In two months she will graduate from high school, after which the seriousness of life begins for Spain's Princess Leonor (17): she has to serve in the military for three years.

Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles (66) said at a press conference that Leonor will in all likelihood one day ascend the throne. As queen, she would automatically be the supreme commander of the armed forces. Robles: "As in all parliamentary monarchies, she must therefore have a military background and a military career."

It is planned that the princess will start her training at the military academy in Zaragoza after the summer holidays at the end of August. She is to complete her training in the army, navy and air force for one year each.

Leonor is not the only woman in a royal family for whom the military called at a certain point: Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria (45) completed basic military training 20 years ago. Princess Elisabeth of Belgium (20) also did a one-year apprenticeship at the Military Academy in Brussels when she was 18. And Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) was still serving in the UK armed forces during World War II. She had volunteered at the time to defend her country.