Leonor, Princess of Asturias
Leonor, Princess of Asturias (Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbon Ortiz; born 31 October 2005) is the heiress presumptive to the throne of Spain as the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
In addition to the official title Princess of Asturias, Leonor bears the historical titles of Princess of Girona, Princess of Viana, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cervera and Lady Balaguer. 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 labor. 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 baptized 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 Sofia. 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 Maria de los Rosales School in Aravaca, just outside Madrid. Her father is an alumnus of the private school and her younger sister Sofia is also enrolled there. Leonor is fluent in both Spanish and English (the latter learnt from her British nanny and also from her grandmother, Queen Sofia) and has studied Mandarin.
In September 2021, she began studying a 2-year International Baccalaureate program at the prestigious UWC Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. She graduated in May 2023, having successfully completed her studies.
In March 2023, it was announced that Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles had approved a royal decree for Leonor to begin a 3-year military training education program. In September 2023, she started her first year of training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. In preparation for her expected role as Spain's head of state, she is expected to follow in her father's footsteps with 2 further years of naval and air force training at the Naval Military School in Marin and the General Air Academy in Murcia respectively.
Princess of Asturias
On 18 June 2014, King Juan Carlos signed the instrument of abdication, 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.
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, following by that her younger sister Sofia, stalled these plans. Despite a change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture for Spanish titles of nobility in 2009, as 2023 no legislation has been passed affecting the succession to the throne.
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.
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, Princess Leonor gave her first public speech, held at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, where she read the first article of the Constitution of Spain. The speech with the 40th anniversary of the constitution and her 13th birthday.
On 18 October 2019, she made her first significant speech at Princess of Asturias Awards. 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.
On 10 February 2021, it was announced that in the autumn of 2021 she would continue her secondary education at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, studying the 2-year International Baccalaureate Program.
She carried out her first public solo engagement on 24 March 2021 by attending a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the Cervantes Institute. In December 2022, Leonor visited the Spanish Red Cross headquarters in Madrid where she meet young people who volunteer with The Red Cross Youth, the youth section of the Spanish Red Cross.
In March 2022, Margarita Robles, the Spanish minister of defense, announced that, after Leonor finishes her studies in Wales, she would spent three years pursuing her military education, as Felipe did when he was heir to the throne. While attending the military academies, Leonor would renounce her salary and any money cadets receive.
On August 17 2023, Princess Leonor enrolled at the General Military Academy to begin the first of three years of military training. The princess was accompanied to her intake by her parents and her younger sister.
Leonor used both her father and her moder surnames "Borbon Ortiz."
As heir presumptive to the throne, she is the nominal chairwomen of the Princess of Asturias Foundation and the Princess Girona Foundation, although until she becomes 18, those functions are assumed by her father.
Honors
-Spain Knight of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (awarded 30 October 2015, presented 30 January 2018)
Spain: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III (10 October 2023, present 31 October 31 2023)
Titles and Styles
31 October 2005-19 June 2014: Her Royal Highness Infanta Leonor of Spain
19 June 2014-present Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Girona, Her Royal Highness The 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.
House: Bourbon-Anjou
Religion: Roman Catholic
Military Ranks
17 August 2023-present: Officer Cadet, Spanish Army
