Eleonor de Borbó has many intense periods left, but the current month is undoubtedly the first. After almost 18 years of a relatively placid life, or at the very least, calm in the eyes of a girl or a teenager, the princess of Asturias is facing a key month of October in her life.
In his album, made up so far of idyllic family photographs and some institutional events, in the last few days the images of his first weeks of military training at the Academy of Zaragoza have been added (including his visit on Friday to the Marededeu del Pilar), which culminated yesterday with those of his swearing in the flag. The emotion of some parents, the pride of the King, the satisfaction of the armed forces as a whole and the friendly gaze of the citizens, accompanied the Princess in the first of the relevant events that she will star in this month.
The most momentous ceremony of all that Eleonor will experience until the moment when her father succeeds, had a marked date: October 31, the day of her birthday. It has not been easy to fulfill the tradition, from a single antecedent, but tradition, that the heir swears to the Constitution on the same day of his majority. The political class, this companion not always loyal to the Crown, organized its electoral calendar without taking into account the date of the oath of Elion or before the Courts. In the end, although until the future investiture has been passed and the Spanish Government continues in office, the Courts will be fully in office, since even if there was an electoral advance they would not be dissolved until November 27. Test passed, Eli onor will be able to follow in his father’s footsteps and swear to the Magna Carta on the same day of his 18th birthday, as Felipe VI did on January 30, 1986.
What the ceremony will not resemble is the absence of his grandfather. When Felipe de Borbó was sworn in as heir, the Count of Barcelona attended the ceremony, but this time, King Juan Carlos, self-exiled in Abu Dhabi since the summer of 2020, will only go to the family celebration that will take place after the institutional acts. After the ceremony at the Congress, an event will take place at the Royal Palace where the Princess will be awarded the necklace of the Order of Charles III (the highest decoration of the State) and a meal attended by the representatives of the powers of the ‘ Status.
The family celebration, which is only known to take place at El Pardo palace, but not if it will be on the night of the 31st itself, or the following day, November 1st; it was the solution agreed between Zarzuela and King Juan Carlos. Since he went into self-exile, any of the agreements between the two parties tend to be equally unsatisfactory for one and for the other. La Zarzuela would always want less, and King Juan Carlos, more. The normalization of relations, both family and institutional, is still a chimera.
In addition to the high symbolic value of the swearing of the Constitution before the General Courts (representatives of popular sovereignty), gathered in the chamber of Congress, this same October 31 will put an end to the queen’s hypothetical regency Letícia, a constitutional prerogative that would have been set in motion if the King’s incapacity or death coincided with the Princess of Asturias’ minority.
And Asturias will be the setting for the ceremonies and events surrounding the presentation of the Princess of Asturias awards between 19 and 20 October. It will be the only occasion in which Eli onor will make use of the floor at the various events he will attend this month and it is hoped that, although he is still just over a week away from his majority, the her speech to the honorees, who will include actress Meryl Streep and writer Haruki Murakami, will be especially meaningful and the first, in fact, on her way to begin defining her role as crown princess.
Between yesterday’s oath at the General Academy of Zaragoza and before the ceremonies in Oviedo and the oath at Les Corts, Princess Eleonor also plans to attend the events of October 12, but not parading as a cadet, but in the tribune with the Kings and also, for the first time, at the reception at the Royal Palace. His participation with his unit in the parade is postponed until any Armed Forces Day celebrations that coincide with his military formation, which began just over a month ago and will conclude in July 2026 .
Eleonor will be the queen during this month of October, but when it’s over she’ll be no less than the Princess.
