In the month of June, many students face the university entrance exams, decisive exams for their academic future.
During this period, they must also decide what career to study, a choice that some are clear while others hesitate.
Princess Leonor, at 18, is not in this situation, as she seems to have already decided that she will study engineering in the future, thus distancing herself from the academic decisions of her parents.
If the heiress to the Spanish throne had followed the usual path in these cases, she would have had to choose her career last year, as she then concluded her international baccalaureate studies at a boarding school in Wales, where her sister, the 17-year-old Infanta Sofia, is currently studying.
However, as part of an educational plan specially designed for her, the daughter of King Felipe VI, 56, is completing her first year at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. She will then move on to the Navy and finally the Air Force.
Princess Leonor’s Academic Training
At the end of her first and only year in the Army, the Princess of Asturias still has two years of intense military training ahead of her to acquire the necessary knowledge in various fields for her future role as head of state. However, it is expected that, like her father, she will complete her education with a university degree.
The daughter of Queen Letizia, 51, has always shown a special inclination for the sciences, although no one anticipated that her studies would be oriented in that direction.
Various Spanish media have indicated that the princess would lean towards an engineering degree, although it is not yet specified which one.
Leonor’s Decision: A Turnaround from her Parents
This choice would mark a significant difference within the royal family. Various sources suggest that it would be logical for her to follow in her father’s footsteps.
Both studied at the same school, Santa María de los Rosales. After that, the Princess of Asturias went to Wales, while the monarch went to Canada. Subsequently, both returned to carry out their military training, a stage in which Leonor is currently in.
King Felipe, after his military training, opted for a law degree at the Autonomous University of Madrid. On this point, it seems that father and daughter do not coincide, since the sister of the Infanta Sofia would be betting on an engineering, instead of following the law degree that his father studied.
However, it is clear that Leonor will not follow in her mother’s footsteps. This option was never contemplated.
Letizia graduated in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid and later obtained a master’s degree, starting a successful professional career that led her to present news, until her relationship with the then heir to the Spanish Crown became official.
The Extraordinary Measure of Princess Leonor
The daughter of King Felipe has managed to mark a before and after in the Spanish monarchy. In addition to the closeness she has shown with her colleagues in Zaragoza, her figure represents a total renewal.
Leonor has been integrated as one more in the military center, where she has been seen in the capital of Zaragoza like any other cadet. Her colleagues even organized a surprise party for her birthday, and she herself has expressed that she will miss them when she has to leave Zaragoza.
From the beginning it was indicated that no exceptions would be made for Leonor in her foray into the Army.
The only concession has been to allow her to attend necessary institutional events. However, in this final stretch, the Princess of Asturias has received an extraordinary measure: she did not participate in guerrilla maneuvers, which involve hand-to-hand combat, so as not to damage her image.
Despite this, she was present closely observing the performance of her colleagues.