Princess Leonor of Spain, 17, swaps royal glamour for military uniform as she takes a major step as queen-in-training according to the Tatler periodical. As part of her training as the future queen of Spain, Princess Leonor will spend time with all three branches of the armed forces. Princess Leonor of Spain, eldest daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, has been photographed in uniform for the first time since embarking on her military training course at the Spanish equivalent to Sandhurst.

Leonor, officially titled the Princess of Asturias, enrolled at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza, in northeastern Spain, last month. It marks the start of three years of practical military experience for Leonor, who will also become commander-in-chief of the armed forces when she ascends the throne.

In attending Zaragoza, the princess follows in the footsteps of her father King Felipe and her grandfather, the former King Juan Carlos I. She will spend a year at the military academy, then go to a naval school where she will sail the Juan Sebastian de Elcano, a four-masted schooner used by the Spanish navy for training, and finish her studies at the General Air Academy.

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT OUR UPDATED HOME PAGE?

Proud parents King Felipe and Queen Letizia dropped Leonor off at the academy last month. Speaking to reporters at the time, Princess Leonor, who turns 18 in October, said she is facing the new chapter ‘with enthusiasm’ but admitted to also feeling ‘a little nervous.’

The teenager recently graduated from UWC Atlantic College, in Wales, where she studied alongside Princess Alexia of the Netherlands. ‘I have just finished high school and I am about to start a new stage with a period of military training,’

Princess Leonor previously said of her new adventure. ‘I am happy because I know how much the Spanish value our armed forces… It is an important moment in my life and I feel very excited and determined to continue learning and giving my best effort.’

Princess Leonor is a highly accomplished young woman who can speak several languages, as she demonstrated yesterday by addressing the audience in Spanish, Catalan and English. The teenager has slowly started to carry out engagements in recent years as her parents begin the important task of equipping her with skills she will one day need as queen. In an important move, Princess Leonor has even carried out official engagements without the support of her parents. It has been a period of change for the Spanish royal family. King Felipe and Queen Letizia have also bid farewell to their youngest daughter, Infanta Sofia, who has followed her sister to UWC Atlantic College. PLEASE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.