The four hundred new Army officers who have graduated today will not forget that the day they received their dispatches at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza was the same day that Leonor de Borbón first entered the training center where she In a few weeks, he will begin his military training.
Princess Leonor has entered this Friday, for the first time, at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza, but it will not be until August 17 when she enters to begin her military training period that will later take her to the Naval Military School, in Marín ( Pontevedra), and the General Air Academy, in San Javier (Murcia). Leonor, has accompanied the King, who has attended along with the Queen, to the ceremony of delivery of offices to the new lieutenants who have completed their studies to become officers in the Army.
The parade ground of the academy, in the full sun of Zaragoza justice, has been the scene of a ceremony in which the new officers have been accompanied by their relatives, in addition to their commanders, teachers and the exceptional presence of Princess Leonor and of the Queen, who does not usually attend these military ceremonies. The King delivers every July the offices of officers or non-commissioned officers in three of the different academies, corresponding to each of the armies, which take turns every year. This year, in addition to today’s ceremony that takes place in Zaragoza (Land), the King will go to San Fernando (Navy) and San Javier (Air) next week.
The dispatch delivery ceremony puts an end to the five-year training of the cadets, who have already become lieutenants before joining the different units of the Army. In addition to the physical delivery of the dispatches to all the officers of the promotion, the ceremony included a tribute to the members of the Armed Forces who died in the line of service and a parade, after which the King ordered to break ranks, to to which the new lieutenants have responded with the traditional uproar that accompanies the tossing of their caps into the air.
On August 17, before 10 in the morning, Leonor, like the rest of the cadets beginning their military studies, will join the Army Academy. The princess, who will turn 18 on October 31, will be the first woman in the royal family to receive military training and will do so with the same program followed by her father, Felipe de Borbón, who entered the Zaragoza academy in 1985. , aged 17, and his grandfather, Juan Carlos de Borbón, who entered in 1955, also aged 17.
It is expected that the Kings, as do the relatives of other students, accompany the Princess on that first day in which they can tour the facilities and familiarize themselves with the environment. According to the calendar published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of Defense, a first phase of reception, orientation and adaptation will take place until August 30, after which Princess Leonor and the rest of the classmates will undergo an examination of level between August 31 and September 1. The instruction and training phase will take place until September 10, while the first semester will start on September 11. On September 19, the act of delivery of sabers is scheduled, which symbolizes obtaining the title of lady cadet in the case of the Princess and in which a second-year cadet delivers this weapon to a first-year cadet.
The inauguration ceremony of the course will be held the following day, while the act of oath or promise before the flag has been set for October 7, a day on which the King and Queen will attend the solemn ceremony in which Leonor, already dressed in the uniform of a lady cadet, she will swear allegiance to the flag.
The princess will begin her studies with the first-year students, but throughout her stay at the Academy she will share lessons with the second-year and third-year cadets, since her study plan is special and concentrates the three courses in one. In addition to her common teachers, Leonor will have private instruction to adapt her study plan. She is expected to share a room with other students and, unlike these and the rest of the cadets, she will not receive the expected remuneration for students, which amounts to 417.83 euros per month. Classes are taught from Monday to Friday and students remain in the academy facilities on a boarding basis, they can leave on weekends, except those that have maneuvers.
After passing through the Zaragoza Academy, the second year he will continue with his military training at the Marín Naval School, in Pontevedra, where he will embark on the Juan Sebastián Elcano training ship. Finally, the third year he will complete the fourth year at the General Air and Space Academy in San Javier (Murcia) and, once his military training is completed, with the rank of lieutenant, in Land and Air, and naval lieutenant, In the Navy, Leonor will begin her university studies in Madrid in the 2026-2027 academic year and, five years later, following in her father’s footsteps, she is expected to do a specialization at a foreign university.
