As Spain's heir to the throne celebrates her First Holy Communion, The Local takes a look at the life so far of Spain's little princess.
Spain's nine-year-old heir to the throne is on Wednesday set to celebrate her First Holy Communion.
Princess Leonor, the eldest of King Felipe and Queen Letizia's two daughters, will receive her First Communion along with her Year 4 classmates in the parish of la Parroquia Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Aravaca, in Madrid.
The youngester became Spain's heir when her grandfather, King Juan Carlos, sensationally abdicated in 2014, making way for his son, Felipe to take the Spanish crown.
The King’s mounted Royal Guards will no longer be able to wear their iconic ceremonial helmets on parades, after the Swedish Work Environment Authority warned of serious safety concerns.
“We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously and we are going to address this immediately,” colonel Stefan Nacksten, head of the Royal Guards, wrote in a statement.
Employed by the Armed Forces, the Royal Guards are the King’s cavalry and infantry units and are a well-known sight at ceremonies in Sweden, including at the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace of Stockholm every day in summer – a popular spectacle for Stockholmers and tourists alike.
The helmets will no longer be used by Royal Guards on horseback from July 7th, as they do not conform to safety standards for riding helmets, although guards parading on foot will still be permitted to wear them.
They are part of the 1895 parade uniforms and were last modified in 2000. The Armed Forces will now create an entirely new helmet which looks the part, but is also safe for riding.
“We’re working on finding an alternative solution as quickly as possible which meets safety requirements and can also be used during parades,” Nacksten said.
“We’ve been working long-term with this issue but now that it has been assessed [by the Swedish Work Environment Authority] we need to take measures immediately,” he added.
“This is good, and now we’re working to make sure something good comes out of this and we can get a safe riding helmet for parades in place as soon as possible.”
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