Everything is ready to celebrate the big day of Princess Leonor who, on the occasion of reaching the age of majority, next Tuesday, October 31, will swear in the Constitution before the Cortes Generales in an event that will be held at the headquarters of the Congress of the Deputies. Later, the Princess, together with the Kings and Infanta Sofía, will go by car, escorted by the Royal Guard Squadron, from the Carrera de San Jerónimo to the Royal Palace where the act of imposition on the Princess of the Necklace of the Order of Charles III and a subsequent lunch with the assistance of the Government and representatives of the high institutions of the State. In the afternoon, and outside the official agenda, the Kings will offer a private reception to their families to celebrate the event.
According to a note made public this Friday by the Congress of Deputies, the ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m., when the arrival of the Kings, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía, escorted by the Squadron of the Royal Guard, to the Carrera de San Jerónimo, where they will be forming the Mixed Honors Battalion, formed by the Honors Company of the Army; Flag and escort of the Flag of the Air and Space Army; Navy Honors Company; Honors Company of the Civil Guard; and Honors Squadron of the Air and Space Army.
The Kings and their daughters will be received by the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), Teodoro Esteban López Calderón. From the podium, the King will receive military honors and will then review the Honors Battalion accompanied by the Chief of the Military Quarter and the Chief of the Honors Group.
The procession will head towards the main façade of the Congress Palace, decorated with the baldachin or gala canopy, a unique piece that exceeds a century of history and which decorated the Congress atrium for the first time in 1902, on the occasion of the swearing-in of the King Alfonso XIII when he came of age. Composed of two pieces, the central panel, with a shield in the center, and the front side where the provinces are represented, it has a weight of 215 kilos and occupies an area of 147 square meters, to cover the entire atrium of the Puerta de los Lions.
At the foot of the stairs, the president of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol, and the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, will receive the Royal Family who, preceded by the presidents of both Chambers, will enter the Hall through the Lions' Gate. de la Reina, where they will greet the president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde Pumpido, and the president of the General Council of the Judiciary by substitution, the member Vicente Guilarte.
Next, the Kings, the Princess and the Infanta will greet the members of the Congress and Senate Boards in the Hall of Lost Steps. Once the greeting is over, the authorities will directly access the platform of the chamber.
This room has been adapted for the solemn session with the removal of the seats to replace them with a total of 585 chairs to accommodate the deputies and senators. Likewise, the Presidency area has been replaced by an elevated dais that is accessed from the stairs of the Agenda Gallery and is only displayed when the head of State goes to the Chamber.
On this stage will be the Kings, the Princess, the Infanta, the president of Congress, the president of the Senate, the acting Government, the presidents of the Constitutional Court and the General Council, the acting Government, the presidents of the Constitutional Court and of the General Council. The rest of the guests will be located in the stands and the parliamentarians in the seating area. The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés, nor the president of the Basque Government, Iñigo Urkullu, will not attend the event called in Congress, nor will the representatives of Esquerra, Junts, PNV, EH Bildu and BNG.
The president of Congress will open the Session and will deliver a speech that will include a reference to the agreement adopted by the Council of Ministers on October 10, 2023, requesting the holding of the joint session of the chambers for the provision of the oath referred to in article 61 of the Constitution by the crown princess. At the end of her words, Francina Armengol will ask the attendees to stand up and ask the Princess of Asturias and Girona to take the oath in accordance with the Spanish Constitution.
He will do so on the copy of the Spanish Constitution in which his father, the then Prince of Asturias, took the oath when he turned 18, on January 30, 1986, a replica of the manuscript by the pendolist Luis Moreno, similar to the one exposed in the Desk of the Constitution. Specifically, it is the seventh in a series of two hundred copies printed in 1980 on boned laid paper, manufactured expressly for this edition by Guarro Casas. An insert of the reforms of articles 13 and 135 has been added to this copy
Once the oath has been taken by the Cortes Generales, the president of the Congress will adjourn, and will accompany the Kings, the Princess and the infanta, to the Desk where the presidents of both Chambers will impose on the Heir to the Crown the medals of the Congress of the Deputies and the Senate.
The Medal of the Congress of Deputies, which His Majesty the King also has, is made of sterling silver, decorated with fine gold plating and fired enamel, with engraved reverse and gold flutes. It comes with a beaded cord and in an imitation leather case.
In the Hall of Ministers, the Princess of Asturias will sign the Congress' Book of Honor, which will inaugurate its second edition on the occasion of this swearing-in ceremony. This artisanal work has been commissioned from a binding workshop founded in Cádiz in 1945 by the Galván family, the same one that bound the first copy of the Chamber, released by King Juan Carlos, in 1998, coinciding with the 20th anniversary. of the Spanish Constitution, and which to date has been signed by thirty heads of state, among other personalities who have visited Congress.
The ceremony inside the Congress will close in the Hall of the Lost Steps, with greetings to all those invited to the event: vice presidents and acting ministers, dean of the Diplomatic Corps, presidents of the autonomous communities, former presidents of the Government, head of the opposition, parliamentary spokespersons, speakers of the Constitution, former presidents of both chambers and other authorities, parliamentarians and other guests.
Once the greeting to the guests is concluded, the Kings, the Princess and the Infanta, together with the authorities present, will stand on the Palace Stairs, from where they will witness the parade along the Carrera de San Jerónimo towards the square. from Cánovas del Castillo.
The Kings, the princess and the infanta will leave the Congress in the direction of the Royal Palace, by car with an honor escort of the Royal Guard. Upon the arrival of the delegation, the Honors Section of the Royal Battery, located in the Plaza de la Almudena, will fire a salute of twenty-one cannon shots (those corresponding to His Majesty the King), during the interpretation of the national anthem, by of the Music Unit of the
Royal Guard.
Once the Kings, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía enter the Royal Palace, they will go to the Hall of Carlos III, for the imposition on the Princess of Asturias of the Necklace of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III.
In the Carlos III Hall, at the beginning of the event, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will speak, and then, the King will impose the Charles III Necklace on the Princess of Asturias, in the presence of the Government and the Powers of the State . Once the imposition is over, Princess Leonor will say a few words.
The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III is an order that was established in 1771, by King Charles III, 1771 with the Latin motto “Virtuti et merito”, with the purpose of decorating those people who had stood out especially for their good deeds for the benefit of Spain and the Crown. Since its creation, it continues to occupy first place among the highest distinctions of the Kingdom of Spain. The Charles III Necklace is reserved for members of the Spanish Royal Family, heads of State and Government and those Spanish citizens who have held the Grand Cross for more than three years. The King received the distinction from his father, King Juan Carlos, on January 30, 1986, the day he came of age. .
Once the event is over, the King and Queen and the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofia will go to the Throne Room, where they will greet the guests at the lunch that will be held on the occasion of the Princess' oath of the Constitution.
Among more than a hundred guests are the Government, representatives of the high institutions of the State; of the Diplomatic Corps, former presidents of the Government, presidents of Autonomous Communities, Constitutional bodies, speakers of the Constitution, representatives of the Armed Forces,
Congress and Senate, political parties with parliamentary representation, European Commission, Spanish Olympic Committee, State Security Forces and Corps, Knights of the Golden Fleece, Military Orders and Deputation of Greatness, Foundations, Royal Academies, city councils, religious confessions, agents Social and Youth Council.
The lunch will take place in the Gala Dining Room, where the King will say a few words, which will conclude the institutional events. In the information note made public this Friday by Zarzuela, it is recalled that "as indicated at the time, in the late afternoon, a family and private celebration will take place at the El Pardo Palace, which will be attended by the Royal Family, the King's family and the Queen's family.
