Leonor, Princess of Asturias (; born 31 October 2005) is the

heiress presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the

Spanish throne The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

. She is the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Leonor was born during the reign of her paternal grandfather,

King Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

. She was educated at Santa María de los Rosales School, like her father; after finishing her secondary studies, she studied for an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

at the UWC Atlantic College in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, United Kingdom. On 17 August 2023, Leonor joined the General Military Academy to start her 3-year military education. In 2014, following her father's ascension to the throne after the abdication of her grandfather, Leonor was granted all the traditional titles of the heir to the Spanish crown, these are

Princess of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the Spanish Crown. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978: The title originated in 1388, when King John I of Castile gr ...

Princess of Girona 200px, Shield of Princes of Girona The Prince or Princess of Girona (, ) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. The title was historically accorded to the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Crown of Aragon. Current legisl ...

Princess of Viana The Prince or Princess of Viana (, ) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. Other associated titles originate from the rest of the kingdoms that formed Spain: Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of ...

Duchess of Montblanc Duke or Duchess of Montblanc (, ) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. It is a Spanish title which since the 15th century has been preserved as one of the titles of the heir apparent to, first, the Aragonese crown and, later an ...

Countess of Cervera The title Count or Countess of Cervera (, ) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. Its current holder is Leonor, Princess of Asturias, heiress to Felipe VI. Cervera is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Segarra, in the province o ...

, and

Lady of Balaguer Lord or Lady of Balaguer (, ) is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. It is a title historically held by the person first in line to the Kingdom of Majorca, a part of the Crown of Aragon. The current holder is Princess Leonor, el ...

. Leonor was formally proclaimed heir before the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

on 31 October 2023, her 18th birthday. Should Leonor ascend to the throne as expected, she will be Spain's first

queen regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...

since her fourth great-grandmother

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

, who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

Early life and education

Leonor was born on 31 October 2005 at 01:46, three weeks before her due date, to Felipe and Letizia, then the Prince and Princess of Asturias, during the reign of her paternal grandfather,

, in the Ruber International Hospital in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

using a

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

necessitated by non-progression of labour. As the daughter of the heir apparent, she was an

infanta Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

and the second in the

line of succession to the Spanish throne Succession to the Spanish throne follows male-preference cognatic primogeniture. A dynast who marries against the express prohibition of the monarch and the Cortes Generales, the legislative chamber of Spain, is excluded from the succession. Up ...

. Her birth was announced by the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

to the press via

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

. Shortly after her birth, Leonor's umbilical cord stem cells were sent to a blood bank in Tucson, Arizona. This decision sparked public debate in Spain, as the blood bank was private and located abroad. Leonor left the Ruber International Hospital with her parents on 7 November 2005. She was baptised in the Zarzuela Palace by the archbishop of Madrid,

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Antonio Rouco Varela, on 14 January 2006. Like her father, Leonor was baptised – with water from the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

– 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 Sofía Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

. She received the name of Leonor de Todos los Santos. During her early months, Leonor developed a small angioma, a benign tumor of blood vessels, on her nose. The angioma, which was visible during her baptism, was initially mistaken for a scratch. According to medical sources, such angiomas are common in newborns and typically disappear within a year or year and a half without the need for surgery. Despite media speculation about potential surgery, sources close to the Royal Family confirmed that no such procedure was ever considered, and the angioma disappeared within months. Leonor's education began at Escuela Infantil Guardia Real, the daycare for the children of the

Spanish Royal Guard The Royal Guard () is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish royal family. It is currently composed of 1,500 troops. While the Guard participates in ...

. She began her first year of primary school on 15 September 2008 at the Santa María de los Rosales School in

Aravaca Aravaca is a ward (''Barrio'') of the city of Madrid, in Moncloa-Aravaca district. It is from the city centre, on the other side of Casa de Campo park. The population of the barrio is 29,547 (January 2006), divided into three areas: Aravaca ...

, Madrid. Leonor was reported to have good grades during her studies in Rosales. In September 2021, Leonor began studying a 2-year

program at the UWC Atlantic College in the

Llantwit Major Llantwit Major () is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and ...

. She completed her secondary education in May 2023. Leonor also attended summer camps in the United States. She is fluent in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Catalan and English (the latter learnt from her British

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

and also from her grandmother, Queen Sofía) and has studied French, Galician,

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Military service

In preparation for her role as Spain's commander-in-chief, following her father's footsteps, Leonor is currently spending three years of

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

and

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

training at the General Military Academy in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, the Naval Military Academy in Marín and the General Air Academy in

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, respectively. In this sense, in March 2023, the

minister of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Margarita Robles María Margarita Robles Fernández (; born 10 November 1956 in León) is a Spaniards, Spanish judge and politician, currently serving as Ministry of Defence (Spain), Minister of Defence since June 2018. From November 2019 to January 2020, she s ...

, announced that the government had approved a

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

for Leonor to begin a 3-year

military training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

education program. Leonor chose to use both of her parents surnames "Borbón Ortiz" in her military career. Also, whilst attending the military academies, Leonor will renounce her salary and any money that cadets receive. On 17 August 2023, she started her first year of training at the General Military Academy in

. She received the officer's sabre on 19 September 2023. Leonor swore an oath of allegiance to the Spanish flag at the General Military Academy on 7 October 2023, in the presence of her parents. In January 2024, Leonor participated in the 24th Sports Championship of Military Academies for Officers, competing in fencing and volleyball as one of the representatives of the General Military Academy. Her team won a silver medal in the mixed team

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

competition. In June 2024, she closed the maneuver practices of the army training in the mountains of Navaleno and San Leonardo de Yagüe in Soria province. She was trained by Colonel José Gonzálvez Vallés and Lieutenant Colonel Margarita Pardo de Santayana. Leonor was promoted to the rank of Cadet Ensign () and awarded the Grand Cross of Military Merit by her father King Felipe VI on 3 July 2024. On 23 July 2024, the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

appointed her as

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

(), preliminary step to join the Naval Military School at the end of August. On 29 August 2024, she started her naval training at the Naval Military Academy in Marín. In September 2024, Leonor and other students from the Naval School conducted seamanship instruction activities in the Pontevedra Estuary. On 8 January 2025, she boarded the training ship ''Juan Sebastián de Elcano'', beginning three days later a five-month voyage in which she trained as a sailor and visited many

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

countries, as well as

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After disembarking at this last port, the heir to the Crown returned to Spain by plane to embark for a month on the frigate ''

Blas de Lezo Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741) was a Spanish Navy officer best known for his victory at the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, where forces under his command defeated a large British invasion force u ...

'', where she will apply what she had learned and participate in naval maneuvers with live fire.

Princess of Asturias

Early years

In May 2014, Leonor made her first official visit to the San Javier Air Force base in

. On 18 June 2014, King Juan Carlos signed the Abdication Act, 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 An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

and Princess of Asturias. 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 First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

as per Catholic custom. According to the

Spanish constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...

, the succession to the Spanish throne is under a system of

male-preference cognatic primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

, 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 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 Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

, allowing for the inheritance of the eldest child, regardless of sex; however, the birth of Leonor, followed by that of her younger sister Sofía, stalled these plans. Despite a change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture for Spanish titles of nobility in 2009, as of no legislation has been passed affecting the succession to the throne. On a day before her 10th birthday, she was granted the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

by her father. In addition, the

approved the design of her personal

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

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 The Royal Palace of Madrid () is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Eu ...

. In September 2018, Leonor conducted her first public engagement outside the palace by accompanying her parents to

Covadonga Covadonga ( Asturian: ''Cuadonga'', from ''cova domnica'' "Cave of Our Lady") is one of 11 parishes in Cangas de Onís, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in Northwestern Spain. It is situated in the Picos de ...

to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the

Kingdom of Asturias The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the nobleman Pelagius who traditionally has been described as being of Visigothic stock. Modern research is leaning towards the view that Pelagius was of Hispano-Roman ...

. On 31 October 2018, Leonor gave her first public speech, held at the

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (, the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important fi ...

in Madrid, where she read the first article of the

Constitution of Spain The Spanish Constitution () is the Constitution, supreme law of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a 1978 Spanish constitutional referendum, constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the ...

. The speech coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Constitution and her 13th birthday. She made her first significant speech at Premio Princesa de Asturias on 18 October 2019. She made her first speech on 4 November 2019 at the Princess of Girona Foundation awards in Barcelona, in which she spoke in Spanish, Catalan, English and Arabic. Leonor carried out her first public solo engagement on 24 March 2021 by attending a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the

. Leonor made her first official international trip on 16 July 2022. She did it without the presence of her parents, although she was accompanied by her younger sister,

Infanta Sofía Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

. Together, they attended a match between Spain and Denmark at the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

. In December 2022, Leonor visited the Spanish Red Cross headquarters in Madrid where she met young volunteers of The Red Cross Youth, the youth section of the Spanish Red Cross.

Heir's oath

The Royal Household made public on 22 September 2023 that, as required under the

Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...

, the princess would swear allegiance to the Constitution and the King upon reaching the age of majority. This declared her as the heir to the Spanish throne. At about 11:00 (CET) on 31 October 2023, her 18th birthday, the ceremony started when the royal family left the Palace of Zarzuela and was escorted by the Royal Guard through the streets of Madrid. At the '' Palacio de las Cortes'' the royal family received state honors, and the Princess of Asturias took her oath before a joint session of the Spanish Parliament, which received her oath with an ovation of more than four minutes. After this ceremony, the royal family and the main authorities of the country went to the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

, where her father, King Felipe, awarded her with the Collar of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

, the highest civil honor in Spain. After a lunch at palace, the institutional event was over; the Royal Family held a private celebration at the

Royal Palace of El Pardo The Royal Palace of El Pardo (, ) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family and one of the oldest, being used by the Spanish monarchs since Henry III of Castile in the 15th century. The palace is owned by the Spanish governme ...

. The entire paternal and maternal family attended this private event, as well as the Greek royal family, represented by

Queen Anne-Marie Anne-Marie (; born Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid of Denmark, 30 August 1946) is a Danish princess who was Queen of Greece as the consort of King Constantine II from their marriage on 18 September 1964 until the abolition of the Greek m ...

and Princess Alexia and her husband, some members of the

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon that ruled Southern Italy and Sicily for more than a century in the 18th and 19th centuries. It descends from the Capetian dynasty in legitimate male line through Phili ...

including Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria, representatives of the Bulgarian royal family, and Princess Miriam Ghazi.

Official agenda

On 6 January 2024, Leonor attended the '' Pascua Militar'' for the first time, a more than two-centuries-old Spanish military celebration. She attended the event not just as the heir to her father, but also as member of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. In May 2024, she attended the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the oath of allegiance to the Spanish flag of the 44th promotion of the General Military Academy. On 12 July 2024, Leonor made her first official foreign visit. She was invited by Portuguese president

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic who is the president of Portugal since 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the ...

to visit the country. In this trip, Leonor, who was accompanied by the Portuguese leader, the Spanish foreign minister,

José Manuel Albares José Manuel Albares Bueno (; born 22 March 1972) is a Spanish politician and diplomat who has been serving as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Spain), Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the government of Prime Minister o ...

, and the private secretary to the king, Camilo Villarino, focused her activities on environmental protection and ocean conservation, visiting the Lisbon Oceanarium and attending a debate on ocean protection. She also visited the

Jerónimos Monastery The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery (, ) is a former monastery of the Hieronymites, Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Belém, in the Lisbon Municipality, Portugal. It became the nec ...

, where she paid tribute to the poet

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

, and later went to Belém Palace, where delegations from both countries met and had a lunch, and where President Rebelo de Sousa awarded Leonor the Grand Cross of the

Military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is a Honorific orders of Portugal, Portuguese honorific order. It is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910, it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Chr ...

. On 25 October 2024, she attended the

Princess of Asturias Awards The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

ceremony for the first time as an adult, being in charge of giving the speech to the winners and, later, declaring the event closed and convening the awards for its next edition. It was the sixth awards ceremony she attended.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

As children of the prince of Asturias, Leonor was born

and initially styled "Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Leonor". Upon her father's accession to the throne, Leonor became the

to the Spanish throne, and she inherited the traditional titles of the heir:

and

. Leonor is the 36th person to bear the title of princess of Asturias since its creation in 1388. Since then, Leonor is generally styled as "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias", although depending on the province of the country, another title may be added. For example, when visiting the territories of the former

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, she is usually titled "Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias and Girona" and, in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, she is referred as "Her Royal Highness the Princess of Asturias and Viana".

Honours

As heir to the throne, she is the nominal chairwoman of the Princess of Asturias Foundation and the Princess of Girona Foundation. However, before she turned 18, those functions were assumed by her father. Also, as is traditional for the first in line to the throne, her father invested her with the insignia (Collar, Medal and Bow) of the

(awarded 30 October 2015, presented 30 January 2018). On 10 October 2023, she was created a Dame of the Collar of the

(10 October 2023, presented 31 October 2023). On 31 October 2023, the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

granted her the Gold Medals of the Spanish parliament. On 2 July 2024, she was awarded a Grand Cross of Military Merit with White Decoration (presented 3 July 2024). On 12 July 2024, she was awarded by the President of the Portuguese Republic,

, the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gran ...

of the

Arms

Coins

On 31 October 2023, the Royal Mint of Spain minted a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silver coin Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 B ...

which depicts Leonor, to commemorate her coming of age as an emblematic event.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonor, Princess Of Asturias 2005 births Living people Daughters of kings Nobility from Madrid Spanish infantas Spanish princesses 21st-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Spanish women Princes of Asturias Dukes of Montblanc Felipe VI Princes of Viana House of Bourbon (Spain) Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain People educated at Atlantic College Heirs presumptive Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)