Princess Leonor of Spain has completed a demanding three-year military education across the Army, Navy, and Air and Space Force, closing a major chapter in her preparation for the throne.
The 20-year-old heir finished the final stage at the General Air and Space Academy in San Javier, Murcia. At a ceremony on July 10, 2026, King Felipe VI awarded her the Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit with white distinction in recognition of her completed aeronautical training.
A three-year journey designed for a future head of state
Leonor began her military journey at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza on August 17, 2023. Her customized curriculum compressed two Army academic years into one while retaining general military studies, infantry instruction, field exercises, leadership work, and language training. She swore allegiance to the Spanish flag in October 2023 and later became a cadet ensign. In July 2024, her father awarded her the Grand Cross of Military Merit with white distinction before she moved into the naval phase.
Her second year unfolded at the Naval Military School in Marín, where she trained as a midshipman. Its most visible chapter was her time aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, the Spanish Navy’s four-masted training ship. Leonor joined its 97th instructional cruise in January 2025 and spent several months at sea with fellow cadets, learning navigation, seamanship, discipline, and shipboard routines. She later continued practical work with operational Navy units before beginning her final year.
In September 2025, Leonor reported to the General Air and Space Academy. She studied aviation theory, used simulators, completed survival exercises, and trained on the Pilatus PC-21, Spain’s basic pilot-training aircraft. She made her first solo flight in December 2025 and later completed a second. She also visited the Eurofighter unit at Los Llanos Air Base and flew in an F-5 with an instructor at Talavera la Real. Importantly, her solo flights were completed in the PC-21 trainer, not a fighter jet.
Parachute qualification creates a royal first
One of Leonor’s most notable achievements came at the Méndez Parada Military Parachuting School at Alcantarilla Air Base. She completed the Basic Parachuting Course alongside cadets from the Air and Space Academy. The training included physical preparation, aircraft-exit drills, landing practice, safety procedures, and several jumps, both during the day and at night. She received a diploma and the cazador paracaidista, or military parachutist, badge after completing the course.
The qualification made Leonor the first member of Spain’s royal family reported to have completed formal military parachute training. Neither King Felipe nor former King Juan Carlos earned the same distinction during their military education. Official images showed Leonor wearing a red helmet and full parachuting equipment before jumping from a military transport aircraft. The milestone required technical instruction, physical discipline, and the same risk-management procedures followed by the cadets training beside her.
The July ceremony marked the completion of Leonor’s specially designed three-year program, but it did not mean she immediately received every permanent officer rank. Spain’s Defense Ministry has explained that her formal appointments will follow the academic timetable of the classes with which she trained. She is expected to receive Army, Air Force, and Space Force lieutenant commissions and the naval rank of ensign in 2027. Her condensed royal program differs from the standard five-year education completed by career officers at Spain’s military academies.
Why does her training carry constitutional importance
Leonor’s education is directly connected to the role she would assume as monarch. Article 62 of Spain’s Constitution assigns the king or queen the supreme command of the Armed Forces. Training in all three services gives the future head of state firsthand knowledge of the institutions, routines, equipment, and personnel she may one day represent. It also broadly follows the path taken by Felipe VI, who trained across the armed forces before becoming king in 2014.
The princess is first in line to the Spanish throne. Should she succeed her father, she would become Spain’s first queen regnant since Isabella II, whose reign ended in 1868. That means the popular description of Leonor as the first reigning queen in “nearly 150 years” is already outdated. As of 2026, 158 years have passed since Isabella II’s reign ended, and the gap will continue growing until a succession occurs. Leonor would not be Spain’s first reigning queen, but she would be the first under the country’s current democratic Constitution.
With her military education complete, Leonor is expected to begin a four-year political science degree at Carlos III University of Madrid during the 2026 academic year. The program covers politics, law, economics, sociology, history, humanities, and international relations. Moving from barracks, ships, and flight instruction to university classrooms begins another phase of education that combines military experience, civilian studies, institutional duties, and preparation for public leadership.
Before turning 21, Leonor had completed Army field instruction, months at sea, solo flights, fighter-aircraft familiarization, survival exercises, and military parachuting. Her journey represents more than a royal tradition passed down to a new generation. It is a structured preparation for the constitutional, institutional, and ceremonial responsibilities she would inherit as Spain’s future queen.
