The heir to the Spainish throne, Princess Leonor de Bourbon, pledged allegiance to the constitution on her 18th birthday, thereby taking a crucial step towards possibly succeeding her father, King Felipe VI, one day.
Accompanied by her parents, Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI, as well as her sister, Infanta Sofia, the Princess Leonor took the oath before a special session of the two houses of Parliament. This is a tradition begun by her grandfather, Juan Carlos I, in 1969, during the Franco dictatorship, and continued by her father in 1986 under democratic rule.
Dressed in an elegant white suit, Leonor swore the oath on the same copy of the constitution her father used 37 years earlier. The ceremony was attended by the Queen and presided over by the Speaker of the House of Deputies, Francina Armengol.
“I swear to faithfully fulfil my duties, to protect and uphold the constitution and the laws, to respect the rights of citizens and autonomous communities and to be loyal to the king,”the princess declared, before receiving a long round of applause from the assembly.
Her father, visibly moved, embraced his daughter after her oath.
Arriving at Parliament at 11:00 am in an official convoy from the Zarzuela Palace, the royal family’s residence on the outskirts of Madrid, the royal party received applause from the assembly on entering the building, and the national anthem was sounded.
Princess Leonor’s grandfather, King Juan Carlos I, was not present at the ceremony. Entangled in recurring scandals during the later part of his reign, he was forced to abdicate in 2014 before moving into exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
