Now, with the blanket of grief imposed by Queen Elizabeth II’s death having been lifted, the prospect of the 85-year-old ex-King coming to London next week to have lunch with his distant cousin, King Charles III, is creating some controversy. Both were great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, the ex-King through her daughter, Princess Beatrice and although besieged by financial and, to a lesser extent, extra-marital scandals since he gave up his throne, the ex-King’s visit attracted little comment. Since his abdication in 2014 Juan Carlos has been known in Spain as the King Emeritus and therefore it was his son, King Felipe VI (next to whom he sat in the Abbey) and daughter-in-law Queen Letizia who officially represented their country at the obsequies.īut Juan Carlos attended with a personal invitation as a member of the family of the late monarch, with whom he was on ‘Lilibet’ terms. He abdicated two years later in favour of his son, Felipe.Last September, looking dapper in morning dress but frail and leaning on a walking stick, ex-King Juan Carlos I of Spain attended the state funeral of his third cousin, our late Queen. However, the revelation in 2012 that he had been elephant hunting in Botswana with Ms Zayn-Wittgenstein, in the depths of the euro-zone financial crisis, unleashed a barrage of criticism. His reputation was buoyed for decades by a folksy image and his private life was seldom covered by the media. Juan Carlos took the throne in 1975, on the death of dictator Francisco Franco, and he was credited with helping guide Spain to democracy. The junior partner in the coalition government, Unidas Podemos, has been more openly critical of Juan Carlos, insisting that his recent tax payments, for example, were an admission of guilt. Mr Sánchez was privy to the former king’s decision to leave the country, but his Socialist Party has expressed concerns about his behaviour and declared itself in favour of making the crown more accountable. The reign of Felipe VI has at times been overshadowed by the scandals surrounding his father Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez said: "Of course, I still believe that King Juan Carlos must give an explanation." However, even if his legal problems are resolved, Juan Carlos faces greater political opposition than he did on his departure from Spain 16 months ago, suggesting his return home may not be imminent. However, in recent days the Swiss investigation into that money has been closed, apparently ruling out the possibility that it had been a bribe from the Saudi royal family for Juan Carlos’s role in brokering a contract for the building of a high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina.Īccording to reports, Spain's supreme court is also planning to close a probe into the same case, and shelve investigations into the former monarch's alleged use of credit cards belonging to a Mexican tycoon and an offshore bank account Juan Carlos allegedly had in Jersey. Among a series of damaging revelations was the fact he had given €65 million to a former lover, Corinna su Zayn-Wittgenstein, leading to a probe into the provenance of that money by prosecutors in Spain and Switzerland, where it was deposited. Juan Carlos (83) fled to the United Arab Emirates in August 2020, amid a storm of scandals about his financial affairs. The shelving of a judicial investigation into Spain's disgraced former king Juan Carlos, who has been living in self-exile in Abu Dhabi for over a year, is fuelling speculation about his future.
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