Eleanor is no longer a princess in Wales. After two years in which she has completed the International Baccalaureate at Atlantic College, the eldest daughter of the Kings says goodbye today to her classmates and teachers in a graduation ceremony attended by the Kings and the Infanta Sofía. The King and Queen, accompanied by the Infanta Sofía, have traveled this morning from Madrid to London to attend the ceremony and the four have posed at the gates of the San Donato castle, one of the dependencies of the boarding school where the graduation is celebrated, for some photographs that the Zarzuela has made public.
Leonor de Borbón, who turns 18 next October 31, closes her pre-university stage; Her return to a training center will have a military character with her admission on August 17 at the General Academy of Land in Zaragoza. She will follow two more courses, at the Naval Academy of Marín and at the Air Academy, in San Javier, before beginning, in 2026, her university studies in Madrid.
Princess Leonor set foot in the Welsh center for the first time on August 30, 2021. Then, Zarzuela provided some photos of her arrival at Atlantic College, which were preceded by other family images, captured that same day at the Barajas airport, where The Kings and the Infanta Sofía went to say goodbye to Leonor. Since then, no more images have been captured, nor has information been provided on the heiress's studies. It is known that, in these two years, she has shared a room with other students and has participated in the extracurricular activities of the center that go through work in the social and environmental field. Her notes have not been provided, nor information about her favorite subjects, but she has successfully passed both courses.
La Zarzuela considers the graduation of Princess Leonor a private act, so no information has been provided about the presence of the Kings or other relatives, although before attending the graduation, La Zarzuela has released two photographs, one with the background of the castle of San Donato and another with a medium shot of the family, in which the graduate can be seen in a red dress from the firm Apparientia and thick-heeled sandals from Mint
The Reyes and their daughter Sofía left the Torrejón base this morning on an official plane that took them to Cardiff airport (Wales). This afternoon after the ceremony and a meal shared by students, family members and teachers, the King and Queen with their two daughters will return to Madrid.
On previous occasions, Atlantic College has broadcast the graduation ceremony of other students by streaming (live transmission through its own channels) but on this occasion, alleging security and privacy reasons, the transmission has been cancelled.
Princess Leonor has received her diploma in a ceremony, if not informal, exempt from the protocol of other schools. The diploma delivery ceremony is called the Leavers Celebration (Graduation Ceremony) and is held in a tent set up for the occasion, with capacity for three hundred students and their families. On a stage are the director and the group of teachers and, to one side, a small musical ensemble made up of students. Around the stage are the flags of the 80 countries that correspond to the nationalities of the different students from half the world. Graduates do not wear a cap or gown, but they do receive, one by one, the corresponding diplomas. The act ends with a speech by one of the graduate students and the director of the school.
The Atlantic College is a private center where students enter after passing several blind tests, in which teachers evaluate their abilities without knowing their identity. Most pay about 45,000 euros per course, which includes classes, lodging and maintenance, but there are also places with scholarships for students with high abilities but low income.
The Infanta Sofía, who accompanies her parents at the graduation, will follow in the footsteps of Princess Leonor since, at the end of August, she will enter the Atlantic College to study, like her sister, the two years of the International Baccalaureate.
In addition to Leonor de Borbón, Alexia, the middle daughter of the kings of the Netherlands, who has also completed two years of high school, is also graduating today. King Guillermo, who has sat next to the Kings and Infanta Sofía, and Queen Máxima have also attended the graduation ceremony of their middle daughter.
The school, whose facilities include the 12th-century St Donat's Castle building, is located 35 kilometers from Cardiff and 270 from London, and houses boys and girls students of many nationalities and of different races and religions. The center belongs to the United World Colleges (UWC) organization, a network whose leitmotiv is "to promote international understanding through education."
