Spain's Princess Leonor reaches halfway point of naval training voyage

The Spanish royal family has released new images of the Princess of Asturias' day-to-day life on board the Elcano with her shipmates ·

María Eugenia Alonso

Thursday, 17 April 2025, 13:13

Spain's Princess Leonor has reached the midway point of her journey on board the Juan Sebastián de Elcano training ship, as it makes its 97th voyage. For the young princess it is a military and life experience that, as happened to her father, King Felipe, will mark an important step in her life as heir to the Spanish throne.

There she is a student like all the others and she has been seen - through the images shared by the royal family in the three months she's been onboard - climbing the masts, holding the sails, preparing and maintaining the ship, or using the sextant for positioning on the crossing of the Atlantic. The ship is due to dock in Lima, Peru, on Good Friday, where it will remain until 22 April.

The days on the training ship begin before dawn with drills aimed at improving naval skills. As well as training, they are also responsible for the daily maintenance of the ship, which they carefully clean before docking in each port. In all these tasks, King Felipe's daughter is just one of many.

With this new batch of photographs and videos, the royal family has managed to redirect attention to the real purpose of this military training trip, after the publication of photos of the princess in a bikini during the ship's stopover in Uruguay. They were the images most sought after by the paparazzi, who had already managed to capture her during the carnival in Brazil or having a beer with her fellow shipmates. In 1987, her father, like her, appeared on the cover of a magazine after being photographed in his swimsuit enjoying the beach during a stopover in Rio de Janeiro.

Beyond the theoretical and practical training, the experience on board allows the young people to develop camaraderie, get to know new cultures and countries, and enjoy well-deserved breaks while they train as future Navy officers.

After Peru, the ship will call at Panama City, Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and finally New York, before crossing the Atlantic again to Gijón, Ferrol and Marín.

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