Leonor and Sofía join a group with journalists after the Princess of Girona Awards ceremony. The sisters listen to what their mother says and answer the editors’ questions. At all times they join hands, look for the contact between them, they look at each other complicitly and when one responds, the other listens. Their good relationship is palpable. Every speech that Leonor has given in public, Sofía has followed it attentively and on the run, because until three years ago they shared almost every minute of their lives.
This Wednesday, the Princess and the Infanta once again gave an example of that complicity and that special symbiosis that they have. They were with their parents at the military parade and lunch and they exchanged glances and complicit gestures again. And not only that: during the toast ceremony at the Royal Palace the two sisters surprised everyone and excited the Kings by breaking protocol to give a short surprise speech of thanks to their parents.
The Princess and the Infanta are a year and a half apart and have grown raised in equality. Although they are both aware that the institutional weight falls on Doña Leonor, their parents have wanted them to receive the same education because in such a small Royal Family, the second must be prepared in case it had to be the first at some point. For this reason and because Felipe VI approved a decree prohibiting members of the Family from carrying out private activities. So Infanta Sofía has her future, like Princess Leonor, dedicated to Spain.
Felipe VI thus distances himself from what his parents and grandparents, the Counts of Barcelona, did. They turned to institutional education of the Heir, reserving a secondary education for their brothers, in the case of women hoping that they would marry someone who would guarantee their future. They were not instilled Monarchy values that Felipe VI, however, has wanted to transfer his two daughters in the same way, so that they are aware of the rights and duties of the members of the Royal Family. Don Felipe, in addition, transfers the same to his daughters requirement in the behavior and rectitude of his actions that the King marks for himself.
The sisters have been living apart for three years. The Kings sent Leonor to study the International Baccalaureate at the UWC Atlantic College in Wales. It was the first time that They differentiated the studies of his daughters. However, two years later it was announced that the Infanta had also passed the entrance exams to that demanding boarding school, so she would continue with training similar to that of her sister.
It is ruled out that the Government sanctions a directive for the Infanta to follow a program ad hoc three years of military training like that of the Princess of Asturias, but not that part of her training includes contact with the Armed Forces. The Kings also intend that Doña Sofía find a balance between what she wants to study and that she be trained in disciplines necessary for the Head of State, that is: Constitutional Law, International Relations… some higher degree, then, similar to the one she will have to course the Princess of Asturias.
The main difference between the sisters is that Doña Leonor has grown up with her destiny marked. That is why her parents educated her with an important adaptability. The Heiress is capable of not only assuming her destiny, but also finding the best in each stage she has to go through. Like now at the General Military Academy. It is true that she was the only lady cadet who entered without an entrance test, but it is also true that she is the only student of the General that can’t leave the year of training, unlike those cadets who, after months, realize that this is not for them.
The same will happen at the Marín Naval School and the General Air Academy. But in the demands that he has been raised in his house, his mother is admired by his capacity for suffering After weeks of training, where they sleep outdoors, carry out all kinds of practices, spend days eating poorly, without sleeping, and end up bruised and splintered. But Doña Leonor has little regret for these inconveniences.
Infanta Sofía, however, feels more free in that sense. He is thoroughly enjoying the gift of two years of freedom in Wales. There she has made friends from other nationalities and does not think about the immediate future other than completing the International Baccalaureate and having the best time possible, combining days of fun with those of study.
The Princess and the Infanta have been getting to know other realities for two years. In Wales there are refugee students and 70% of boarders are on scholarships. In Zaragoza, Doña Leonor has made a group of friends in which there are all kinds of people and all social classes. They tell the Princess of her difficulties, and the Heiress vents about the institutional duty that has weighed on her shoulders since she was born, and especially since they proclaimed her father when she was only eight years old.
Felipe VI and Doña Letizia conceive their daughters as inseparable, and the King has made it clear in numerous public interventions. This year, in the audience of the winners of the contest What is a king for you?, Felipe VI expressed: “Continuity is represented by the Princess of Asturias, but with the company of her sister, the Infanta Sofía, who has to help a lot.” Previously, during Doña Leonor’s swearing-in of the Constitution, he told her daughter: “You will not be alone on your path. In your family you will find the necessary more personal support. In 2018, when Felipe VI imposed the Golden Fleece The Princess reminded him that throughout his life he will be his family to rely on: “Your mother and also Sofia, who will be with you.” supporting you».
Thus, guided by the example of Queen Doña Sofía, Felipe VI has taught his daughters that among themselves they are the most loyal and unique support that the Kings may have. Friends will pass by and Sofia is called to be her sister’s confidant as Princess Irene is to Sofia of Greece.
Just as Leonor began to have a solo agenda on March 30, 2021, Doña Sofía will soon begin with their own agenda. It will be at the end of this year when he will preside over the new photography contest organized by National Heritage that will bear his name. An act that will mark the solo debut of the second in the line of succession. Until now, the Infanta had starred in events with her parents and with Princess Leonor, with whom she made her debut in June 2021 in an event at the Hayedo de Montejo. With at least eight more years of training ahead of them, the King’s daughters want to be the best representation of his dynasty.
