The Spanish Crown Princess Leonor took the oath of allegiance a good seven weeks after beginning her military training. At the ceremony at the military academy in Zaragoza on Saturday, the 17-year-old was sworn in along with over 400 other soldiers. When the Crown Princess, in her dress uniform, was the first to kiss the Spanish flag, mother Letizia was very moved, as the cameras of the TV station RTVE showed. The recruits had previously been welcomed by Leonor’s father, King Felipe VI.
Leonor began her military training in Zaragoza on August 17th. The Spanish Ministry of Defense said that it will be trained in all three branches of the armed forces (army, navy and air force) by 2026. After the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, which is the Spanish equivalent of the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, she will attend the Naval School and complete her training at the General Air Academy. It was said that the Crown Princess would forego her monthly salary of 400 euros. She is housed in accommodation with up to twelve other students.
In July, Leonor said on the sidelines of an awards ceremony that she was looking forward to becoming a cadet soon. “I have just graduated from high school and am now starting a new stage with military training. I am happy because I know how much the Spanish value our armed forces. It is an important moment in my life and I am very excited and determined to keep learning and do my best,” she said.
Leonor will come of age on October 31st. She had already left the royal residence Palacio de la Zarzuela northwest of Madrid in late summer 2021 to go to Wales. There she continued her schooling at the UWC Atlantic College on the south Welsh coast not far from Cardiff and completed it in the summer.
Military training in Spain’s royal family is common, not least because the king or queen also holds supreme command of the military. King Felipe also completed three years of military training between 1985 and 1988.
