The same ritual, two different eras.
On October 18, 1988, a young Felipe de Borbón drove his own car to the Faculty of Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. People were waiting for him outside and welcomed him with applause, as if they already knew that student would become king.
Almost four decades later, on September 7, 2026, his daughter Leonor repeats the scene on another campus. This time it is Carlos III University of Madrid, and the degree she has chosen is Political Science, a four-year path that brings her a little closer to her future as head of state.
The photos of both of them, taken 38 years apart, show something no crown can change: the nervousness of the first day of classes is the same for everyone, even for someone born to reign.