The photos of Princess Leonor enjoying a day at the beach in Uruguay, during her voyage aboard the ship Juan Sebastián Elcano, have generated more media buzz than concern at the Zarzuela Palace.
While the Spanish press dissected every square centimeter of the images, it seems the royal family has chosen to remain calm.
Leonor, who landed in Chile on Friday, has not publicly reacted to the publication of the photos. According to royalty expert Pilar Eyre, Queen Letizia appears to be following the same strategy.
Queen Letizia’s reaction to Leonor’s bikini photos
“Letizia and Felipe have not minded at all that the photos have come to light,” Eyre assures.
“At no time was there any intention to stop their publication. If they had wanted to, they would have done so. They have a lot of power.”
Eyre, who is well-acquainted with the monarchy and life at the Palace, argues that it is positive to see Leonor as a normal young woman,
“I much prefer seeing Leonor with her friends having a beer or walking in a shopping mall, like a normal girl, than seeing her in uniform, listening to patriotic hymns,” she told Lecturas magazine.
Additionally, the journalist highlights a sexist element in the uproar caused.
She recalls that when the then Prince Felipe made the same trip aboard the Elcano and was photographed on the beach, the reaction was much more subdued.
According to Eyre, the controversy is partly due to the fact that the protagonist of the images is a woman.
Finally, the expert offers a hypothesis: the seriousness displayed by King Felipe VI in recent days might be more related to the latest scandals involving his father, King Juan Carlos, than to the beach photos of his eldest daughter.
It seems that at Zarzuela, they prefer to focus on real problems, allowing Leonor to enjoy her youth with the naturalness befitting the future queen of Spain.