Queens grow up, the future of European monarchies is bright

Leonor of Spain chose a white trouser suit – color symbol of purity – to formalize the investiture as heir to the throne.

Just like the one worn by his mother, lto the very bourgeois Queen Letizia on the day of her engagement to her father, Felipe VI, on 6 November 2003.

The former journalist purchased a white Giorgio Armani power suit just a few days before the announcement, at least according to her biographies.

Last October 31st, the Princess of Asturias turned 18 and, as expected, swore on the Constitution.

She will bring a breath of fresh air when her time comes as Leonor I: Spain will have its second queen after 150 years.

The last was Isabel II who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

The eldest daughter of the Spanish royal family – very popular on TikTok with more than 423 million views with the hashtag #princessleonorofspain – she will not be alone: ​​four other future queens will reign with her.

Future queens grow up

In the history of European monarchies there had never been an all-female poker of aces.

They will be the granddaughter of the King of Norway, Ingrid Alexandra, the daughter of the King of the Netherlands, Catherine-Amalia and the daughter of the King of Belgium, Elizabeth.

And then, the “oldest” of the group, Victoria of Sweden with her daughter Estelle who will take over the kingdom upon her death.

Currently the only reigning monarch is Margrethe II of Denmark, the other queens are all consorts, from Maxima of Holland to Camilla of England.

It will be too Kate Middleton when Prince William will have the scepter. While the European kings of the future will be “only” George of Cambridge, Frederik and his son Christian of Denmark and Jacques of Monaco.

A revolution, in short.

Princesses born between 2001 and 2005

Also because, with the exception of the heir to the Swedish throne, born in 1977, the princesses are all members of GenZ having come into the world between 2001 and 2005.

And they have already demonstrated their mettle as contemporary girls, all devoted to empowerment, inclusion and ecology.

Catherine-Amalia of Holland, for example, he surprised the country even before he turned eighteen.

In 2021 she refused the royal prerogative of one and a half million euros, which she would have been entitled to upon adulthood, declaring that she “doesn’t want a euro until she has done something to deserve it”.

A choice that made her immediately popular. So much so that, when she ended up at the center of a case of body shaming after a Portuguese magazine had defined her as “plus-size”, there was an outcry from Dutch subjects.

It didn’t go well for her, though. entry to the University of Amsterdam where she shared an apartment with other students: not even two months later she had to return to study at the Palace due to death threats; in the past she was also a victim of stalking.

Leonor of Spain comfortable with braces

Last August 17th she entered the Military Academy of Zaragozawhere she will study to one day become the supreme commander of the Armed Forces.

Ingrid Alexandra, however, will become Norway’s first female monarch in 600 years when she ascends the throne after her father.

At nineteen she left her family to live in a trendy neighborhood of Oslo, Grünerløkka, like any other girl.

And now she is an assistant in an elementary school, waiting to start military training, like her “colleagues” Elizabeth of Belgium and, indeed, Leonor of Spain.

«They are all very modern, perhaps also thanks to the fact that they had bourgeois mothers who wanted an almost “normal” education and existence for them» comments the journalist and writer Luisa Ciuni, author of The king’s two wives (Cairo).

(Almost) contemporary queens

Just think about Mette-Marit of Norway, a single mother before meeting Prince Haakon.

Different from Elizabeth II Of course, one wonders if they will follow the example of Elizabeth II who dedicated her life only to the Crown.

They will be granitically anchored to duty or will they bring a different magic to the monarchy by allowing themselves freer existences?

«Let’s say that they are five very different girls who however have in common a view of the world that goes beyond their small or large kingdom» she comments Marina Minelli, historian of European royalty (her royal live broadcasts on Instagram are widely followed and full of documented anecdotes).

«Compared to Elizabeth II they have the advantage of having been trained since birth for the role of sovereign while Elizabeth had to learn everything on the job.

They were born to one day be heads of state and not just, as in the past, temporary heirs waiting for the arrival of a male brother.

They are focused, attentive, serious, professional, perhaps more than their male colleagues of yesterday and today.

The military training they undergo is proof that equality goes both ways.

Will they be different from their grandparents and parents?

A lot also because they have to deal with a society completely transformed by the use not only of photography and videos but also of social media which make these images immediately viral with related comments, not always benevolent and too often centered on the outfits.

As for Elizabeth II’s influence, they were all born at the end of her era.

I believe that his image has been dominant and absolute in recent years.”

Queens of tomorrow: among the “oldest”, the millennial Victoria of Sweden

Victoria of Sweden, who suffered from anorexia in the past, has already made her revolution by choosing as her husband a commoner, a trainer she met in a gym in Stockholm, Prince Daniel.

He put his foot down: it was him or no crown, he had told his father, King Gustav.

Queen “by chance” after the abolition of the Salic law and not by absolute primogeniture like the other princesses (the throne should have gone to her brother Carlo Filippo) she dresses low cost and her daughter Estelle is already her photocopy, a “mini-me”.

Future inclusive queens and lovers of recycling

«Perhaps the only one who lives in the tradition is Elizabeth of Belgium» continues Luisa Ciuni.

«But it’s still too early to say. For now she seems to be a great fashion enthusiast, a bit like Kate Middleton, she is seen with refined couture garments and not necessarily from Belgian brands.

Let us remember, however, that her grandmother is a personality like Paola Ruffo of Calabria, queen until 2013.

My absolute favorite however, it is Ingrid Alexandra of Norway.

She dresses in recycled looks.

For her eighteenth birthday gala she wore a plum-colored dress with a flounced skirt that belonged to her mother Mette-Marit for whom she often acts as an institutional representative.

And for the nineteen she jumped with a parachute.

I like the new royal recruits: perhaps they will be divorced queens, with LGBTQ+ sexual orientations (the former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte has already announced that, if she wants, Caterina Amalia will be able to marry a person of the same sex without asking permission from Parliament), in any case with another way of understanding the Crown and life” he concludes.

In the meantime, there is also a princess without a kingdom, Vittoria di Savoia, born in 2003. Model, it girl and influencer with 87 thousand followers, eldest daughter of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and Clotilde Courau, she was designated by her grandfather Vittorio Emanuele as heir to the Italian throne. She is the future “queen” of a kingdom that no longer exists.

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