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New York Post
7 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Princess Leonor of Spain arrives in New York after five months at sea
Princess Leonor of Spain has touched down in the Big Apple! The 19-year-old royal arrived aboard a Spanish Navy training ship in New York City on Wednesday, dressed in a crisp white uniform adorned with black insignia. The Crown Princess — who is the heir to the Spanish throne, followed by her younger sister, Sofia — appeared in good spirits alongside fellow cadets as she saluted onlookers aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano. 6 Princess Leonor of Spain arrived aboard a Spanish Navy training ship in New York City on Wednesday. Stephen Lovekin/GTRES/Shutterstock Leonor, who had kick-started her military training in 2023, will not be returning to Spain via the ship. Instead, she will fly back and rejoin her peers in Gijón on July 7, EDATV News reports. The princess will join the Spanish Navy's guided missile frigate Blas de Lezo there, where she is set to undertake a key segment of her naval training. Over the past two years, Leonor has been undergoing training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. Later this year, she will begin Air Force training at the General Air Academy in Santiago de la Ribera to round out her military education. 6 The royal, 19, was dressed in a crisp white uniform adorned with black insignia. GTRES/Shutterstock In March 2023, the Spanish royal house announced that Leonor was set to undergo three years of military training. 'As in all parliamentary monarchies (the heir) has to have a military background and a military career,' Defense Minister Margarita Robles said at the time. Leonor completed her high school degree at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, UK that year. 6 The Crown Princess appeared in good spirits alongside fellow cadets while saluting onlookers. 'In due course, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces will be a woman, and in recent years we have been making a very important effort to incorporate women into the armed forces,' Robles added. The government and the Royal House have agreed that her 'very intense' military training will precede university studies, following in the footsteps of her father in the 1980s. The Spanish monarchy has been struggling to repair its image after a series of scandals over the past decade, mainly linked to the former king Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 in favor of his son, King Felipe. 6 Over the past two years, Leonor has been undergoing training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. GTRES/Shutterstock Juan Carlos abdicated amid a tax fraud case involving members of the royal family and following a scandal over his elephant-hunting trip in Africa at a time when Spain was going through a deep recession. The former monarch has been living in Abu Dhabi since August 2020, when he left Spain after several investigations were opened in Spain and Switzerland into alleged fraud. The investigations have subsequently been dropped. Meanwhile, Leonor's parents King Felipe and Queen Letizia have also been rocked by drama after veteran journalist Jaime Peñafiel made a slew of shocking claims about the pair's marriage. 6 The princess and her fellow cadets arrived via the Juan Sebastián de Elcano. Getty Images Peñafiel, who has covered the royals for decades, claimed that Felipe was 'crushed and destroyed' over his wife's alleged infidelity with her ex-brother-in-law Jaime del Burgo. In his book 'Letizia's Silences,' released in May, Peñafiel claimed the king of Spain was 'aware that Letizia was cheating on him in real time' as her bodyguards must report on her whereabouts. The royal author alleges that bodyguards joined the queen on a trip to New York back in 2011, during which she was accompanied by her rumored 'lover' del Burgo. Letizia, 52, reportedly dated del Burgo before meeting King Felipe in 2002. Peñafiel alleged that the pair, who have been married since 2004, had a rocky relationship in the years before the alleged affair began. 6 Queen Letizia and King Felipe with their two daughters in Mallorca on July 31, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Del Burgo — who was married to Letizia's sister from 2012 to 2014 — has since claimed that he is still in touch with the Queen in an interview with Argentinian newspaper Clarín. 'We have shared many years of our lives together,' he told the outlet. 'We have been a family. As I have always said, ours was not a relationship of lovers. The lover would be him, in any case. I mean Felipe.'
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Princess Leonor of Spain says 'hola' to the Big Apple as her Navy training ship docks in New York
Princess Leonor of Spain looked every inch a poised naval cadet as she arrived in New York on board a Spanish Navy training ship today. The 19-year-old Crown Princess of Spain, who began her military training two summers ago, blended in with her fellow cadets in a crisp white uniform complete with black insignia. The royal took her hat off and saluted onlookers as she stood proudly aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano as it arrived in the US. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her peers, the Princess appeared in great spirits as she beamed on arrival. With her long blonde hair neatly tucked back, Leonor blended seamlessly in. According to EDATV News, Princess Leonor will not continue the return trip to Spain. Instead, she will return by plane to board the Spanish Navy guided missile frigate Blas de Lezo, where she will complete an essential part of her naval training. However, on July 7, she is scheduled to reunite with the ship and her classmates in Gijón, Spain. After completing her stint at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, Leonor is now gaining naval experience before moving on to air force training later this year. It follows heartwarming footage from last month that shows the Princess embracing her mother, Queen Letizia, after four months apart. The Spanish royals were reunited at the Port of Fuerte Amador in Panama City, after Letizia flew more than 8,000 miles across the globe to see her daughter. The pair had not seen each other since January, when the young royal set sail aboard the Juan Sebastian. Moving video from the Spanish Royal Household captured the moment they were finally reunited, with Leonor running across the port to greet her mother. She was soon embraced in an effusive hug that was so powerful that Leonor had to take her hat off, while the Queen had tears in her eyes. They were then pictured excitedly catching up, as Leonor, who previously graduated from UWC Atlantic, her independent boarding school in South Wales, has been on a whirlwind adventure. Letizia's visit to Panama was an unofficial trip, sources at Zarzuela Palace told Spain's Hola! Magazine. The royal took her hat off and saluted onlookers as she stood proudly aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano as it arrived in the US today After her arrival in New York, Princess Leonor will not continue the return trip to Spain with her classmates. Instead, she will return by plane to board the Spanish Navy guided missile frigate Blas de Lezo, where she will complete an essential part of her naval training And their moving reunion was made all the more special - as it was Mother's Day in Spain. While Leonor was smartly kitted out in her naval uniform, her mother had chosen to wear matching shades of white in casual jeans, T-shirt and white trainers. For the Crown Princess's training cruise, she is sailing through two oceans, and visiting 10 ports and eight countries in America, according to La Vanguardia. The Princess of Asturias, as she is also known, participated in a visit to Panama Viejo, took a short walk to the Cathedral Tower and visited several rooms of the Museum (of Panama Viejo), which has a commemorative plaque of the visit of His Majesty the King 2019. Leonor is following in the footsteps of her father King Felipe as well as her grandfather Juan Carlos, who all attended military training with every of the three armed services in the country. Navy Captain Pedro Cardona Suanzes, director-commandant of the Naval Military School in Marín, previously described the daily routine of the midshipmen to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. He said that their life is 'non-stop' adding that there are constant tasks for them to do, from the minute they wake up until they go to bed in the evening. The captain said the day starts at 6.45am. They then shower, make their beds and go and get breakfast all before 7.30am - when their white uniforms are inspected to be 'spotless'. During the week, all students must be in bed before 10.45pm to ensure they get their full eight hours of sleep. On weekends, pupils are allowed to wake up two hours later than usual, at 8.45am and first-years are allowed to stay up until 1.30am in the morning. Before she started her three-year training, Leonor revealed her enthusiasm for becoming a cadet at the Princesa de Girona Foundation award ceremony in Girona last year. She said at the time: 'I have just finished high school and I am about to start a new stage with a period of military training. '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.'
