Soldier princess in the spotlight in Zaragoza

OCTOBER is proving to be a busy month for Princess Leonor, who will be 18 on October 31.

Now at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, she and her fellow cadets took part a military occasion on October 6 for the first time since they began training in August.

The Princess of Asturias, Leonor’s formal title as heir to the Spanish throne, lined up with other members of Eleven Company in Plaza del Pilar before peeling off in threes to enter the basilica. Here they paid homage and requested the protection of the Virgen del Pilar, said to have appeared there in 40AD.

As this event is fundamentally religious, the military authorities emphasised that attendance was optional, especially now that many of the cadets training at Spain’s equivalent of Sandhurst are no longer catholic.

This Ofrenda is traditionally held on the eve of the Jura de Bandera when the future army officers swear their loyalty and pledge to defend Spain.

Next day, October 7, saw 410 cadets take part in the ceremony held in the Academy’s parade ground, with Princess Leonor in the front row of the body of young soldiers in  dress uniforms.

“Do you swear by God, or promise according to your conscience and honour, to fulfil your military obligations, to protect and enforce the Constitution as a fundamental rule of State, to obey and respect the King and your chiefs, to never abandon them and, if necessary, to give your life in defending Spain?” the Academy’s director, General Manuel Perez Lopez asked them.

“Sí lo hacemos” (Yes we do), thundered the princess and her companions who included 48 “lady cadets.”

The princess’s name was called and she marched alone to the flag, which she kissed, after removing her red-plumed kepi, watched by her parents King Felipe and Queen Letizia who were accompanied by the military authorities and Defence minister Margarita Robles.  King Felipe remained impassive but proud, although her mother’s eyes appeared briefly to fill with tears.

With all eyes on her, a straight-backed and serious Leonor marched back to her companions, each of whom went up in turn to kiss the flag as custom demands.

No doubt it was an ordeal, but just one more of that she has been trained, as a future queen, to carry out.

The princess next appears on a formal occasion in Madrid on Spain’s National Day October 12.  Although she will not join her companions in the Armed Forces parade on safety grounds, she will watch the marchpast with her parents and later attend the reception in the Palacio Real.