Leonor has started one of the most demanding and symbolic stages of her military training this week. Last Monday, Leonor entered the General Air and Space Academy in San Javier, Murcia, to complete her third and final year within the military training plan. After her time at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza and her naval experience at the Naval School, she already knows well what rigorous military training entails.
However, this year at the AGA brings with it a personal challenge that had been kept secret until now. The journalist specializing in the Royal Household, Nuria Marín, has been the one to reveal this unknown aspect about Leonor. Through the podcast Reales y Revueltos and on social media posts, Marín has commented that she feels a "certain respect" and even fear of flying.
"This is going to be an especially complicated course for the princess because she's a little afraid of flying," the expert stated. This fear is not insignificant, considering that this year will focus on pilot training, including handling the new PC21 Pilatus (E-21) model, an aircraft she will pilot alone.
Leonor will have special support in Murcia
Although on her first day at the AGA Leonor posed next to the plane and dressed in her flight uniform, it was not just an institutional image. According to Marín, this step has been carefully prepared for months.
"At the beginning of this year, they took her to San Javier so she could try it out and calm down a bit. So she already tried it, saw what it was all about, and at least now she doesn't have that uneasiness she had before," she commented.
But the best-kept secret was not just her fear, but the special support she will receive. According to Marín, Leonor will have the help of an exceptional instructor: a lieutenant who is the first female Eurofighter pilot in Spain.
Leonor faces one of her most important years in Murcia
This officer will be responsible for training her exclusively, guiding Leonor through one of the most important challenges of her training. This way, the princess will not only face her fears, but she will do so with the help of a pioneer in military aviation.
This gesture, in addition to being symbolic, shows the institution's firm commitment to equality and female empowerment within the Armed Forces. Princess Leonor, in her most challenging year, is not only training as a future head of state, but she is also fighting against her own insecurities.