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Jun 24, 2023

Welcome to Wales! Infanta Sofia of Spain, daughter of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, cuts a casual figure at UWC Atlantic College

By Stephanie Bridger-Linning Infanta Sofia of Spain has arrived at UWC Atlantic College, in Wales It’s back to school for Infanta Sofia of Spain, who is starting at the royal-approved UWC Atlantic

By Stephanie Bridger-Linning

Infanta Sofia of Spain has arrived at UWC Atlantic College, in Wales

It’s back to school for Infanta Sofia of Spain, who is starting at the royal-approved UWC Atlantic College in Wales this term. The younger daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain will begin her two-year International Baccalaureate diploma at the Welsh boarding school, which is located within a 12-century castle on the South Wales coast.

Revisit education editor Tori Cadogan’s peek behind the school gates as Infanta Sofia of Spain leaves Madrid for UWC Atlantic

By Tori Cadogan

To mark the occasion, the Spanish royal family shared a number of photographs of Infanta Sofia exploring the grounds. Dressed down in a plaid shirt, black crop top and on-trend cargo pants, it would be difficult to tell the casual princess apart from her teenage peers. The palace also released photographs showing Sofia bidding farewell to her parents, Letizia and Felipe.

The princess cut a casual figure in photos released by the Spanish royal palace

By Isaac Bickerstaff

By Ollie Macnaughton

By Annabel Sampson

Sofia, 16, follows in the footsteps of her older sister Princess Leonor, the future queen of Spain, who graduated from the school at the end of the last academic year. Leonor’s classmates included Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, the middle daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.

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By Tori Cadogan

Past alumni include King Willem-Alexander, Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein of Jordan, and Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, Belgium’s future queen, who went on to study at Oxford. They’ve all eaten in the huge gothic dining hall and lived in four-person dormitories in one of the eight houses on the 122-acre seafront campus. King Willem-Alexander relished being part of the school’s lifeboat service, and it was at UWC Atlantic in the 1960s that the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was invented.

Infanta Sofia, pictured at UWC Atlantic College, is following in the footsteps of her sister Princess Leonor

That’s typical of the truly modern education offered within. Founded in 1962 by Dr Kurt Hahn, who set up Gordonstoun, the alma mater of the Duke of Edinburgh (who loved it) and the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III, who hated it), UWC Atlantic aimed to bridge social, national and cultural divides, and according to the college, ‘its mission was... to promote peace through progressive education’. Sixty years later, UWC has 18 campuses on four continents, educating more than 10,500 pupils each year from 150 countries. Former college presidents include the Prince of Wales and Nelson Mandela – Queen Noor of Jordan is currently in the post.

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By Isaac Bickerstaff

With its roll call of royalty, the school sounds very grand. But UWC Atlantic is, deliberately, far from that. The 360 pupils studying in Wales come from 90 different countries and are specifically chosen for their diversity, as well as their ‘mindset, attitude and genuine passion to serve society’. UWC pupils fall into two categories: culturally, politically, socially and economically diverse scholars from more than 155 countries worldwide who are selected by 3,000 volunteers globally; and fee-paying students.

With so much to offer, and such a dynamic cohort of students, Infanta Sofia of Spain is no doubt set for an exciting new chapter.

By Isaac Bickerstaff

By Ollie Macnaughton

By Annabel Sampson

The princess bade farewell to her parents this week