The heir to the Spanish throne has returned to class in very different circumstances. Princess Leonor arrived for the first day of the new academic year without the support of her mother as coronavirus pandemic restrictions meant Queen Letizia coudn’t see her first born off to school.
Leonor arrived for her first day back at the Santa Maria de los Rosales school in Madrid with her father, King Felipe VI, and her younger sister, Infanta Sofia, who is also a pupil at the college. Pandemic rules state that just one parent should accompany pupils on the school run.
King Felipe drove his daughters to the school with all three wearing masks inside their car. Princess Leonor had her temperature taken by a teacher in PPE before heading in to start classes for the first time in six months. Like older pupils across Spain, fourteen year old Leonor will find herself wearing a mask for much of her school day while a regimen of increased hand washing and social distancing will be in place as much as possible.
Infanta Sofia starts her lessons back at the school in Friday when the same rules about parental drop off will apply although it may be that Queen Letizia takes charge of this first day back.
Princess Leonor has had a high profile summer. She accompanied her parents to the national memorial for victims of coronavirus in Madrid and joined her father in laying the first flowers in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Along with Infanta Sofia, she took a leading role in engagements carried out by the family as they spent time in the Balearic Islands in August.
