The public address system of the parade on the occasion of the National Day announced that it was going to pay tribute to the fallen. The chords of Death is not the end sounded and, suddenly, the Princess of Asturias came down from the royal tribune with her father, Felipe VI, to participate in the floral offering. It was the surprise that Zarzuela and Defensa had prepared, because Leonor has participated in the parade, rigorously complying with the complicated military protocol that she has already learned after two months at the General Military Academy.

The Princess of Asturias took an important step on Thursday as Heiress of Spain. Leonor, dressed in an Army gala uniform and the Grancé beret, returned to the parade on October 12 after two years of absence due to her studies in Wales. He takes over with his sister, the Infanta Sofía, who is precisely in her first year of International Baccalaureate at the same boarding school where the Heiress was. Leonor followed the parade with interest and with knowledge of everything that was happening, fruit of the two months she has been in the AGM. In fact, some of his fellow second-rate cadets participated in the parade in the training battalion.

After the parade came the great debut of the Princess of Asturias. It premiered at the reception that the Kings offer at the Royal Palace to celebrate the national holiday. The Princess surprised when she arrived at the appointment with her gala uniform, without the Grancé beret, but without changing her clothes. It is true that the invitation asks the military to go in full uniform, but it is also true that it is a civil act in which Felipe VI himself changes the uniform of captain general for the suit. In any case, Doña Leonor preferred to continue with her uniform and the decoration of the Golden Toison around her neck.

The greeting line began. This reception is traditionally the one to which more personalities are invited, so the Princess of Asturias faced shaking more than two thousand hands. The Heiress did not lose her smile in the more than 45 minutes that the kissing lasted, attending to the specific explanations given by her parents before the greeting of some guests. It was placed to the right of the Queen, who then at the cocktail, held in several rooms of the Royal Palace, including the gala dining room or the columns, was its main support. Because undoubtedly greeting the Princess, and congratulating her in many cases, became the objective of many of the attendees.

Doña Leonor was especially embraced by the seven classmates of the Academy who were invited to the ceremony. Knights and ladies cadets from different battalions but who know the Heiress, and with whom they shared a moment of chat during the cocktail. Queen Letizia shielded her at all times, concerned about guiding her daughter in this new stage, as she has done since she was born.

Also Don Felipe, in the role of father. The King continued this Thursday with the bandage of the left hand. Last Sunday he tripped playing paddle tennis and cracked a small bone in his hand, so it will remain so for several weeks.

Doña Leonor faces a month of public exposure. She will be seen again next Thursday at the concert prior to thePrincess of Asturias Awards, which will be held on Friday at the Campoamor Theater. The appointment coincides with the October break at the UWC Atlantic College, so the Infanta Doña Sofía will advance her return to Spain by a couple of days to accompany her sister. The young woman will also be in the Congress of Deputies on October 31, when Doña Leonor swears the Constitution when she reaches the age of majority. It will be the consummation of one stage and the beginning of another, for which he is taking firm steps every day, showing that he is aware of what it implies and the new path he has to write. The thousands of hands she will shake in the Royal Palace will change, but Leonor will remain.

  • Princess Eleanor
  • Philip VI
  • Queen Letizia