The 17-year-old princess leonore, heir to the Spanish throne, will be followed by a three-year military training from August, announced today Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles.

The Spanish royal family is trying to restore its image after a series of scandals that marred it over the past decade, most notably former King Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 in favor of his son, Felipe.

“As in all reigning parliamentary democracies, (the crown prince) must have a military background and serve in the armed forces,” Robles said after the cabinet meeting.

Princess Leonor, the eldest daughter of King Felipe of Spain, will graduate from UWC Atlantic College in Wales in a few months and will come of age in October when she celebrates her 18th birthday. She is first in line to the Spanish throne – unless King Felipe has a son – followed by her sister, Sofia.

“In due course, the supreme commander of the armed forces will be a woman”, said the Spanish Minister of Defense, adding that “in recent years we have been making a very important effort in terms of the inclusion of women in the armed forces”.

Princess Lenore will attend one year at the Zaragoza Military Academy, the second year of naval training (which includes a stint aboard the Navy training ship Juan Sebastian Elcano) and then the Spanish Air Force Academy.

Spain’s royal family has agreed for Princess Leonor’s military training to precede her university studies. In other words, she will follow in her father’s footsteps.

Juan Carlos was forced to abdicate the Spanish throne amid a scandal involving members of the royal family and after apologizing for a trip to Africa (including an elephant safari) at a time when Spain was in turmoil economic crisis.

The former monarch left Spain in August 2020 and moved to Abu Dhabi when a prosecutorial investigation into him for fraud began, but was dropped last year.