The confirmation of Infanta Sofia is a family celebration

Infanta Sofia of Spain has been confirmed at a ceremony in Madrid.

The service was also the first public appearance for Sofia’s sister, Princess Leonor, since her return to Spain after completing her studies in Wales. Sofia, 16, and second in line to the Spanish throne, arrived with 17 year old Leonor, the heir, on a sunny morning in Madrid.

The sisters posed for photographs before the ceremony, joined firstly by their parents and then by their grandparents. Princess Leonor walked hand in hand with her paternal grandmother, Queen Sofia, as the family gathered before putting her arm around her maternal grandmother, Paloma Rocasolano.

Leonor and Sofia were also joined by the maternal grandfather, Jesus Ortiz. However, their other grandfather, King Juan Carlos I, was not present. He now lives in Abu Dhabi having gone into self imposed exile there in August 2020.

Infanta Sofia was confirmed alongside her classmates from the Santa Maria de los Rosales college at the Church of the Ascension of Avadera in Madrid where Leonor was confirmed in 2021. Both also had their First Communions at the church.

Sofia will leave the college this summer and head to UWC Atlantic College to complete her secondary education. Leonor, meanwhile, will begin her military training this autumn in Zaragoza.