While much attention has been paid to the business of the British throne, Spain’s Royal family had some news of their own on Tuesday. In a pompous ceremony held in the parliament’s Congress of Deputies, Princess Leonor swore allegiance to the country’s constitution upon her 18th birthday.
The occasion marked Leonor’s coming of age—she is first in line to the throne and is expected to ascend after her father King Felipe VI, barring the unlikely occurrence the King has a son before then (changing Spain’s constitution to allow ascension of the first-born child regardless of gender is an ongoing but complicated process). The Crown Princess vowed to fulfill her duties and swore the same oath that her father did in 1986.
In a short speech following the ceremony, she said she will “faithfully carry out my duties, to keep and uphold the Constitution and the laws and respect the rights of citizens and the autonomous communities and loyalty to the King.” She continued, “From here forward, my duty is to all Spaniards, who I will serve in each moment with respect and loyalty. I ask you to place your trust in me, just as I have all my confidence placed in the future of our nation.”
Leonor was joined by her immediate family—father King Felipe VI, mother Queen Letizia, and sister Princess Sofía—as well as a range of military and government officials. She wore a crisp white suit for the occasion and was later bestowed the Collar of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos II by her father—an honorary necklace exclusive to members of the Spanish royal family and heads of state and government. Her choice of a white suit was also symbolic. The color is often regarded as a symbol of purity and peace.
The Princess, who started a 3-year education at the General Military Academy in August after completing high school in Wales, is widely regarded as the modern face of the Spanish monarchy. However, the family’s national popularity is hard to gauge. Given recent scandals—mainly involving her grandfather, the former King Juan Carlos (who went into exile abroad after financial controversies)—the country’s polling body stopped asking its citizens their opinions of the family in 2015.
Representatives and lawmakers from leftist and regional political parties boycotted the event as they prefer a republic not a monarchy. However Spain’s president, Pedro Sánchez, upheld his commitment to the monarchy in a statement posted to X (despite some push back from some of his top ministers). “With Princess Leonor’s oath, Spain today reaffirms the strength of its institutions and of its democracy, which is based on the constitutional principles of coexistence, equality, liberty and political pluralism,” he said.
