Princess Leonor captivates the public in Spain as future Queen turns 18
Princess Leonor will turn 18 on Tuesday
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Leonor, Princess of Asturias will turn 18 on Tuesday, bringing her into the public eye as the heir apparent in Spain.
To celebrate, there will be a ceremonial ceremony in the Spanish Parliament where Leonor will receive the Senate and Congress medals and vow allegiance to the Constitution.
The Spanish Royal Family has released several previously unseen images of the princess in advance of the ceremony.
One of them shows Leonor with her father, King Felipe VI, who was still a prince at the time, and her mother, Queen Letizia on her first day of school.
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Another picture shows Leonor holding the World Cup trophy that the Spanish men's football team won in 2010.
Some photographs depict the princess with her younger sister, Infanta Sofia.
To further celebrate Leonor's birthday, there will be a family get-together at the El Pardo palace after the ceremony, which is located outside of Madrid.
Following years of being carefully protected, the princess is finally becoming a highly public figure, as confirmed by the release of the photographs and a string of recent appearances in the run-up to her birthday.
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Carmen Remirez de Ganuza, a royal biographer, stated that Leonor "will need her own narrative" and that she "will have to connect with her own digital generation".
Everything has been going well leading up to the princess becoming a senior royal.
Leonor graduated in May with an International Baccalaureate from UWC Atlantic, a residential college located in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Her mentor commended her "unwavering passion for learning, for understanding people and exploring diverse perspectives" in addition to her sense of humour.
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The princess's fellow students cheered as she accepted her diploma.
Given the curiosity in the soon-to-be 18-year-old, "Leonormania" is already being popularised in Spain.
Rumours surfaced earlier this year suggesting she was romantically involved with Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, also known as Gavi, a football player for Barcelona and Spain.
Although such rumours proved to be untrue, they did demonstrate the desire in certain circles for the princess to appear in pop culture.