Princess Leonor, 15-year-old heir to Spanish throne, to study in Wales

MADRID — The heir to the Spanish throne, 15-year-old Princess Leonor, is going to study in Wales, the Spanish royal household announced Wednesday.

Leonor de Borbon, the elder of two daughters of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, will attend UWC Atlantic College, based at the 12th-century St. Donat’s Castle on the southern Welsh coast, a statement said.

Leonor will begin her two-year course at the boarding school this summer. She turns 16 at the end of October. Her parents will personally meet the course’s cost of 67,000 pounds ($92,700, 76,500 euros).

The school, for students aged 16-19 years, says it seeks to “inspire changemakers” who want to work for the common good. It looks for students who “can navigate the complexity of life and (reach) beyond easy answers,” according to the school’s website. The royal household statement noted the school’s “open and critical approach.”

The school says it takes in students from around 150 countries.

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Princess Leonor obtained admission to the school anonymously, taking several tests before being accepted, the royal household said.

The United World College Movement includes 18 schools around the world, the website says.

Princess Leonor:Heir to Spanish throne makes first public address

In October 2018, Leonor made her first public address at age 13 at an official event marking the 40th anniversary of Spain's Constitution, as she read out the first of 169 articles of Spain's Carta Magna, which was approved by the Spanish Parliament on Oct. 31, 1978.

King Felipe read the law's preamble and was then joined on stage by his daughter at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid.

With a firm voice, Leonor read the article, which states that Spain follows the political system of a parliamentary monarchy. Felipe was also 13 when he read his first speech publicly in 1981.