The public address system of the parade on the occasion of the National Day announced that tribute would be paid to the fallen. The chords of Death is not the end sounded and, suddenly, the Princess of Asturias came down from the royal gallery with her father, Felipe VI, to participate in the wreath offering. It was the surprise that Zarzuela and Defensa had prepared, because Leonor thus participated in the parade, rigorously complying with the complicated military protocol that she has already learned after two months at the General Military Academy.
This Thursday, the Princess of Asturias took an important step on the path as Heiress of Spain. Leonor, dressed in a dress uniform of the Army and the grancé beret, returned to the parade on October 12 after two years of absence due to her studies in Wales. She takes over from her with her sister, Infanta Sofía, who is precisely in her first year of International Baccalaureate at the same boarding school where her Heiress was. Leonor followed the parade with interest and with knowledge of everything that was happening, the result of the two months that she has been at the AGM. In fact, some of her fellow cadets from her second class participated in the parade at the training battalion.
After the parade came the grand debut of the Princess of Asturias. It premiered at the reception that the Kings offer at the Royal Palace to celebrate the national holiday. The Princess was surprised when she arrived at the appointment wearing her gala uniform, without the grancé beret, but without changing her clothes. It is true that the invitation asks the military to wear a gala uniform, but it is also true that it is a civil event in which Felipe VI himself changes the captain general’s uniform for the suit. In any case, Doña Leonor preferred to continue wearing her uniform and the Golden Fleece decoration around her neck.
The greeting line began. This reception is traditionally the one to which most personalities are invited, so the Princess of Asturias was faced with shaking more than two thousand hands. The Heiress did not lose her smile during the more than 45 minutes that the hand kiss lasted, paying attention to the specific explanations that her parents gave her when greeting some guests. She was placed to the right of the Queen, who later at the cocktail party, held in various rooms of the Royal Palace, including the gala dining room or the columned dining room, was her main support. Because without a doubt greeting the Princess, and congratulating her in many cases, became the objective of many of her assistants.
Doña Leonor was especially supported by the seven colleagues from the Academy who were invited to the ceremony. Knights and ladies cadets from different battalions but who know the Heiress, and with whom they shared a moment of conversation during the cocktail. Queen Letizia shielded her at all times, concerned about guiding her daughter in this new stage, as she has done since she was born.
Also Don Felipe, in the role of father. The King continued this Thursday with the bandaging of his left hand. Last Sunday he tripped while playing paddle tennis and cracked a small bone in his hand, so he will remain like that for several weeks.
Doña Leonor faces a month of public exposure. She will be seen again next Thursday at the concert prior to the Princess of Asturias Awards, which will be held on Friday at the Campoamor theater. The appointment coincides with the October break at UWC Atlantic College, so Infanta Doña Sofía will bring forward her return to Spain by a couple of days to accompany her sister. The young woman will also be in the Congress of Deputies on October 31, when Doña Leonor swears in the Constitution upon reaching the age of majority. She will be the consummation of one stage and the beginning of another, for which she is taking firm steps every day, demonstrating that she is aware of what it implies and of the new path that she has to write. The thousands of hands that she will shake in the Royal Palace will change, but Leonor will remain.