On the eve of Princess Leonor’s graduation from Zaragoza’s General Military Academy, it’s interesting to try and look forward, to attempt to analyse what awaits Spain’s future Queen.
On Wednesday, 3rd July, King Felipe will preside over the traditional ceremony during which those who have completed their education journey within the military Academy receive their diploma, and their new rank.
2024 will undoubtedly mark history, though, as, among the graduates, there will be the nation’s future sovereign, and King Felipe’s eldest daughter.
It was announced roughly a year ago that, following her graduation from UWC Atlantic, in Wales, Princess Leonor would return to Spain in order to start a three-years military training programme, that was designed specifically for her: one year in the Army, one year in the Navy, one year in the Air Force.
In mid-August 2023, she arrived in Zaragoza with her family, who, after hugging her, left her to settle in her new military life – a life at which she is reported to have excelled, both physically and academically.
After Wednesday’s graduation, she is expected to have a few weeks of holidays, before she will have to report at the Military Naval School in Marín, a whopping 6 hours drive from Madrid (or a 1h15 flight away). By contrast, Zaragoza was “only” 3 hours away by train.
Not only this, but, like all Navy cadets, it is widely presumed that the Princess will spend at least part of the year aboard the training ship, Juan Sebastián de Elcano, which will sail in waters outside of Spain.
She will be back on Spanish soil for the year 2025-2026, when she is expected to undergo her final year of military training in the General Air Academy in San Javier, a 4 hours drive away from Madrid.
It is widely reported that she will not take any gap years after her training, instead immediately signing up for university. The question on most people’s minds seems rather to be whether she will choose to remain in Spain or to instead go abroad.
So far, her path seems to have close similarities to that of Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth, who has ended her three years in Oxford and will be attending Harvard starting in the fall.
However, Princess Elisabeth only underwent one year of military training, whereas Princess Leonor will live in military circles for three.
Another interesting element to keep an eye on is the choices that will be made for Infanta Sofía. Like her older sister, she chose to attend the last 2 years of her high school education at UWC Atlantic, in Wales, and she is expected to fly back to Wales to attend her second and last year there shortly after Princess Leonor enters the Naval Academy.
However, once she finishes high school, her sister will still have one last year of military training; given that, so far, they seem to have taken the same academic path, some are starting to wonder if, in case they choose a foreign university, Infanta Sofía will opt for a gap year and wait for her sister, so as to ensure reduced expenses for their protection abroad.
In case they choose a Spanish university instead, many more scenarios open up; with pictures of Princess Leonor enjoying some time off with friends having recently made headlines all over the country, the question of privacy has taken a renewed centrality.
As for the subject the two sisters will choose, that remains a mystery, at least for now. While rumours have circulated of both of them being academically excellent, no specific inclinations have been reported, leaving everyone curious as to the choices they will make.
Will Princess Leonor follow in her father’s footsteps, like she did up until now, and choose subjects that are related to her future role? (King Felipe majored in law with a minor in economics at Madrid’s Autonomous University, and afterwards got his Master’s Degree in International Relations at Georgetown University, Washington D.C.)
Or will she decide to take a different path? Maybe she will follow her mother’s footsteps; Queen Letizia graduated from Complutense University of Madrid in Journalism.
And what will Infanta Sofía choose as her path? Will future queen Leonor part ways with her sister, as has been the case up until now (which would mean that Infanta Sofía would need to find a “regular” job)? Or will she choose to keep her sister close even as she is proclaimed monarch?
Many questions, that, for now, can only be answered with speculations; at the moment, all we can say with certainty is that if the first 10 years of King Felipe’s reign were a time of change for the institution of the Monarchy, the next 10 will be fundamentally transformative for his family.
