AGI – Heir to the Spanish Throne, lPrincess Eleonora of Bourbon will swear allegiance to the Constitution on October 31st. on his 18th birthday, a key event for the Spanish monarchy that will further dispel the memory of the eventful end to the reign of his grandfather Juan Carlos.
“On October 31st I will be 18 years old and will have the honor of taking the oath to the Constitution. I am aware of my duty and responsibility,” he said the Princess of Asturias, her official title.
Once this oath is taken, he becomes heir to the Spanish crown will be able to constitutionally succeed his father, King Felipe VI. at the head of the state and the armed forces. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in front of the two chambers of Parliament, which have met in an extraordinary session, in the presence of the most important representatives of the state.
© MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP
Princess Eleonora of Bourbon
It is a rite of passage prepared long ago by his grandfather Juan Carlos I in 1969 – who was named his successor by the dictator Francisco Franco, who died six years later – and then in 1986 by his father Felipe VI Juan Carlos, revered in Spain for facilitating the democratic transition beginning in 1975, saw his popularity plummet after embarrassing revelations emerged about the dubious origins of his wealth, his extramarital affairs and his lavish lifestyle. The scandals forced him to abdicate in 2014 and into exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
The judicial investigations against him have now been discontinued, not because his innocence has been proven, but because they were time-barred or fell under the immunity that he enjoyed as head of state until 2014.
The hope of the monarchists is that Felipe VI. has restored the crown’s reputation and that Eleonora will help strengthen it. In contrast to her grandfather, Eleonora enjoys an excellent image in a country where the debate about the monarchy is ongoing. “He has “no stories, no stories” and a “normal” profile focused on his family and his studies, emphasizes the Spanish press.
The princess, who also speaks French, English and Catalan and is learning Basque and Galician, attended a private school in Madrid, Colegio Santa Maria de los Rosales, before going to UWC Atlantic College in Wales, where she completed high school .
As per tradition, he began his one-year military training at the Army Academy in August, which he continued with a year of training in the Air Force and another year in the Navy.
Following in his father’s footsteps, he will study at a public university in Spain before enrolling in a prestigious foreign university to obtain a master’s degree in international relations. In the case of Philip VI. it was Georgetown University in Washington.
The representatives of the Basque, Catalan and Galician independence parties, who are republican in orientation and never attend meetings with the king, and a part of the radical left, hostile to the monarchy, They will boycott the ceremony.
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