Spanish Royal Family Summer Holidays 2017 - 2022


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The question was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" (as it is asked in Spanish when expecting a profession as an answer, as far as I as a foreign language speaker of Spanish know - feel free to correct me if that isn't true!), not "what do you want to study?" or "what is your favorite subject at school?"

For most 14 year-olds that may be easy enough to answer (though many would probably say I don't know), it is precisely because Leonor is an heir to the throne and the Spanish monarchy is in such a precarious situation that this is in fact a very loaded question. And the fact that she was unsure what to answer does not show her ineptitude but her awareness of the situation in my opinion.

There would have been no right answer. If her dream was to become a doctor, she could not say so. If she thinks it is wonderful to be Spain's future Queen or even if she would personally prefer a different life, "I want to be Queen" or even "It will be my honour to one day serve as Spain's Queen" could be perceived as too arrogant when she will only be Queen if the Spanish people wish for it to be so, and that is in doubt right now.

I think what is perceived as Leonor's shyness is probably a result of the great pressure that she is under, the huge cautiousness that is expected of her, the perfection. She of all people is expected to be the one heir who does not make even the smallest of mistakes, because her throne is in danger like no other, but then, at age 14, that cautiousness is not supposed to show even a little?

It's not even like she is thaat shy. She smiles, she waves, she shakes hands (or did pre-corona) and talks to strangers all the time. It's not like she is literally hiding behind her mother, refusing to approach people, open her mouth or look at the cameras. There is some cautiousness to her demeanor but to me, that is no indication at all that she will be a shy Queen. She is 14, only 14, there is still a lot of time for her to grow, grow up, make new and different experiences at school, university, perhaps with the military and at royal engagements. I also hope that she will get the chance to have some fun with friends and be carefree.

These girls are also performing more royal engagements than any of the other Royal European teenagers, I don't know why they are judged so harshly on here.
 
It's not only about Leonor not answering but Letizia stepping in the - typical - way she did, with a jibe or a provocation. She could have said something nice, done a counterquestion etc but to say “It's what she has to be when she grows up, not what she wants to be,” imo shows a lot of frustration or bitterness towards Leonor's future world, that has caused Letizia so many nightmares that her daughter cannot escape from, because she is not free to do what she likes.
 
Princess_Eleanor said:
The question was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" (as it is asked in Spanish when expecting a profession as an answer, as far as I as a foreign language speaker of Spanish know - feel free to correct me if that isn't true!), not "what do you want to study?" or "what is your favorite subject at school?"
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I wish I could see the footage to understand the context better, but if the question was indeed "What do you want to be when you grow up?", then it is indeed a tricky question for her.



I take that type of question to mean what job you would like to have when you are an adult (i.e. whether one wants to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, etc.) . Remember when Prince William, I think, when he was a teenager, inadvertently said he didn't want to be king and what the reaction to that statement was. If Leonor had mentioned any specific "job" , there could be a similar reaction and there is in fact no job Leonor could mention that would adequately answer that question.



Even if Leonor had answered that she just wanted to be "a good queen" , that is not up to her to say now because, whereas she will probably be queen one day, she does not control the timing thereof and there is a nonzero probability, however small, that she might never be queen (Prince Charles is 71 and is not king yet). In any case, she will have "grown up" probably long before she is queen and, in between, her adult life job will be that of Princess of Asturias, which she already is legally and has been since 2014.


If the question was instead "what do you want to do" rather than "be", then I guess there could be multiple possible answers, such as "I want to help people", "I want to go to university and spend some time in the military" , or something like that, but, "what do you want to be" is rather difficult to answer on the fly. Maybe she could have said something harmless and funny like "a gold medallist" (after all, many relatives of hers, including her father when he was prince, were olympic athletes), but it is unlikely she would think of that.
 
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Princess_Eleanor said:
These girls are also performing more royal engagements than any of the other Royal European teenagers, I don't know why they are judged so harshly on here.
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I agree. Among the underage heirs, Leonor, along with Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, are the ones who perform more royal engagements. For a 14 year old, she has accomplished a lot. At that age, I still played with Lego and never did speeches or greeted thousands of strangers. She is doing fairly fine so far, and not answering a question shows how aware she is of the implications her answer could bring. She played it safe and for a very good reason.


As for Letizia, that's a different matter. She could've said it with other words. Her response was harsh and cold. She could've mentioned the vacations, or school, or future university plans. Something trivial but not too harsh.
 
kathia_sophia said:
I agree. Among the underage heirs, Leonor, along with Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, are the ones who perform more royal engagements. For a 14 year old, she has accomplished a lot. At that age, I still played with Lego and never did speeches or greeted thousands of strangers. She is doing fairly fine so far, and not answering a question shows how aware she is of the implications her answer could bring. She played it safe and for a very good reason.


As for Letizia, that's a different matter. She could've said it with other words. Her response was harsh and cold. She could've mentioned the vacations, or school, or future university plans. Something trivial but not too harsh.
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Exactly! Whenever I read criticism of Leonor, I think of myself at 14 and if she is considered shy, I must have been something else :whistling: 14 is so young, there is plenty of time to accomplish things still and as you say, she has already accomplished so much. ?

I agree that Letizia's response sounded rude and it was just not the right thing to say in a room full of disadvantaged kids from a social project. Being the heir in a monarchy that is in danger of being abolished and a country so divided is not at all easy and I don't envy Leonor one bit. But to make it sound so burdensome in front of teenagers from a disadvantaged background... is just not a good idea. To them, Leonor's life must seem wonderfully privileged and fairytale perfect.

I think Letizia was in a bad mood? Apparently she also responded "I can't hear you" when a reporter outside asked where Juan Carlos was?
 
Letizia wasn't wrong in saying what she did, though. That's mostly what being royal is. Consider exhibit A: in the last few days Grandpa JC has done what he wants and is now causing untold embarrassment to everybody. You can't blame Letizia if wanting to emphasize that Leonor knows her duty is to Spain – and she is darn well going to do it come hell, high water, or anything else she wants – was uppermost in her mind. Yes, she could have said something lighter or friendlier but maybe that's not the mood any of them are in right now.
 
Prinsara said:
Letizia wasn't wrong in saying what she did, though. That's mostly what being royal is. Consider exhibit A: in the last few days Grandpa JC has done what he wants and is now causing untold embarrassment to everybody. You can't blame Letizia if wanting to emphasize that Leonor knows her duty is to Spain – and she is darn well going to do it come hell, high water, or anything else she wants – was uppermost in her mind. Yes, she could have said something lighter or friendlier but maybe that's not the mood any of them are in right now.
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To confront people with your mood is not the royal way, Felipe would never have made such a comment, he was too well groomed for that by his mother.
 
Great to see that she is spending time with her best friend (and second cousin).
 
Really lovely to see queen Sofia with Princesses Irene and Tatiana!
 
Lipe said:
He's too old to be Tatiana's son.
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I'm talking about the man in the white blouse. He don't look old to me. I think Tatiana's son is little younger than Philip VI.
 
Alexis is 50 years of age (turning 51 in November); so I agree that the man in the picture could be their son.
 
Somebody said:
Alexis is 50 years of age (turning 51 in November); so I agree that the man in the picture could be their son.
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He looks older than 50 or 51 to me, but looks can be deceptive.
 
kathia_sophia said:
I think Leonor's oath will be somewhat similar but at the same time it won't. Summing up, Leonor's first speech at Princess of Asturias Awards was different from Felipe's first speech. He lacked emotion, never looked properly to the audience, and it was boring. Leonor's speech was a great improvement from her father's speech. Likewise, I think Leonor's oath will be more "lively" and with more "emotion", at least, let's hope so.


I do think Leonor is better prepared than her father was when he was her age. He was more bored with it all. Felipe has improved a lot over the years, and so will Leonor. I believe she will be a great crown princess and eventually queen.
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Boys are different from girls (sounds obvious, but it is meaningful, especially in a certain age bracket).

Leonor so far has looked like a Disney princess, but I am not sure that is what Spain needs at the moment. I look forward to seeing how she will be as an adult.
 
Bravo to queen Sofía its more news stories and images like this that the SRF badly need .
 
I was wondering f we'd see Queen Sofia and her sister shortly in Mallorca :previous:
 
King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía arrive in Mallorca

https://www.diariodemallorca.es/sociedad/2021/07/31/reyes-mallorca-55734648.html

August 1. Queen Letiza attends the closing gala of the 11th edition of the "Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest"

August 2. King Felipe receives the authorities of the Balearic Islands at Almudaina Palace

August 3. King Felipe receives the President of the Government at Marivent Palace

August 4. King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía visit the Interpretation Center of the Sierra de Tramontana Natural Park and the Lluc Sanctuary

August 7. King Felipe presents the trophies of the sailing regatta "39th Copa del Rey-Mapfre".


The king is expected to participate in the regatta at some point, but there are doubts that the family will visit the Nautical Club as in other years due to Covid restrictions.
 
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Wonderful to see the RF presence on Mallorca for the annual summer holidays
 
 
The king has had a very busy couple of weeks and hopefully he'll have some time for relaxation too.
 
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