Princess Leonor makes history as first Spanish royal to complete a parachute jump

Royal family

The Spanish royal household releases photos of the future queen completing an intensive military parachuting course in Murcia, which included a daring night jump

María Eugenia Alonso

Madrid

She has already been seen navigating the high seas aboard the Spanish Navy’s training ship, the Juan Sebastián Elcano. She has also piloted an ... F-5 fighter jet in a green flight suit, channelling a distinct Top Gun aesthetic. Now, as her formal military training draws to a close, Princess Leonor of Spain has made history by becoming the first member of the Spanish royal family to complete a parachute jump.

According to an official statement released by the Spanish royal household (Casa del Rey) on Tuesday, the Princess of Asturias has just finished the Basic Parachuting Course at the Méndez Parada Military Parachuting School. The elite facility is located at the Alcantarilla Air Base in the Murcia region of south-eastern Spain, and the course serves as a core extension of her training at the General Air and Space Academy (AGA) in nearby San Javier.

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Alongside nearly 50 of her military classmates, the heir to the Spanish throne qualified to perform automatic (static-line) parachute jumps. This is the exact same qualification undertaken by personnel across all branches of the Spanish Armed Forces, including the Air and Space Force, the Army, the Navy, and the Civil Guard.

Parachute training is widely regarded as one of the most physically demanding and dangerous aspects of military instruction - one that neither her father, King Felipe VI, nor her grandfather, Juan Carlos I, undertook during their own service. Princess Leonor’s completion of the course proves that her fourth year of study alongside the 78th intake of cadets in San Javier is being conducted at the absolute highest and most rigorous level.

Images distributed by the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid show the King and Queen’s eldest daughter performing equipment checks prior to boarding a CASA C-212 Aviocar transport aircraft. Looking highly focused alongside her fellow cadets, she is seen following instructions from senior officers. Crucially, the training was not limited to daylight hours; images also capture Princess Leonor leaping into the void in the dead of night from an altitude of over 400 metres (1,300 feet) - one of the most high-risk exercises of her military education.

Having successfully passed the course, the Princess of Asturias has earned both a diploma and the prestigious Rokiski - a military badge consisting of open wings surrounding a parachute. She was actually spotted wearing the insignia last Saturday in Vigo during Spain's Armed Forces Day parade.

This marks another major milestone in her military career, which will conclude in just a few weeks. In September 2026, the future queen is set to begin a degree in Political Science at the Carlos III University of Madrid, a public institution.

On Wednesday, the heir to the throne is scheduled to attend official events in Murcia to bid farewell to the region that has hosted her over the past year. During the ceremony, she will be awarded the Gold Medal of the Region of Murcia and the Gold Medal of the Regional Assembly. She will also receive the highest honours from the municipality of San Javier, where she has been living: the Gold Medal of the Town and the title of Adopted Daughter.