HEIR to the throne Crown Princess Leonor of Asturias has made her first-ever official trip in the role she was assigned from birth, and just two months before she becomes a teenager.
She was 'sworn in' as Princess of Asturias during her visit to the principality of the same name on Spain's north coast, exactly as her father, now King Felipe VI, did 41 years ago.
Leonor's trip to Asturias included her official presence at three major events – the 1,300th anniversary of the creation of the Kingdom of Asturias; the 100th anniversary of the coronation of the Virgin of Covadonga, and the 100th anniversary of Spain's first-ever National Park being created.
But the 12-year-old was not alone: her second Royal engagement, the first that involved travelling, was less daunting than it could have been, since she was accompanied by her father, her mother Queen Letizia, and her sister, the Infanta (non-Crown princess) Sofía, 11.
Having just started her second year of high school at the Santa María de los Rosales private centre in Madrid, and due to turn 13 on Hallowe'en, Leonor is still very much a child, but has had to grow up extremely quickly because of the major implications of her lifetime role.
She will undertake compulsory military service as a young adult, since the day she becomes Queen Leonor of Spain, she will automatically become the highest-ranking authority in the Forces.
It is very likely she will be multilingual, like her parents, who are fluent in English, French and catalán, due to the international relations work Leonor will have to undertake as Queen – or even before.
In fact, Leonor and Sofía spent a month this summer at a children's camp in the USA to reinforce their English and general personal development before chilling out for the rest of August at the Royal family's holiday home in Marivent, Mallorca.
Even as a child, she will have been kept abreast of current affairs in Spain, since a Queen's or King's training begins at birth, not just from adulthood.
The daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Asturias natives, Leonor's visit to the region served to reinforce the Royal connections with the area.
But this was in fact Leonor's second official engagement: her first was on January 30 this year, the day of her father's 50th birthday when, during a solemn ceremony to mark the occasion, King Felipe VI awarded his daughter the Order of the Golden Fleece medal, during which she was required to swear allegiance to Spain and the Constitution and pledge to be 'guided by the best sense of dignity and example, honesty and integrity'.
