20-year-old set to become Queen of Spain for first time in 150 years
Topics: Royal Family, World News, News, Europe
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
Topics: Royal Family, World News, News, Europe
A 20-year-old is set to become the Queen of Spain for the first time in 150 years.
Princess Leonor of Spain, the daughter of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, is set to become the European nation’s first Queen Regnant since her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Isabella II, way back when in the 1800s.
There's a pretty interesting history regarding the Spanish royal family, indeed.
The Spanish throne has been held by the Bourbon family since the early 18th century. Their claim was secured after the War of the Spanish Succession, when the Bourbons defeated the rival Habsburgs and took control of the crown.
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In 1975, after nearly 40 years of Franco’s dictatorship, King Juan Carlos I restored the monarchy and steered Spain towards democracy. He abdicated in June 2014 in favour of his son, Felipe, who became king at the age of 46.
Felipe went on to marry Letizia, a former journalist, in 2004, and she became queen at 42.
They have two daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias and heir to the throne, born in 2005, and 18-year-old Infanta Sofia, born in 2007.
Now, by law, Spain's reigning monarch is required to train with the Army, Navy and Air Force as part of their education to assume the throne.
Leonor, who began her higher education by completing an International Baccalaureate diploma at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, has already started her military training as Spain’s future Commander-in-Chief.
She began Army training in Zaragoza in August 2023, joining a class of 560 cadets, and, in 2024, she moved to naval training in Galicia, then spent 140 days at sea aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, where she worked as a member of the crew.
The 17,000-mile voyage took her across the Atlantic, around South America and up to New York.
After a short stint on the warship Blas de Lezo, she rejoined the Elcano for its final return to Cádiz in July.
Leonor, who was welcomed in San Javier, Murcia during her military training at the Air Force and Space Academy, is set to receive an institutional honour from Murcia in the coming months: the Gold Medal of the Region of Murcia.
According to Euro Weekly News, the Gold Medal is the highest distinction that can be awarded by the region.
Such an accolade will no doubt be considered a major milestone for the Gen Z heir, who is set to become Commander-in-Chief of the country’s Armed Forces.