Spanish Princess Leonor flies a fighter plane for the first time

The Crown Princess of Spain, Princess Leonor, achieved an important achievement in her military training, after she succeeded in piloting an F-35 fighter plane.

Leonor, 20 years old, flew the plane under the supervision of an instructor at a flight school located at the Talavera Larreal Air Base.

The princess visited the “23rd Wing” of the Fighter Aviation School at the air base, accompanied by her colleagues at the General Academy of Aviation and Space in San Javier, after she began her three-year military training in 2023. A video clip, filmed last month, showed Leonor smiling and raising her thumbs up to the audience from the cockpit before taking off.

The princess appeared calm and graceful as she got off the plane, before shaking hands with the instructors and taking pictures with her fellow students.

As heir to the Spanish throne, Leonor will one day assume the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, so she will have to spend a period in each branch of defence. Royal sources have confirmed that later this year, Leonor will begin a four-year university study in political science at the Carlos III University in Madrid.

At the Spanish University, Leonor will study courses in the humanities, economics, sociology, history, and international relations, in preparation for her future as queen, according to the statement.

Leonor is currently undergoing the final stages of her training at the General Academy of Aviation and Space, after spending a year at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza and six months on board the Juan Sebastian de Elcano, a training ship of the Spanish Navy.

Last July, the Princess of Asturias, as Leonor is also known, received the Grand Cross of Naval Merit from her father, King Felipe, at the prestigious Naval Military Academy in Marin. This honor came in recognition of her commitment and connection to the Spanish Armed Forces, and represented an important moment in her royal career.

The Grand Cross of Naval Merit is a high-level military decoration awarded in recognition of distinguished service within the Navy. Leonor’s mother, Queen Letizia, and her younger sister, Princess Sofia, were smiling proudly as they watched the ceremony.

The Princess began her aviation training after her arrival in San Javier, last September, and at that time Leonor wrote a letter in the academy’s honor roll in which she said: “I begin the third stage of my military training at this General Academy of Aviation and Space, and I look forward with enthusiasm to this course, which will give me the opportunity to begin my training in the field of aviation.” About “Daily Mail”