The Princess of Asturias and The Infanta Sofía's News Thread, Part 2

[Emmily]

Awww...the photo of the King hugging Sofia is touching. I'm sure she's going to miss her sister immensely.

I recall an interview with Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein who commented that 16 he was a late newcomer to gis boarding school as some of his classmates started when they were 8!!!

Leonor is going to thrive and do well. Go Leo!!!

I love that photo and the one of the King saying goodbye to Leonor. So hard to say those goodbyes when they start to leave the next and it doesn't get any easier with the next one. Hoping Leonor has a wonderful experience studying and living away from home!

 

[Erin9]

Can anyone please help explain why this particular school seems so popular for various foreign royals? (Though I don’t think for the British ones, interestingly.)

Good luck to both Leonor and Alexia in this new and exciting time.

 

[Somebody]

I guess it started with king Willem-Alexander who had a good time there and spread the word among his colleagues?!

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

Did the Spanish RF do a photo shoot this summer? If so I guess I missed it!

Leonor looks very grounded and very well loved by her family. What an exciting adventure for her!

 

[kathia_sophia]

Did the Spanish RF do a photo shoot this summer? If so I guess I missed it!

Leonor looks very grounded and very well loved by her family. What an exciting adventure for her!

I don't think they've done a photo shoot since the pandemic started. Instead, the girls participate with their parents during official events in Mallorca (and we see informal pictures of them going to the regattas or having dinner at a local restaurant).

 

[Somebody]

I don't think they've done a photo shoot since the pandemic started. Instead, the girls participate with their parents during official events in Mallorca (and we see informal pictures of them going to the regattas or having dinner at a local restaurant).

They did their yearly photoshoot/outing on Mallorca. This year they went to Escora.

 

[Erin9]

I guess it started with king Willem-Alexander who had a good time there and spread the word among his colleagues?!

Thanks. That’s a good possibility.

 

[Curryong]

The weather in the vale of Glamorgan is certainly different to Mallorca. The castle buildings and grounds look to die for, but in cold weather those wintry winds blowing in from the Atlantic, brrrrh. And Wales, a beautiful country, is unfortunately also a very rainy one.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Yes I thought of the weather it will be a lot cooler in Wales than the normally warm Madrid!

 

[Alisa]

Cute comparison of Leonor off to school and her father off to school at the same age.
It would have been cool if Leonor followed her father's footsteps and went to Lakefield.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTSFBGsvyJd/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

I hope Leonor enjoys this special time and makes some lasting friendships - she wont have much freedom in her life after that. I am sure she will have security and probably a tutor with her, wasnt this the case with Felipe?

 

[Mbruno]

I hope Leonor enjoys this special time and makes some lasting friendships - she wont have much freedom in her life after that. I am sure she will have security and probably a tutor with her, wasnt this the case with Felipe?

What kind of tutor would that be exactly (or was exactlly in her father's case)?

 

[Blog Real]

What kind of tutor would that be exactly (or was exactlly in her father's case)?

I think it's someone who takes responsibility for her and guides her while she's abroad. I know Felipe had a tutor when he studied in Canada. Leonor do not know.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

I recall too that Felipe had a tutor with him, probably to keep him up to date in matters of State, what is happening in Spain, military matters etc, something that could be done online today but not in 1985. Maybe today the role of a tutor is more of a governess/teacher/confidante. I am sure Leonor will continue to learn stuff from the Crown‘s Agenda in addition to her school term.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Hopefully we'll get a photo of Leonor and Alexia ay some stage!

 

[eya]

First day at School for Infanta Sofia today


https://josepgegundez.photoshelter....hool-Course/G0000bIIHWvKGHBA/C000068aKG.mLQJ0

https://www.semana.es/corazon/sido-...a-hermana-princesa-leonor-20210910-002388710/

https://www.hola.com/realeza/casa_e...nfanta-sofia-vuelta-cole-sin-princesa-leonor/

https://www.rexfeatures.com/set/12437489

 

[Somebody]

No photoshoot this time? Is it because the heir is no longer with her; so previously she was just an 'add-on'? Or is it due to Covid (but her sister's leave was documented)?

 

[Blog Real]

No photoshoot this time? Is it because the heir is no longer with her; so previously she was just an 'add-on'? Or is it due to Covid (but her sister's leave was documented)?

There was not always a photo shoot of Leonor and Sofia's first day of class. In just a few years there was.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I don't think there was one last year either due to Covid-19 restrictions.

 

[BriarRose]

There was no formal photoshoot last year, and parents were not allowed to walk their students inside last year either. There were similar photos last year of Leonor walking in by herself, as her grade level started first. Sofia had a different start date (the school was staggering opening days across grade levels.) Then Leanor's class was quarantined, and it wasn't clear if Sofia's start day was affected.

There is also a strong possibility that Sofia did not want to be photographed, and just wanted to be a normal girl on her first day of school.

Though I of course enjoy first day of school pictures, I think it's very intrusive to the royal children, and I would support any royal child that doesn't want to participate.

 

[AnaC]

There has only been formal photoshoots on their first day at a new school, first day of nursery school, first day of primary school etc...
But the press waits for them on the first day and takes this kind of picture every year.

Queen Letizia opened Madrid Book Fair last week and among the authors she met was Roberto Santiago. They had previously met in 2016 at a children and young adult literary awards. It turns out that he's one of Infanta Sofia's favorite authors.

"I had the pleasure of meeting Queen Letizia five years ago. She was the one who gave me the prize 'El Barco de Vapor' in a very emotional ceremony, in which she congratulated me on my novel, which she herself had read. Then I have met Her Majesty on other occasions, in which she has let me know that Princess Leonor and, above all, Infanta Sofía, were avid readers of my collection Los futbolísimos ", he told us."

For this reason, Roberto experienced their meeting with such emotion during the opening of the Book Fair. "She reiterated that the Infanta had read practically the entire saga and that she was a big fan. She also asked me about other works of mine. And, as always, she showed that she is a great reader and that she has a huge commitment to the book sector", confesses the writer and scriptwriter from Madrid, who admits that it makes him "very happy that the Princess and the Infanta have inherited that taste for reading and, of course, that among the works they have chosen are my dear Los futbolísimos, which are novels with very important values, such as equality, empathy with the weakest or teamwork "

https://www.hola.com/realeza/casa_e...anta-sofia-roberto-santiago-los-futbolisimos/

 

[Blog Real]

According to this article from ¡HOLA! Princess Leonor met the UWC Atlantic College by Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, until now it was not known that they knew each other. It was Leonor who sought information about the school and decided that she wanted to study there.

Sources close to the Royal Family tell ¡HOLA! that it was not the Kings who chose this school, but Leonor herself: “It was her daughter who made the decision, although with the support of Don Felipe and Doña Letizia, who also wanted, as they said in their statement, that she live 'a stimulating and transformative educational experience'”. “Her parents have always been behind her, but respecting what the princess of Asturias wanted, a young woman with her feet on the ground. The princess got to know the center through Elisabeth of Belgium - until now, it was not known that the two future Queens were related either - she was curious, she looked for information and became enthusiastic about the idea of being able to enter the institution. Even though she had to wait until she was old enough to start chasing her dream”.

https://www.hola.com/realeza/casa_espanola/20210916304723/princesa-leonor-primeros-dias-gales/

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Well, I doubt this is the whole story. Due to the closeness to UWC (Felipe is a patron for the Spanish branch, Sofia went to Salem etc) it was a logical choice for Leonor to attend a Kurt Hahn school, the founder of UWC. Maybe it helped that Elisabeth gave good reviews and Leonor was certainly going to have a say in what school she is supposed to attend, but of course only within the boundaries of what makes sense. And UWC Atlantic makes a lot of sense. It was always expected that Leonor will follow into the footsteps of her father and finish school abroad.

 

[Blog Real]

Princess Leonor celebrates her 16th birthday in Madrid

Princess Leonor turns 16 this Sunday. She and she does it at the Zarzuela Palace, where today she will blow out the candles with her family before embarking on the journey back to Wales. Tomorrow she will resume classes at UWC Atlantic College after finishing the week of vacation that the school has given to all of her students.

https://www.abc.es/gente/abci-princesa-leonor-celebra-16-cumpleanos-madrid-202110310947_noticia.html

 

[Blog Real]

Princess Leonor will return to Spain on December 10
https://monarquia.elconfidencialdig...roximo-10-diciembre/20211130181458070476.html

 

[Mbruno]

Princess Leonor will return to Spain on December 10
https://monarquia.elconfidencialdig...roximo-10-diciembre/20211130181458070476.html

Interesting. The article says that, after finisihing her studies in Wales, Leonor will attend the Military Academy in Zaragoza like her father. I guess that has already been decided then.


The article also claims that, unlike Alexia, Leonor did not take part in queer week or the climate change protests because those events were considered "political".

 

[Muhler]

And no doubt a good idea that she stayed clear of these two events.

Alexia might get away with it, but an Heir?

It will be most interesting to see what kind of military education she will have and what kind of affiliation she will have with the military.

The Military Academy in Zaragoza. - Does that suggest a basic military education, ending up in her graduating as first lieutenant?
Or is it more a kind of cadet-high school for potential future officers? That is a high school with emphasis on discipline and the students being uniformed.

 

[janelarn]

And no doubt a good idea that she stayed clear of these two events.

Alexia might get away with it, but an Heir?

It will be most interesting to see what kind of military education she will have and what kind of affiliation she will have with the military.

The Military Academy in Zaragoza. - Does that suggest a basic military education, ending up in her graduating as first lieutenant?
Or is it more a kind of cadet-high school for potential future officers? That is a high school with emphasis on discipline and the students being uniformed.

https://ejercito.defensa.gob.es/unidades/Zaragoza/agm/
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia_General_Militar_(Zaragoza)

Going to the "Military Academy of Zaragoza" means starting in the land army like his father did, not that this is his complete training.
Anyway, when Leonor turns 18 we will be in a complicated electoral period, if the elections are not brought forward, and it is assumed that the passage through the army must be agreed with the government in power.
I do not think that King Felipe thinks of anything other than that Leonor goes through the three academies: Land, Sea and Air ... starting, as he himself did in Zaragoza

Later, she would go to the Naval Military School in Marín, Pontevedra (and could board the Juan Sebastián Elcano) and finish at the General Air Academy in San Javier, Murcia.
They are the three academies for officers of the Army of Land, Sea and Air.
And he would follow the same order as his father, King Philip.

 

[Muhler]

That's gonna be interesting to follow.

Looks so far like she is following a very traditional path for Spanish heirs, even though she's female. Which could otherwise mean that she might go a slightly different route.

 

[A-Bik]

Isn't she too young?