Princess Leonor, daughter of King Felipe VI and heir to the Spanish throne, proved she follows every footballing detail and promise after a light-hearted, spontaneous exchange with Spain striker Ferran Torres during the royal reception for the champions.
Spain had just been crowned World Cup champions for the second time in their history, beating Argentina 1-0 last Sunday evening through a goal from Torres himself.
The celebrations over that second World Cup title still dominate the Spanish street. The players of "La Roja" toured the streets of the capital Madrid, capping off the festivities with the usual official stops at the royal "Zarzuela" Palace and the seat of government at "La Moncloa". Among the many moments caught by the cameras, one gesture between the royal family and the scorer of the decisive winner against Argentina drew all eyes on social media.
Once the clip went viral, followers wondered what had passed between the young princess and the Barcelona striker during the royal greeting. Some mocking speculation suggested she had paid the player a compliment. Repeated audio recordings, though, revealed that Princess Leonor had opened the exchange by saying: "Weren't you going to shave off all your hair?", to which the striker quickly replied with a smile: "No, no!", according to the Spanish newspaper "Marca".
The friendly dig points back to a public pledge from the Valencia-born player to "shave off all his hair" if Spain lifted the trophy. It showed just how close the young princess is to the squad, and how well informed she is on the national team's behind-the-scenes affairs and news.
Torres may have decided against the makeover, but plenty of his teammates are lining up to honour some very bold promises. Marc Cucurella, Alex Baena, Borja Iglesias and Yeremy Pino decided to tattoo the face of coach Luis de la Fuente. Lamine Yamal promised to grow his beard and moustache for three full weeks and to give away 100 earphones to his fans in a draw. Gavi and Pedri, meanwhile, are preparing to dye their hair in very striking colours.