![]() ![]() ![]() But his luck finally ran out in 2012, when he suffered a fall while elephant hunting in Botswana and had to be airlifted out of the country for emergency hip surgery.įor once, the Spanish intelligence services were unable to cover up Juan Carlos’s private goings-on, as facts slowly filtered into the press of the lavish trip he had taken with the German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, even as Spaniards suffered under harsh austerity measures.Ĭoinciding with a multimillion euro corruption investigation into his son-in-law and daughter, the images of the king posing with an elephant’s corpse - and details of his ten-year affair with Larsen - saw approval ratings for the monarchy plummet.Ī swift abdication in 2014, with his son Felipe taking up the crown, was meant to see the royal household turn the page on Juan Carlos’s antics. Seen as one of the architects of Spain’s post-Franco democratic transition, as king from 1975 Juan Carlos enjoyed a degree of legal protection and insulation from media scrutiny rare among Western leaders. But the scope of the allegations against him and his sudden escape have raised much wider questions about the legitimacy of the monarchy and the post-Franco order known to Spaniards as the ’78 regime. ![]() Since this occurred after his abdication in 2014, it would not be covered by the sweeping immunity Juan Carlos had enjoyed as king. Particularly damaging was last week’s news that a €62 million London penthouse had been “gifted” to him by Oman’s royal family and then rapidly resold, in an act of apparent money laundering. Recent revelations into a series of massive illegal payments he received from Arab royal families and Spanish CEOs had left Juan Carlos increasingly vulnerable to prosecution, in both Spain and Switzerland. After crossing over to Portugal he boarded a private jet to the Dominican Republic, where he is now in exile. Yet on Sunday night, the former king was forced to flee Spain as evidence builds up of his financial scandals. Since he ascended to the throne, Felipe has distanced himself from Juan Carlos in a bid to try and restore the monarchy's image.Juan Carlos de Borbón is the only man whose name appears in Spain’s 1978 Constitution. Juan Carlos was for decades revered for his role in steering Spain to democracy following dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975.īut damaging scandals over his finances and private life forced him to abdicate after nearly 40 years on the throne. Juan Carlos and the late queen were distant cousins - their shared great-great grandmother was Queen Victoria - and Felipe called the monarch "Aunt Lilibet". "The head of state is clearly King Felipe VI" while the former monarch "is in London in response to an invitation in a personal capacity", Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters. The former king was invited by the British government, prompting officials in Madrid to insist that Spain's official representative was Felipe. The two couples arrived separately at the abbey but were seated together in a section, close to the coffin, reserved for royal families.įelipe wore military uniform while Juan Carlos dressed in a dark suit. The father and son were last seen together in public in January 2020 for the funeral of a sister of Juan Carlos, an aunt of the king. ![]()
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