15-year-old Spanish Crown Princess Leonor left for Wales in the United Kingdom on Monday, to attend two years of school at the prestigious United World Colleges Atlantic school. Her father King Felipe VI, her mother Queen Letizia and her sister Sofía waved her goodbye at the airport.
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– Photo: EPA-EFE
The school is located in the medieval castle of St Donat on the south coast of Wales, not far from Cardiff. The training costs about 67,000 pounds (about 78,000 euros) annually, which the royal family will pay itself, the Spanish royal family emphasized. Still, the price tag of the two-yearly training came under criticism from the royal family, especially from the left-wing parties that want to abolish the monarchy.
Until recently, Princess Leonor and her sister attended the private school Santa María de los Rosales in western Madrid, where a school year costs about 7,000 euros per child. The Spanish royal family receives a good 8.4 million euros annually from the Spanish state budget to cover its expenses. The royal family underlined that Princess Leonor will not neglect her institutional duties in Wales.
The United World Colleges (UWC) school group was founded in 1962 by German educator Kurt Hahn. With eighteen schools, the UWC calls itself “a global movement” that makes education “a force” to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future, according to the website. Like Princess Leonor, the Dutch Princess Alexia will also attend school at UWC Atlantic for two years. Princess Elisabeth of Belgium previously studied at the school.
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