Heir Force! Princess Leonor Debuts Military Uniform At Spanish National Day Celebrations

Princess Leonor of Spain debuted her Air Force uniform as she joined her family for the Spanish National Day celebrations on Sunday.

Leonor, 19, was accompanied by her parents Queen Letizia52, and King Felipe, 57, and her sister Infanta Sofia, 18, at the formal reception at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid.

The national day festivities, which were led by the Royal Family – and notably the king – included a number of activities.

King Felipe and his wife and daughters gathered to watch a procession, before then greeting dignitaries and taking them to the royal residence.

While all eyes were, as ever, on the whole family, many were interested in seeing Princess Leonor, who has been increasing her public profile in recent times – even making her first official visit to the parliament building the Palacio del Gobierno de Navarra last month.

Leonor (who remains as heir to the throne so long as her parents don’t give birth to a son, as Spanish law still favours male primogeniture when it comes to the crown and its succession) looked every inch the Air Force cadet in her smart uniform.

She wore dark blue trousers and a matching jacket, with well-polished patent shoes, white gloves, and peaked uniform cap.

Meanwhile, the Queen was typically stylish in a green boatneck midi-length frock, paired with low heeled, pointed black sling backs, a coordinated slim belt, and handbag.

Making a trip back to her home nation from Portugal, where she is currently studying, Infanta Sofia of Spain opted for a navy frock with white polka dots, and a navy cape.

Sofia made her debut at the palace portion of the day on Sunday, after turning 18 earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Leonor is currently undergoing her three-year military training: she embarked on her final year earlier this month.

As she is the heir to the throne, Leonor will one day take the title of Commander in Chief of the armed forces, alongside being the Queen of Spain, and therefore has to spend time in each section of defence.

She spent her first year of training with the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, before completing her naval training this summer.

In January, she boarded the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, a Spanish Navy training ship.

Then, in June, the royal and her fellow cadets arrived in New York on board the vessel.

Leonor was not reported to have taken the ship back to Spain, instead returning by plane to board the Spanish Navy guided missile frigate Blas de Lezo, where she was scheduled to complete an essential part of her naval training.

The royal looked every inch a poised naval cadet as she arrived in the States, blending, in her crisp white uniform complete with black insignia.

She took off her hat and saluted onlookers as she stood proudly aboard the ship as it arrived in the US.

The royal started her aeronautical training after arriving at the General Air and Space Academy in San Javier on September 1.

A message written in the Academy’s Book of Honour by Leonor said: ‘Today I begin the third stage of my military training at this General Air and Space Academy. I look forward with enthusiasm to this course, during which I will have the opportunity to begin my aeronautical training and, alongside my classmates, learn the practical and theoretical aspects of military aviation.’

After being found ‘flight fit’ before the Summer, the princess is taking a number of theoretical classes, before she takes to the skies – with reports saying that by Christmas, it’s estimated that she will have started flying.

The 19-year-old has been honing her skills to become queen from a young age and is believed to speak four languages.

In addition, she has learned how to play tennis, sail, perform gymnastics and play the cello.

And the composed princess gave her first public speech in 2018 when she was just 13 years old to mark the 40th anniversary of the Spanish constitution.

After King Felipe read the law’s preamble, he was joined on stage by his eldest daughter who confidently read the first of the 169 articles of Spain’s Carta Magna. He pulled his daughter into a hug once she had finished her delivery.