After the adoption of the Euro, Spaniards are no longer accustomed to seeing the faces of their royal family on their coins and notes. That doesn't mean the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (Royal Mint) has stopped casting them entirely, however. The latest is a coin commemorating the imminent first official visit by the heir to the throne, Leonor, to Asturias (princess, or prince, of Asturias is the main title of the Spanish heir).
It comes with a 30€ (£27, $35) price tag, but you can't buy dinner with it, it isn't legal tender, just a collector's item. Whilst people online would be happy to just joke about that, they have another tempting target: the metal profile of the heir to the throne looks nothing like the real princess.
#new Con motivo de la celebración del 1300 aniversario de la creación del Reino de Asturias, la Real Casa de la Moneda ha preparado la emisión de una moneda de colección de 30 euros dedicada a la efeméride.#leonor #leonordeborbon #princesaleonor #princesadeasturias pic.twitter.com/Z4l9HQtcXM
— S.M. Reina Letizia (@LetiziadePaR) 22 de juliol de 2018
Translation: On the celebration of the 1300th anniversary of the creation of the kingdom of Asturias, the Royal Mint has prepared an issue of a 30€ collectors coin.
The coin will be on sale from October at banks, showing the princess behind her father, king Felipe VI. Her father appears without his beard, she without any resemblance to real life. It could be an image of any young girl, but not Leonor. Initial reactions in the press go from the most gentle ("[the image] has a physiognomy which differs a little from that which princess Leonor has in reality"), to the most biting ("eyes which are too small, a nose whose tip is too pronounced, lips which are too fine, a forehead which is too wide... in short... we don't know who's been the model for them to create the profile, but it clearly wasn't Leonor").
GTRES
They're as alike as an egg and a chestnut. What is recognisable is the Toisón de Oro (Order of the Golden Fleece) around her neck, which her father awarded her on her 12th birthday. After looking for what the Mint might have based their "likeness" on, we think we might have found it: a previous attempt at sculpting the princess by Madrid's Wax Museum.
EFE
Sadly, it seems that in neither wax nor metal have they quite got it. If Leonor does become queen, we're curious as to what the official photo that will hang in all official Spanish organisations will look like.