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As King Felipe and Queen Letizia ’s oldest child, Princess Leonor is the heir presumptive to the Spanish throne. While the 14-year-old royal is destined to one day become the Queen of Spain, she was posed with a question about her future on Tuesday during the royal family’s visit to the Naüm Socio-Educational Center in the neighborhood of Son Roca, Mallorca. A young woman named Peinda Sibide asked Leonor, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” However, the Spanish Princess did not answer. Instead, Letizia interceded and answered on her firstborn’s behalf saying (via Diario de Mallorca), “What she has to, not what she wants.”
In recent years, Leonor has been stepping into the spotlight and joining her parents on engagements as she prepares for her future role. Last October, the teenage Princess presided over the Princess of Asturias Awards for the first time. Though it was a milestone for Leonor, it was not her first public speech. Letizia’s daughter delivered her first public address in 2018 at an event marking the 40th anniversary of Spain’s Constitution. That same year, King Felipe proudly bestowed upon his heir the Order of the Golden Fleece, making Leonor the youngest female in modern history to receive the prestigious honor.
In his remarks at the ceremony, the doting dad of two told Leonor, “This is the meaning of present and future that contains the ceremony that we are celebrating and in which, as Chief and Sovereign of the Order, I have given you the Necklace and the insignias that identify it.”
Felipe asked Leonor to respect the ideas and beliefs of others, and that her actions be guided by integrity, dignity and honesty. “You will be guided permanently by the Constitution, fulfilling and observing it; you will serve Spain with humility and aware of your institutional position; and you will make yours all the worries and joys, all the wishes and feelings of the Spaniards,” he said. “I know that today you may find many demands and many responsibilities, all important and difficult, but you should know that you will have the support of many people who want the best for Spain, for the Crown and for you.”
The King noted that Leonor can always count on him, her mom Letizia and sister Infanta Sofia . Felipe said, “Your family will always be by your side: especially your mother and also Sofia, who will be with you supporting you; also your grandparents; and of course I, your father, you know that I trust you fully and that I feel enormously proud to have given you this morning the Necklace of the Insigne Order of the Golden Fleece.”