Queen Letizia and King Felipe sue shopping centre after ‘security staff member leaked pictures of teenage daughter Princess Leonor’

The Spanish Royal Family has taken legal action to protect Princess Leonor’s privacy for the first time, reports claim.

The alleged invasion of privacy occurred in Chile, when Leonor was enjoying free time from her current navy training onboard the Juan Sebastian de Elcano, which she commenced in January.

The training course has seen the 19-year-old live apart from family and friends for months as she travels the world.

However, the princess’s travels haven’t gone without speculation. Earlier this year, photographs of the eldest child of King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain in a Chilean shopping centre surfaced.

The Royal Family reportedly consider the images a breach of Leonor’s privacy, resulting in them taking legal action for the first time, according to Lecturas.

Chilean news outlet biobiochile.cl further claimed that the Spanish Embassy in Chile filed a complaint with the National Police regarding the photographs, which showed Leonor inside a shopping centre in Punta Arenas.

The Spanish Royal Family claimed that a staff member responsible for monitoring the shopping centre’s security cameras granted a Chilean media outlet access to the images and thus breached data protection regulations in Chile, the outlet said.

The report further claimed that the palace considered the images of Leonor to be ‘unacceptable’.

Spain’s Royal Family have reportedly taken legal action to protect Princess Leonor’s privacy (seen in October)

Amid the speculations, Leonor received a special visit from her mother last week at the Port of Fuerte Amador in Panama City.

In an adorable moment, the pair threw royal protocol to the wind as they reunited after months apart last Saturday.

Letizia flew over 8,000 miles across the globe to see her beloved daughter. She and her daughter had not seen each other since January, when she set sail aboard the Juan Sebastian de Elcano.

Moving video footage from the Spanish Royal Household captured the moment they were finally reunited, with Leonor running across the port to greet her mother. 

She was soon embraced in an effusive hug that was so powerful Leonor had to take her hat off, while the Queen had tears in her eyes.

They were then pictured excitedly catching up, as Leonor, who previously graduated from UWC Atlantic in South Wales, has been on a whirlwind adventure.

Letizia’s visit to Panama was an unofficial trip, sources at Zarzuela Palace told Spain’s Hola! Magazine.

And their moving reunion was made all the more special – as it was the weekend Mother’s Day is celebrated in Spain. 

The 19-year-old was snapped during her free time from her naval training ship Juan Sebastian Elcano (seen with Queen Letizia in Panama earlier this month)

Spain’s Crown Princess Leonor was greeted by her mother Letizia after disembarking from the Spanish Navy training ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano

Pictured: King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Crown Princess Leonor, and Infanta Sofia during the Concert of Princess of Asturias Awards in Oviedo, Spain, in October

While Leonor was smartly kitted out in her naval uniform, her mother had chosen to wear matching shades of white in casual jeans, T-shirt and white trainers. 

For the Crown Princess’s training cruise, she is sailing through two oceans, and visiting 10 ports and eight countries in America, according to La Vanguardia.

She will stay in her stopover in Panama until May 6, where she’s been enjoying exploring. 

The Princess of Asturias, as she is also known, participated in a visit to Panama Viejo, took a short walk to the Cathedral Tower and visited several rooms of the Museum (of Panama Viejo), which has a commemorative plaque of the visit of His Majesty the King 2019. 

Her Royal Highness and the Queen participated in the reception on board that traditionally takes place and had lunch at the El Nacional restaurant in the old town in Panama. 

Leonor has so far been to Peru, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. She is soon due to pass through Colombia and the Dominican Republic, before concluding her journey in New York. 

The 19-year-old has been serving on the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ as a first midshipman. 

Letizia’s welcome marked the first visit the heir to the throne has received from family and loved ones since she set sail on January 11, when she set sail in Cadiz. 

The Princess of Asturias appeared delighted to see her mother during her travels around the world on a naval training cruise

Meanwhile, her parents smiled and waved goodbye, while King Felipe documented the milestone by snapping photographs of Leonor. 

She is following in the footsteps of her father, Felipe, and her grandfather, King Juan Carlos, who also carried out a similar trip.

Leonor – who began three years of military training in 2023 – looked just the part in her navy uniform. 

As she is the heir to the throne, Leonor will one day take the title of Commander in Chief of the armed forces, alongside being the Queen of Spain.

She therefore has to spend three years in each section of defence and has already  spent a year at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza.

Last month, Leonor enjoyed a break from naval training as she took a dip in the sea at a sunny spot in Uruguay. 

The future queen was aboard the training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano when she enjoyed well-earned time off with her fellow midshipmen.

Showing off her style, the Princess of Asturias wore flip flops, shorts and a white T-shirt as she slung a trendy tote bag over her shoulder.

Alongside her fellow naval trainee, Leonor wondered through the beaches La Mulata near Montevideo, which was half an hour from the hotel where the royal was staying.

Leonor is clearly following in her mother Queen Letizia’s footsteps, who is known for her style prowess.

She spent a year with the Spanish army before training to be a marine and will then move onto her final rotation at the General Air Academy. 

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