Eleonore de Borbó is the youngest of all the European heirs and, also, the last to begin her military training as a mandatory step on her way to the throne. The 17-year-old princess of Asturias, in accordance with the royal decree approved by the last Council of Ministers, will spend three years in the different academies, one for each of the three armies (Land, Navy and Air), following the same route that both his father, Felipe VI, and his grandfather John Charles I took.
The Princess of Asturias has to measure herself against her European counterparts, three women (Victoria of Sweden, Elisabeth of Belgium and Amalia of Holland) and three men (Frederick of Denmark, Haakon of Norway and William of Wales) who, like her, are placed at the top of the succession order.
Frederic of Denmark is the oldest of the heirs in Europe, in terms of age and time in waiting. When his mother, Queen Margaret, assumed the throne in 1972, he was three years old and is now about to turn 55. From 1986 to 2004 he underwent military training and has been in contact with the army . He did, in his day, university studies in Political Sciences, went through the three armies, but opted for the Navy and has had responsibilities in the Defense Staff.
Haakon of Norway (49) has been crown prince since the proclamation of his father, King Harald, in 1990. He did, like the rest of his fellow citizens, the military service which is compulsory in Norway and lasts between 12 and 18 months . Until 2016 it was only compulsory for men, but since then it has also been compulsory for women, which is why Princess Ingrid (19), second in the line of succession, will start her military service next year . Prince Haakon, after completing his military service, entered the Naval Academy in Bergen and for a year served on a Norwegian Navy ship.
Princess Victoria of Sweden was born in 1977 when her father, Carles Gustau, was already king. She was the first future queen to receive military training. Neither Elizabeth II nor Margaret of Denmark nor Beatrice of Holland, even being heads of their respective armies, had no instruction. However, the Swedish heiress only spent three weeks of immersion in the Swedish army in 2003, but since then Victoria has participated in military exercises every year.
William of Wales, heir since September, when his father, Charles III, succeeded his grandmother Elizabeth II, is the only one who has belonged to the army professionally. After training at Sandhurst Military Academy, he served for seven years as a helicopter pilot in an air rescue unit.
21-year-old Elizabeth of Belgium, heiress since the proclamation of her father, King Philippe, in 2013, entered the Royal Military Academy of Belgium at the age of 18, where she spent a full year for to prepare herself as the future head of the Belgian armed forces. The Belgian princess’s military training lasted a full year, which she concluded by participating in the National Day military parade. Like Eleonor, Elisabet studied in Wales and is now at the English University of Oxford.
19-year-old Amalia d’Holanda, heiress since 2014, is not required to have military training, as the duties of the King of the Netherlands do not include being head of the armed forces, despite the fact that her father, the king Guillem, he did have military studies. Even so, the Dutch princess carries out regular visits to the units of the army of the Netherlands to learn about their operation and to be in contact with the soldiers.
