King Juan Carlos of Spain
Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María was born on 5 January 1938
to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las
Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in their family home in Rome,
where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members
of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation
of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931.
Baptism
He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de
Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli,
the future Pope Pius XII.
Family
and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born 1939).
He also had a younger brother, Alfonso.
Childhood
His early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father
and General Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there
after his father persuaded Franco to allow it.
The tragic death of his younger brother
younger brother Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home
Villa Giralda in Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera.
evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and
killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours,
after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service,
during which he had received holy communion.
then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos
who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school.
playing with a .22 caliber Long Automatic Star revolver owned by Alfonso.
that the content of the former testimony implies that Juan Carlos had
pointed the gun at Alfonso and, apparently not knowing that the gun
was loaded, he had pulled the trigger.
Education
Pontevedra, and another in the Air Force school in San Javier in
Murcia. In 1960–61, he studied law, international political economy
and public finance at the University of Madrid.
official engagements.
Marriage
Juan Carlos was married in Athens on 14 May 1962, to Princess
Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece,
firstly in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Church of St. Denis,
followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at the Metropolitan
Cathedral of Athens. She converted from Greek Orthodoxy to
Roman Catholicism.
They had three children together:
Elena (b. 1963), Cristina (b. 1965) and Felipe (b. 1968).
A Prince of Spain
After the civil War, Spain was ruled by dictator Francisco Franco.
This authoitarian government reamained dominant in Spain until the 1960's.
With Franco's increasing age, left-wing protests increased, while at the
same time, the far right factions demanded the return of a hardline absolute
monarchy.
At the time, the heir to the throne of Spain was Infante Juan, Count of
Barcelona, the son of the late Alfonso XIII. However, General Franco
viewed him with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a liberal who
was opposed to his regime.
Juan Carlos's first cousin Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz was also
briefly considered as a candidate. Alfonso was known to be an ardent
Francoist and married Franco's granddaughter, Doña María del Carmen
Martínez-Bordiú y Franco in 1972.
Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Juan de Borbón's
son, Prince Juan Carlos, as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young
prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining
the ultraconservative and authoritarian nature of his regime.
In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated heir-apparent and was given
the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional Prince of Asturias).
As a condition of being named heir-apparent, he was required to swear
loyalty to Franco's Movimiento Nacional, which he did with little outward
hesitation. His choice was ratified by the Spanish parliament on 22 July 1969.
Juan Carlos met and consulted Franco many times while heir apparent and
often took part in official and ceremonial state functions, standing alongside
the dictator, much to the anger of hardline republicans and more moderate
liberals, who hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform.
During 1969–1975, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime.
Although Franco's health worsened during those years, whenever he
did appear in public, from state dinners to military parades, it was in
Juan Carlos's company.
Juan Carlos continued to praise Franco and his government for the
economic growth and positive changes in Spain.
However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting secretly
with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring
liberal reform to the country. He also had secret conversations with his
father over the telephone.
Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions
and denied allegations from his ministers and advisors that Juan Carlos
was in any way disloyal to his vision of the regime.
During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1974 and 1975,
Juan Carlos was acting head of state. On 30 October 1975, Franco gave
full control to Juan Carlos.
King of Spain
On 22 November 1975, two days after Franco's death on 20 November,
the Cortes Españolas proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain.
On 27 November, a Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the
church of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid to inaugurate his reign.
He opted not to call himself Juan III or Carlos V, but Juan Carlos I.
Juan Carlos's accession met with relatively little parliamentary opposition.
Some members of the Movimiento Nacional voted against recognizing him,
and more against the 1976 Law for Political Reform. But even most
Movimiento members supported both measures.
Juan Carlos quickly instituted reforms, to the great displeasure of
Falangist and conservative (monarchist) elements, especially in the military,
who had expected him to maintain the authoritarian state.
In July 1976, Juan Carlos dismissed prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro,
who had been attempting to continue Francoist policies in the face of the
King's attempts at democratization.
He instead appointed Adolfo Suárez, a former leader of the Movimiento
Nacional, as prime minister, who went on to win the following year's
election and become the first democratically elected leader of the new regime.
Further legitimacy was restored to Juan Carlos's position on 14 May 1977,
when his father (whom many monarchists had recognized as the legitimate,
exiled King of Spain during the Franco era) formally renounced his claim
to the throne and recognized his son as the sole head of the Spanish Royal
House, transferring to him the historical heritage of the Spanish monarchy,
thus making Juan Carlos both de facto and de jure king in the eyes of
the traditional monarchists.
A coup
There was an attempted military coup, known as 23-F, on 23 February 1981,
when the Cortes were seized by members of the Guardia Civil in the
parliamentary chamber.
During the coup, the King, wearing his uniform as Captain-General of the
Armed Forces, gave a public television broadcast calling for unambiguous
support for the legitimate democratic government. The broadcast is believed
to have been a major factor in foiling the coup. The coup leaders had promised
many of their potential supporters that they were acting in the King's name
and with his approval, but were unable to demonstrate either, and the
broadcast – coming just after midnight on the night of the coup – definitively
showed the King's opposition to the coup makers.
A popular king
America. Hailed for his role in Spain's transition to democracy, the
King and the monarchy's reputation began to suffer after controversies
surrounding his family arose.
A hunting trip
trip in Botswana.The public found out about the trip only after the
King injured himself and a special aircraft was sent to bring him home.
young workers. El País estimated the total cost of a hunting trip at €44,000,
about twice the average annual salary in Spain.
of the Spanish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
votes to 13 to remove the King from its honorary presidency.
of shielding from media scrutiny, described as "rare among Western leaders.
Abdication
Spanish news media speculated about the King's future in early 2014,
following public criticism over his taking an elephant hunting safari in
Botswana and an embezzlement scandal involving his daughter Cristina,
and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin.
The King's chief of staff denied in a briefing that the "abdication option"
was being considered.
On the morning of 2 June 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a
televised announcement that the King had told him of his intention to abdicate.
Later, the King delivered a televised address and announced that he would
abdicate the throne in favour of the Prince of Asturias.
Royal officials described the King's choice as a personal decision which
he had been contemplating since his 76th birthday at the start of the year.
On 18 June, he signed the organic law passed by parliament several hours
before his abdication took effect.
King Felipe of Spain
Felipe was enthroned on 19 June 2014, and Juan Carlos's
granddaughter Leonor became the new Princess of Asturias.
Juan Carlos was the fourth European monarch to abdicate in just over a year,
following Pope Benedict XVI (28 February 2013), Queen Beatrix of the
Netherlands (30 April 2013), and King Albert II of Belgium (21 July 2013).
The Spanish constitution at the time of the abdication did not grant an
abdicated monarch the legal immunity of a head of state, but the government
changed the law to allow this.
However, unlike his previous immunity, the new legislation left him accountable
to the supreme court, in a similar type of protection afforded to many high-
ranking civil servants and politicians in Spain.
The legislation stipulates that all outstanding legal matters relating to the former
king be suspended and passed "immediately" to the supreme court.
Retirement problems of Juan Carlos
Wittgenstein-Sayn speaking with a former police chief were leaked
to the press in mid-2018.
commercial contracts in the Gulf States – particularly in the late-2000s
construction of the €6.7 billion Haramain high-speed railway in Saudi
Arabia – and maintained these proceeds in a bank account in Switzerland.
circumvent the tax treatment of lawful residents, stating "[not] because he
[loved] me a lot, but because I reside in Monaco."
her that her life, and those of her children, would be at risk if she spoke
of their association. The allegations drew demands for Juan Carlos to be
investigated for corruption in early June 2019.
relation to a $100 million gift to Sayn-Wittgenstein in 2012.
the gift was irrevocable, despite his having asked in 2014 for the
return of the money.
King of Spain since 2014, appeared as second beneficiary (after
Juan Carlos) of the Lucum Foundation, which had received a €65
million donation by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
would renounce any inheritance from his father. Additionally, the
Household announced that the former king would lose his public
stipend from the State's General Budget.
of Spain agreed to investigate Juan Carlos's role as facilitator in
Phase II of the high speed rail connecting Mecca and Medina,
intending to determine the criminal relevance of events that took
place after his abdication in June 2014.
1975 to 2014 by sovereign immunity.
regarding €3.5 million paid from the Lucum Foundation to the
Bahamas-based bank Pictet & Ciein for a society called Dolphin,
which was controlled by the lawyer Dante Canónica, who
also controlled Lucum.
wished to relocate from Spain because of increased media press about
his business dealings in Saudi Arabia and left a letter to his son saying so.
impossibility of proving any illegality.
December 2021. However there still can be a lawsuit in London.
Corinna and the King.
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