Why TV coverage of Spain's Princess Leonor's move to study in Wales has sparked outrage

It was recently announced by the Spanish royal court that Princess Leonor, the future queen of the country, will start her secondary education in Wales. However, the TV coverage of the news has sparked a controversy.

Spain's state TV station RTVE, covered the news in a piece on its lunchtime programme "La Hora de La1." A screen banner put up by the channel during the piece read: ''Leonor is leaving Spain, like her grandfather." This was a reference to former Spanish monarch, King Juan Carlos I, who went into self-imposed exile in August last year following allegations of financial irregularities.

The banner stayed on the screen for about two minutes while the Princess' education was being discussed. The broadcast started receiving criticism shortly after it aired, with some politicians demanding an apology from the channel. The conservative Popular Party, the main opposition grouping in Spain, expressed outrage that the station was ''now attacking the Crown'' while its Head of Online Communication, Ismael Martin, called the incident ''one of the most embarrassing moments in the history'' of the TV station, reports Royal Central.

Social media users also reacted to the controversy, with many pointing that Leonor is only fifteen-years-old and a minor.

The channel soon issued an apology for the "serious error." Journalist Rosa María Mateo, who currently directs the station as its sole administrator, said in a statement that she "deeply regrets" the mistake and dubbed the banner as ''a serious irresponsibility that cannot cloud RTVE's unwavering commitment to the defence of constitutional values, to institutions of the State and, above all, to the Crown.''

She also noted that the station ''has taken immediate measures so that those responsible are relieved of their positions." However, it prompted further political controversy, with the left-wing Podemos party questioning the motivation of the apology. Pablo Echenique, a member of the party which advocates for abolishing the monarchy in favour of a republic, asked on Twitter whether King Felipe VI believes ''it's okay to dismiss workers so as not to bother him." Several others also spoke against the move to fire the journalists over the mistake.

King Felipe and his wife Queen Letizia, who used to be a journalist before she married into the royal family, have yet to react to the controversy.

The couple had announced on February 10 that their eldest daughter Leonor will join classes at UWC Atlantic College from this autumn to study for an International Baccalaureate. Leonor is not the only heir apparent who will study at the college based in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. Princess Elisabeth of Belgium left the college last year after completing her two-year Internationale Baccalauréat. Other famous alumni of the institute include King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein of Jordan.