistent royal duties until his 30s, he doesn’t speak any other languages, despite being a “diplomat”, and he studied art/geology instead of PR/relations type course. Even Meghan took an international relations course and she wasn’t going to be a monarch. All of this to say, well done Felipe and Letizia.
I couldn’t agree more with all of that. Never understood why the Windsor kids (and that stands for both William and Harry) weren’t more prepared for what their future duties were going to be. The future of the British Monarchy could (should) have been highly diplomatic, and the fact they never officilaly studied political science or speak any other languages completly baffles me.
It is strange particularly with William’s I’m a global statesman bs. Why not just show him how to be a global statesman? Harry is much better at diplomacy and networking but that just came naturally to him. At least harry went to the army. What’s William’s excuse? The Other One has been floundering for years. And he should have never been able to marry Kate, with her lack of work ethic, skills, and speaking ability. The future king needed a Meghan, or hell, a Leonor. My goodness. Leonor over in Spain is about to be a better queen at 15 than Top CEO at 40.
The Queen herself never had much formal schooling so she probably sees it as unnecessary.
Because the British RF (and their courtiers) is still clinging on to the Victorian era, and everything that came with it for dear life! They haven’t evolved since then. They’ve surrounded themselves with yes-people from the aristo circle and tories for do long, they’ve ended up far behind the rest of the European royals when it comes adjusting to the society they serve. It’s pathetic at this point, but at least they provide the british people with entertainment. A centuries long soap opera.
The UK monarchy has more in common with the Middle Eastern monarchies than with the European ones. Of the British women married into the main line: 1 is dead, 1 disgraced, 1 bullied out, and the only 1 left has no voice, no power, no creativity, and no work record to speak of.
Many of the other monarchies have recent histories of abdications for a variety of reasons (some good, some not). This allows a younger monarch come to the throne in their 40s or early 50s, while their parents retire to a private life. It wouldn’t surprise me if Philipe intends to abdicate/retire at 75 or so, allowing Leonor to become queen while she is in her 40s. Same with Willem-Alexander in the Netherlands (his mother stepped down at 75). So the teenagers are being taught what to do and how to do it, knowing it will come sooner rather than later.
The BRF is not about to do this, not given their most recent experience with abdication. So they are stuck a monarch who should have retired 30 years ago and a crown prince who is in his 70s. How can he teach a child how to do a job he has never done himself?
liz, do you think these other monarchies actually took a look at QEII and decided that was NOT what they wanted to do, so are doing this? It makes so much sense and it does keep them connected and modern as time passes.
I doubt it, to be honest. Beatrix’s mother had stepped down in her 70s, so there was precedent in the Netherlands. Juan Carlos was forced into retirement by his legal troubles & scandals. Albert in Belgium stepped down because of his health (at least that was the public explanation). That said, it appears to have worked out for the best for all of them.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Carl Gustaf in Sweden steps down in the next few years in order to avoid the mess that is now going on in the UK. He’s around the same age at Charles and Victoria is in her early 40s. She’s already taking on a lot of his public appearances. I can’t imagine he wants to be working into his 90s with a successor already in her 60s. His grandfather was king until he died at 90, but his heir, Carl Gustaf, was still in his 20s (his father had died when he was an infant).
As for the International Baccalaureate program, even local public High Schools, at least one of them should offer it. It is a good idea if you plan to study in Europe after HS!
It’s quite possible that Leonor was the one pushing to do a solo event. I recall being that age, many moons ago, and being very confident and eager to start making my mark on the world.
I wouldn’t be surprised. Leonor has given a few speeches so far and nailed it each time. She seems ready.
I wonder how much of that is the parent. My 14 year old would definitely not want to give a speech like that. I wonder if I should push it a bit more. Raising kids, is an extreme sport!
I bet that if William and Kate meet Leonor, they are going to be insecure AF.
Leonor deserves kudos, even privately they will be unable to do so.
I think it’s good that they are having her do these things from time to time. 15 is not too young. Many teens have part time jobs and start to be more independent. It’s good that she’s learning and building confidence in her future role. She should get positive exposure to her future role. William is a good example of what happens when you tell a kid about all the responsibility they will have one day, only expose them to the negative aspects and then let them put it off for ages. He’s self important and resentful. Let her be a kid 90% of the time. The other 10% should be used to teach her about her future responsibility in a positive way.
All lovely
Most of the heirs of the EU royal families right now are teen girls and they all seem to be such smart, poised and beautiful young ladies. It really seems that their parents are doing right by them, even with some grandparents being shady AF (Belgian King Albert II and Spanish King Juan Carlos I’m looking at you both). These are the future queens of Europe and they will run circles around FFQ Catherine Keen the Great and FFK Bill Rosebush The Other.
She’s been out there for quite some time, even giving speeches!
This is the future as royal families shrink across Europe. Even in England, you’ll see George out there by the time he is a teen doing solo events and maybe even sooner with his parents. We already saw it happening at Sandringham when the kids worked the rope line there. Meghan and Harry were right in that regard to see the writing on the wall – as Charles vision comes into focus, they would’ve been pushed down further and then taking orders from their teenage nephew. That’s no way to live.
I think it’s better to do this, a handful of very carefully selected, rare appearances that acknowledge her future role and ease her into it than whatever the Brits have done, which is treat the succession like a damned millstone to be avoided until the very bitter, and I do mean bitter end.
If you don’t like it, abolish it. But pretending your future reign isn’t a job that requires skill and study is why we have Charles and William playing reindeer games.
I remember reading an interview about the Norwegian RF. The two past kings had run the royal court like the British (same as in the Victorian era), where the monarchs did most of the job themselves, and didn’t include the heir in much. The current king (Harald) didn’t want that, so today they work much more as a team (king, queen, crown prince and crown princess). They are also doing what you’re talking about with the FFQ Ingrid. A few engagements pr year, and let her live a normal life as a teenager most of the time.
Willnot is to arrogant to understand that he should educated himself more. Not just school/uni, but about vital topics in society.
Also the International Baccalaureate program is not an easy pass. It hones good writing and deep study skills in its successful students. As an IB parent, nice choice! Not for all, but great for academic kids
I really loved it! best 2 years of highschool and money well spent
I think these kinds of events are fine and appropriate for her to do. If they start having her do hundreds of appearances a year at the age of 18, then I’ll side eye, but this seems like a good way to get her feet wet for solo engagements.
The school sounds intense, 92k a year! But it seems like a good fit for a young royal. I’m another one who thinks the Windsors should have handled William’s education differently – there should have been more of an emphasis on diplomatic and international work from the get-go. It really feels like they just let him do whatever and now they’re surprised he’s lazy and incompetent.
There IS an American equivalent to UWC Atlantic. It’s called UWC-USA and is located in Montezuma, New Mexico. It is NOT a finishing school in the sense of teaching manners and how to comport oneself in high society. It is two intense years of high-level academics in a highly international environment. As for the cost, I can’t speak for UWC Atlantic but at UWC-USA almost all if not the entire student body is funded by scholarships.
There was a rumour that Prince William was supposed to attend UWC-USA starting in 1998, but Diana’s death changed that.
Oh, and fun fact given who else has been in the news lately: UWC-USA used to be known as Armand Hammer United World College because it was founded by Armie Hammer’s great-grandfather of the same name.
Prince Charles did fund raising for the UWC-USA. The UWC was a pet project of both Dickie Mountbatten and Prince Philip taken over by Charles. Where’s FFK Bill Rosebush Baldingham The Other’s support for international education.
William seems to have been a very indifferent student and UWC academics may not have been a good fit for him. Yet private tutoring could surely have been arranged, and I think he would have benefited greatly from being around a lot of international plebs as well as the emphasis on community service. It is very sad to say this, but he probably does not support international education because he was not taught to value either education or cross-cultural cooperation.
There are plenty of IB schools in the world, I myself attended one. It’s a hard program but it is worth it once you go on to university. It really does make a difference academically. While many of my non-IB peers were overwhelmed by our workload and academic programs, we were completely at ease. We had been through the grinder already and could cope well (imagine having to combine IB courses AND your country’s requirements. I sometimes had 4 exams the same day).
She DOES have beautiful hair ESP the pic where she’s in the sun and her hair looks like that sort of dark honey color…..I also like that she’s dressed age-appropriately (her dress is modest but has a fun almost mini cheetah print on it) but does NOT look like ad for Laura Ashley which I think is unfortunately DEFINITELY in Princess Charlotte’s future…….all the flowery, lacey, buttoned dresses that Kate will no doubt make her wear are the thing of nightmares….I shudder to think of them…….. Also when I think back to how me and my friends dressed at 15 (and younger!) I am HORRIFIED …..
She receives a salary of €102,000 a year (in a country struggling economically) so she should be earning her keep.
I don’t understand why you have to lie to vilify a girl. It’s terrible and horrible
Wow. As a mother of a beautiful 15 year old girl, I just would not want to send her to a foreign country to go school at this age. I know she will have security but she’s still very vulnerable. I know it’s normal in royal households and everyone goes to boarding school, but yikes.
Spain is closer to Vale of Glamorgan in Wales than Miami, Florida is to New York, New York. She is not going that far geographically.
Nothing against the kids personally of course but the entire Spanish royal family has been riddled with major scandals including Juan Carlos and the current king’s brother in law (who went to jail). Current king and queen have some shady friendships. I think they are among the least popular royals among their own people. Most Spanish people are small r republicans. It’s very frustrating that the aforementioned constitution makes it basically impossible to get rid of them.
THANK YOU!
I came here to say something similar. I have nothing against the girls and god bless them, but monarchy is an inherently corrupt system. Most people in Spain are Republicans and don’t want a monarchy. The Spanish Royal Family are shaaaady and their people clearly don’t want them. This is just PR.
Especially when it comes to regions that would like to gain their autonomy, that view monarchy as oppressive. As well recently Catalunya experienced huge riots, because rapper was jailed for twits and lyrics agains monarchy.
His parents have no dangerous friends and his behavior is faultless. Republicans in Spain are very few. All fake. And no monarchy is far from scandals. Look UK and Harry & Meghan or Prince Andrew
“Republicans in Spain are very few” You should maybe visit Catalonia before making such statements
The girls are lovely, but… come on. The people of Spain have very clearly demonstrated they DON’T want a monarchy. This is PR. The way they’re using the girls is so shady.
I don’t know why, maybe it is because there are royal family news here sometimes, but I am growing uncomfortable by the amount of pro-monarchy sentiment in the Celebitchy comment section.
Monarchy is an inherently corrupt system. Period. It isn’t cute. It isn’t glamorous. It should be abolished worldwide and this shouldn’t be a controversial opinion to have.
You speaks for you. Spain is a country with a millenary monarchy and there are very few republicans. To speak in general is of totalitarianism. Felipe and Letizia have an impeccable demeanor and keep their history and their country together. Except for the violent separatists from the north, no one wants a communist republican system of government.