Even before this obligatory passage, the young woman was aware of her new role and her new duties, especially discretion.
It’s a birthday not quite like the others this young Spaniard has just celebrated. On Tuesday, October 31st, Princess Leonor, heiress to the Spanish crown, celebrated her 18th birthday: as tradition dictates, on the day of her birthday she took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, an essential step in becoming the successor can day as head of state of his father, King Felipe VI.
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Accompanied by her father and mother, Queen Letizia, and her sister, the Infanta Sofia, Leonor de Bourbon took the oath before the two chambers of Parliament, which met in extraordinary session, an approach adopted by her grandfather, Juan Carlos I ., in 1969 followed the Franco dictatorship, then his father in 1986 under the democratic regime.
Wearing an elegant white tuxedo, Leonor took the oath 37 years before her on the same copy of the Constitution as her father, under his father’s tender gaze, in the presence of the Queen and before the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Francina Armengol. “I swear to carry out my duties faithfully, to protect and ensure the Constitution and the laws, to respect the rights of citizens and autonomous communities and to be loyal to the King,” she declared, before applauding for several minutes at the half-wheel. The ruler then kissed his daughter, visibly moved.
“It means a lot to me”
Even before this compulsory passage, the young woman was aware of her new role: “I will be 18 years old on October 31st. I will have the honor of swearing allegiance to the Constitution. This means a lot to me personally and a lot institutionally. I can tell you that I understand it very well and I am aware of my duty and my responsibility,” she said on October 20 last year during the 2023 Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony.
His looks and smiles towards a fellow student during the national holiday on October 12th caused a stir. Pilar Eyre, specialist journalist, even dedicated a video to this in which she decodes Léonor’s every move: “The palace is not happy because she is credited with having a boyfriend, and that is not true, or it says: “It is true, but “It shouldn’t be.” said… But I think Leonor was impeccable that day. She had been since she was little and she read their speeches in several languages, always in an impeccable manner. She is very responsible, she is not at all arrogant, I find all the qualities in her.”
The main thing is not that Leonor pleases journalists, but the Spaniards of her generation, who will be her subjects. However, the latter are considered more sensitive to the Republican option. But the fact remains that the brief ceremony – which was broadcast on several large screens in the Puerta del Sol square in the heart of Madrid as well as other locations in the Spanish capital – was watched by a crowd that gathered around Parliament. They waved Spanish flags and chanted “Long live Spain” as the royal family passed by.
King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, Leonor’s grandfather, did not attend the ceremony. After being repeatedly embroiled in scandals during the latter part of his reign, he was forced to abdicate in 2014 before going into exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020. However, at the end of the day he was due to attend a private ceremony at the United Arab Emirates Palace Pardo, a few kilometers from Madrid.