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While school children are enjoying their half-term breaks theses days, Leonor of Spain has had to take part in a string of official appointments. The 14-year-old left her home in Madrid to travel up north to Oviedo in the province of Asturias, where traditionally the ceremony for the Princess of Asturias Awards is being held. Together with her family King Felipe, Queen Letizia and younger sister Sófia, Leonor attended four official engagements in a row. As you can see from the list below, the schedule was packed!

• October 17: Awarding the village of Somao with the Princess of Asturias Award for the best Asturian village (+speech)
• October 16: Princess of Asturias Award ceremony (+speech)
• October 16: Reception of the winners of the Princess of Asturias Award
• October 15: Visit to “FPAbrica” (an old weapon factory)

Smiling and Speaking

Princess Leonor has been doing a marvelous job representing her country. On all four occasions she was seen smiling and speaking to the winners, the guests and the many onlookers inside and outside the venues. She waved at photographers and posed for pictures. Moreover, she delivered two speeches in front of an audience full of adults and reeling TV cameras. In the video below you can see a poised and articulate young princess delivering one of her speeches in a remarkably composed and impressive way (01:07:00). Under the proud and watchful eyes of her family, the young princess has mastered these challenges all well. It is heart-warming to see how Leonor turns to her parents for support while giving her speech. Both the King and Queen nod at her and thus boost her through her speeches. Also, her younger sister looks reassuringly at Leonor, probably relieved that she hasn’t have to do her elder sister’s “job”.

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Preparation

And a “job” it definitely is. Leonor will one day become reigning Queen of Spain and this means that she is constantly undergoing a training that will prepare her for her future tasks as head of state. Like the other royal houses in Europe, Spain is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the monarch, as the head of state, has vast ceremonial powers but little to none political powers. This is a fine line every European monarch has to walk and her father King Felipe is showing her the ropes. Leonor’s parents have been careful in introducing their eldest daughter to her tasks. Two years ago, the young and tender princess braved the audience for the first time when she stepped up to the lectern and read the first article of the Spanish constitution. The Spanish people were thrilled and Leonor’s performance gained her a lot of praise and recognition in royal circles and beyond.

Heavy workload

Princess Leonor is turning 15 at the end of this month and next to her life as princess, she also has to study for school. She is currently attending the tenth grade of a private school outside Madrid. Like all teenagers she has to do her homework and prepare for tests, exams and presentations. Bearing her age in mind, it must be very challenging to come to terms with the fact that she, one day, has to reign over a country. Most teenagers her age start to find themselves and sometimes, of course, act up. For Leonor this must also be the case, of course. But whatever goes on behind the walls of Zarzuela Palace in Madrid where the royal family lives, on the outset she is expected to perform her duties. Her parents are surely well aware of the heavy mental and physical workload that has been bestowed on their daughter. One can only hope and assume that they are careful not to crush their daughter with the high expectations that come with her role. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden comes to mind, who suffered from anorexia because she felt she had no control over her own life anymore. It took many years for the Crown Princess to recover, but her example serves as a stern warning for all royal families to not let something like that happen again.

Leonor’s “colleagues”

Leonor has many colleagues who will one day become head of states of their respective countries.

• Princess Ingrid of Norway (16)
• Princess Elisabeth of Belgium (18)
• Princess Amalia of the Netherlands (16)
• Prince Christian of Denmark (15)
• Princess Estelle of Sweden (8)

Compared to her colleagues, Leonor seems to have to take part in more formal outings. While Princess Ingrid of Norway for example, who is almost the same age as Leonor, is also quite often engaged in official appointments, Ingrid’s outing are less formal compared to Leonor’s. Princess Amalia of the Netherlands, however, grows up more shielded from the public than Leonor even though Princess Amalia is almost two years older than Princess Leonor. Princess Amalia’s parents, King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima, obviously decided for their daughter to enjoy as much privacy as can be possible in that position. The same goes on for Prince Christian of Denmark apparently. Princess Estelle of Sweden is yet too young to compare, but with her mother’s history in mind, it is safe to assume that Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel will be very careful not to put too much pressure on their daughter Estelle.

Why?

But why are Leonor’s parents so adamant for their daughter to take over so many public engagements – especially such formal ones like visiting a gun factory? Surely there are more fun occasions for a soon-to-be 15-year-old to engage publicly. Let’s take Norway again: Princess Ingrid has been given a nice balance of fun and formal public engagements. She dutifully waves and shakes hands (not these days of course) on the national day celebrations for example, but is allowed to surf with the participants of the surfing world championships that were hosted in Norway. Ingrid was enjoying herself running taking the waves together with her family and barely noticing the cameras.

In contrast to her European colleagues, Spain’s monarchy is fragile. Spain cannot look back on a solid and continuous royal tradition like England or the Netherlands for example. To make matters more difficult, Leonor’s own grandfather Juan Carlos had to step down in 2014 after numerous scandals leaving his son Felipe with the heavy burden of reinstalling the good faith and trust into the Spanish monarchy again. Leonor, as his heir, is also directly affected by this. Felipe and Letizia sense that there are many voices in Spain that call for an end to the monarchy. Those voices are louder and more dangerous than in England or other countries with constitutional monarchies.

Leonor to the rescue

Princess Leonor with her angelic looks and demure nature is of key importance in helping to restore the damaged image of the royal family. She, like no other in the Spanish family, personifies Spain’s future. The more she can be seen in public, the more the Spanish people regain that lost trust and faith back again. The emphasis on these rather formal outings of Princess Leonor is very likely to reassure the Spanish people that the monarchy will be in safe hands. And the message might well be that with a smart and beautiful princess like Leonor, Spain will face a bright future. This, again, is a very heavy burden for someone as young a Princess Leonor. She, together with her father, has to rescue nothing less than the Spanish royal lineage. One can only hope that she has enough privacy and guidance to comprehend the situation and cope with it.