Private photos of Crown Princess Leonor cause trouble

Royal excursion with consequences

Private photos of Crown Princess Leonor trigger trouble

Visiting a shopping center is actually nothing special. But if a princess is involved, the trip can degenerate into a small affair. As with Leonor.

The Spanish embassy in Chile has filed a complaint for the spread of photos of Crown Princess Leonor. The pictures that the 19-year-old showed around 3,000 kilometers south of the capital Santiago de Chile when visiting a shopping center in Punta Arenas in southern Chilia were passed on and published by media in the South American country, the Spanish newspapers “El País” and “El Mundo” and other media reported to the royal house in Madrid.

According to the Spanish information, the pictures come from the surveillance cameras of the shopping center. This suggests that the security personnel have illegally passed on the photos to the media, it said. Such behavior is unacceptable and violates data protection laws in Chile and Spain.

The shopping center has now confirmed the transfer of the photos in a communiqué, but rejected all allegations. “The widespread images were handed over to the media by Punta Arenas free zone on request for journalistic purposes.” Leonor's private visit in a publicly accessible area went “under completely normal conditions” on Thursday. “At any time, she moved in safe areas without being addressed or disturbed,” it said.

The oldest daughter of King Felipe VI. And Queen Letizia is currently completing part of her military training on the Spanish school ship “Juan Sebastian Elcano”, which was already heading for Salvador (Brazil) and Montevideo (Uruguay) in front of Punta Arenas in South America. According to Königshaus, the princess does not enjoy royal preference on board: she shares a small cabin with two colleagues, sleeps in a bunk and uses community toilets.

Leonor has been in military training since 2023. At first she spent a year with the army. Finally, she should be trained as a pilot at the Air Force. She does not use the monthly gold of 400 euros.