CELEBRATING HER 18TH BIRTHDAY THE PRINCESS OF ASTURIAS FOLLOWS IN HER FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS AS SHE SWEARS ALLEGIANCE TO SPAIN

It was a moment filled with family pride last week when Leonor, the Princess of Asturias, swore allegiance to the Spanish constitution in front of her proud parents.

- EMILY NASH

In historic tradition on the day she turned 18, the heir to the throne gave her oath and pledged loyalty to her father, King Felipe VI, bowing her head to him as her mother Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old sister Infanta Sofía looked on.

Leonor, who looked suitably regal in a white trouser suit from Madrid tailor Sastrería Serna, proudly wore the Order of the Golden Fleece medal on her lapel to take centre stage in Spain’s parliament, the Cortes Generales.

Spain!” A cry of: “¡Viva!” rang out in response from the country’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and hundreds of politicians.

CELEBRATIONS BEGIN

Leonor embraced her parents and the national anthem was played, before a 19-gun salute rang out outside the capital’s Almudena Cathedral, where Felipe and Letizia married in 2004.