Princess Leonor has seen the last part of her military training take off as she began a year with Spain's air force. The future queen is now officially a Student Ensign at the Spanish Air and Space Force with twelve months of learning ahead that will conclude her historic stint with the Armed Forces.
One day, Leonor will be head of Spain's Armed Forces. The country has had very few queens regnant and none of them ruled in a time when military training was expected of a monarch. True, the men would do a stint with some regiment or other, sometimes, but no one had to be a soldier or sailor to reign. And while there's no law right now to say Leonor had to train up to become queen, it's widely expected of all future monarchs that they will have some form of military formation. So Leonor, the first female heir to the throne in Spain's modern monarchy has joined the army and the country's navy and now it's time to take to the skies.
Leonor's first day at the military has become something of an end of summer staple in Spain in the past years. In 2023, when she began her service, there was huge media interest and you could only feel sorry for the heir to the throne who was just 17 at the time. She said goodbye to her parents and her sister with cameras in their faces and strode off to a big unknown with her every expression under scrutiny. In 2024, aged 18, there was a focus on the future queen in her naval uniform. By September 2025, Leonor strode across the tarmac filled with confidence and flying, pardon the pun, solo.
Her training will take place at the General Air and Space Academy in Javier in Murcia and she was greeted there by the director, Colonel Luis Felipe Gonzalez Asenjo. Even though Spain's royals have insisted that Leonor is the same as everyone else, this recruit had a special first day as she was invited to sign the guest of honour book before posing for photographs.
It's interesting to note how much attention has been given to Leonor in uniform, perhaps because it's not been seen in the modern royal family before. And as she started air training, the princess changed into flight overalls for a second photocall which saw her try out flight simulators. After that, she retreated into the anonymity of her training course. There will be big moments in this year, too, and no doubt a final moment where her proud parents, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, get to see her graduate from this part of her training too. In the meantime, Spain's future queen prepares to take to the skies as she continues to make history.
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