Princess Leonor’s Bejeweled Eighteenth Birthday Decorations in Madrid

The Spanish royals arrived at the Cortes Generales in Madrid on Tuesday morning for the ceremony during which Princess Leonor pledged an oath to the nation’s constitution. As the heiress presumptive to the Spanish throne, the moment is a significant milestone in Leonor’s journey toward her future role as Queen of Spain.

The family joined dignitaries inside the plenary hall of the Palacio de las Cortes, where the lower house of the legislature, the Congress of Deputies, meets. Nine years ago, the family attended King Felipe VI’s proclamation ceremony in the same hall.

Felipe swore his own oath to the constitution in the same space on January 30, 1986. Above, Radio Televisión Española shows a side-by-side view of the current monarch and his heir on their eighteenth birthdays. Felipe’s oath came almost five years after the plenary hall experienced one of its most heated moments: the attempted coup d’etat in 1981. There are still visible bullet holes in the hall’s ceiling today from that failed coup.

With King Felipe and Queen Letizia watching, Princess Leonor stepped forward and pledged her allegiance to the Spanish constitution before the president of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol Socias.

Her younger sister, Infanta Sofia, was also present for the important moment. Beside her here you’ll also spot Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Princess Leonor also received medals from both legislative houses, the Senate and the Congress of Deputies, during the ceremony.

Here’s a closer look at the two medals. You’ll be able to spot King Felipe wearing his own medals in several pictures in this article as well.

After the ceremony, a luncheon was held at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Here, King Felipe delivers remarks ahead of the meal. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of the day for the continuity of Spain’s democratic principles and constitutional values.

At the palace luncheon, King Felipe also presented Princess Leonor with another special gift: the insignia of the Order of Carlos III, Spain’s highest chivalric decoration. Here, he places the collar of the order on Leonor’s shoulders.

Here, Leonor poses wearing the collar of the order. She also has the ribbon and badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece pinned to her jacket.

During the luncheon, Leonor swapped out the large collar in favor of the smaller ribbon and badge of the Order of Carlos III as well.

The blue and white colors of the order’s ribbon were echoed by the sartorial choices of the Spanish royal ladies for today’s ceremony. Princess Leonor wore a sharp white trouser suit, while Queen Letizia opted for a vibrant blue dress with interesting embellishments on the shoulders, and Infanta Sofia chose a dress with a blue floral pattern.

Today was all about the links between Leonor and the Spanish monarchs who have come before her, but that white trouser suit immediately made me think of another connection: the suit worn by her mother, Queen Letizia, during the announcement of her engagement to King Felipe in November 2003, almost exactly 20 years ago.

Leonor, shown here wearing her legislative medals and the Golden Fleece insignia, also added a little blue to her ensemble with a pair of small but sparkling earrings.

UFO No More tells us that these are the Sasa earrings from Gold & Roses. The earrings, which Leonor wore in a more traditional manner, can also be positioned horizontally on the earlobe. They’re made of rose gold and set with diamonds and tanzanites.

Queen Letizia chose jewelry with a blue theme to go with her outfit as well, wearing her diamond and aquamarine hoops from Bulgari.

The earrings can also be worn with eye-catching aquamarine and diamond pendants. The earrings were a fitting choice, as they were reportedly given to Letizia to celebrate Leonor’s birth in October 2005.

We saw Leonor herself wear the full earrings recently during the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony in Oviedo.

No major jewelry yet for Leonor’s younger sister, Infanta Sofia—but she’s still just sixteen and has plenty of time to explore her jewelry style in the coming years.