- 76-year-old oversaw his country's transition from dictatorship to democracy
- He has suffered health problems in recent years, with 5 operations in 2 years
- But twilight of his monarchy has been mired in corruption claims and gaffes
- They included the infamous hunting photo with dead elephant in Botswana in 2012, prompting WWF to sack him as honorary president
- Rumoured to have bedded 1,500 women, allegedly including Princess Diana
- He's second European monarch to abdicate in a year after Beatrix of Holland
The 76-year-old will hand the crown to his son, Prince Felipe, 46, but not before a new law is drafted to pave the way for such an unprecedented handover.
He is the second European monarch to abdicate in just over a year after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands gave the throne to her son Prince Willem-Alexander after 33 years in April last year.
Juan Carlos, who oversaw his country's transition from dictatorship to democracy, has seen the twilight of his monarchy blighted by scandal and health problems, including five operations in the last two years.
He has seen his popularity nosedive in the face of a string of corruption scandals and gaffes in recent years, including the infamous photograph of him posing - gun on hip - next to a dead elephant in Botswana while his homeland wallowed in its financial crisis of 2012.
In the family: King Juan Carlos (far right) will
hand the crown to his son, Prince Felipe (centre), pictured with
Princess Letizia watching an air display in 2006
Unpopular: Juan Carlos' popularity has nosedived
in recent years following royal scandals, including an
elephant-shooting trip in Botswana he took in the middle of Spain's
financial crisis in 2012 that tarnished the monarch's image
Surprise announcement: Juan Carlos announced his decision to abdicate on live television this afternoon
In a nationwide address, the king told Spaniards that he first started thinking seriously about giving up the throne when he turned 76 in January, adding that his son will 'open a new era of hope combining his acquired experience and the drive of a new generation'.
'Today, when I look back, I cannot help but feel pride and gratitude towards all of you,' he said.
Juan Carlos came to power in 1975, two days after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco.
Known - like his namesake, the great seducer Don Juan - as a prolific lothario, he is even said to have bedded more than 1,500 women, one of whom is rumoured have been Princess Diana.
As a young and energetic statesman, he endeared himself to many Spaniards by putting down an attempted military coup in 1981.
'This is my decision to abdicate': The letter
Juan Carlos handed to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy today which the
Spanish Royal Family posted on Twitter
Final handshake: The Twitter account of Spain's
royal family published photos of King Juan Carlos I offering his letter
of abdication to the country's Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy
The new king and queen: Prince Felipe married
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning television journalist
formerly with CNN, in 2003. Despite the fact she is a divorcee, the
public generally approved of Letizia since she represented the modern
woman
But as Spain's new democracy matured over the years, the king played a largely figurehead role, travelling the globe as an ambassador for the country, and was a stabilising force in a country with restive, independence-minded regions such as the Basque region and Catalonia.
Juan Carlos has melded the trappings of royalty with down-to-earth, regular-guy charm. The king is an avid sports fan and after the Madrid terror bombings of March 11, 2004, showed he could grieve like anyone else.
At an emotional state funeral for the 191 people killed in the train bombings by Islamic militants, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia slowly went row-by-row through Madrid's Almudena Cathedral, clasping the hands of sobbing mourners or kissing them on the cheek.
Lothario: Princess Diana is rumoured to be just
one of the many young ladies the king, now 74, pursued in a romantic
career in which - like his namesake, the seducer Don Juan - he is said
to have bedded more than 1,500 women (pictured aboard his yacht
'Fortuna' with Prince Charles and an eight-year-old Prince William)
Distant: Prince Charles stares into the distance
in this 1986 photograph showing him, Diana and the young Princes
William and Harry with Queen Sofia and King Carlos of Spain
All smiles: He met the royal couple on numerous occasions, including Diana and Charles' royal tour of Spain in 1987
But his patient work nearly came undone during the financial crisis by the now-infamous elephant shoot in Botswana that resulted in him being removed by conservation group WWF as its honorary president.
King Juan Carlos apologised to the Spanish people for the hunting trip, which only came to light when he was flown home from Africa after breaking a hip.
An online petition calling for his resignation from the WWF post accumulated almost 85,000 signatures by the time he made his public apology.
THE RISE AND RISE OF QUEEN LETIZIA: HOW A MIDDLE-CLASS NEWSREADER BECAME THE WORLD'S MOST GLAMOROUS QUEEN
Stylish, smart and beautiful, Princess Letizia is Spain's answer to Britain's Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.
Letizia Ortiz, from Asturias the north west of Spain, married Prince Felipe de Borbon ten years ago at Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid.
On her big day the royal bride dazzled in an ivory gown with a 15-foot-long train and a sparkling platinum and diamond tiara, which her mother-in-law Queen Sofia wore for her wedding almost exactly 42 years previously.
Anchorwoman: In the years leading up to the
couple's engagement in November 2003, she had become a household name in
Spain as a reporter and TV anchor, covering historic events such as the
9/11 attacks in New York and the Iraq war
Letizia comes from non-aristocratic stock: she is the eldest daughter of Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, a journalist, and first wife María de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodríguez, a nurse and hospital union representative from a working-class background.
She shops at the supermarket and champions Spanish high street fashion brands such as Zara and Mango, as well as couturiers such as Felipe Varela and Lorenzo Caprile.
Like Kate, her fashion choices are analysed and minutely picked over by the press in Spain.
However, unlike Kate, Letizia forged a stellar career for herself before her marriage.
The glamour queen: The 42 year old Princess
Letizia will now become Queen of Spain as her husband the Crown Prince
will ascend the throne following his father's shock abdication
In the years leading up to the couple's engagement in November 2003, she had become a household name in Spain as a reporter and TV anchor, covering historic events such as the 9/11 attacks in New York and the Iraq war.
Letizia gave up her high-flying career on marrying Prince Felipe. The couple has since has since had two children, Infanta Leonor de Todos los Santos of Spain, born 31 October 2005 - who is next in line - and Infanta Sofía de Todos los Santos of Spain, born 29 April 2007.
Letizia and Felipe are often spotted taking their daughters to school, with even the day of their tenth wedding anniversary, May 22, being no exception.
The couple marked their wedding anniversary by releasing two new photos of themselves with their daughters. Posted on the Spanish royal family's official Twitter account, the pictures show Felipe and Letizia taking their two girls to school — proving that despite the day's significance, it is a working day like any other.
Happy family: The couple marked their wedding anniversary by releasing two new photos of themselves with their daughters
The family currently lives in a residence located a few dozen metres from the Palace of Zarzuela.
Letizia, who has been described as a 'breath of fresh air' for the Spanish monarchy has been praised for her modern approach to being a princess.
In fact, so modern is she that she will become the first divorcee to become queen in Spain's history.
She wed Alonso Guerrero Pérez, a writer and a high-school literature teacher, on 7 August 1998, in a simple civil ceremony at Almendralejo, in Badajoz, after a 10-year courtship. The couple had no children and divorced in 1999.
As the previous marriage involved only a civil ceremony, the Roman Catholic Church did not consider it canonically valid and therefore did not require an annulment from the Pope to proceed with a Roman Catholic marriage to Felipe, the Prince of Asturias.
'Although this type of hunting is legal and regulated, many members consider it to be incompatible with the position of honorary patron of an international organisation that aims to protect the environment,' WWF said at the time.
But his monarchy has also been heavily blighted by an investigation into his son-in law, Inaki Urdangarin, an Olympic handball medalist turned businessman, who has been questioned in connection with a corruption scandal involving claims that he embezzled public funds to organise sports events.
Royal friends: King Juan Carlos with Queen Elizabeth II of Britain during her majesty's royal tour of Spain in 1988
High-power friends: Juan Carlos and wife Queen Sofia meet Pope John Paul II in 2003
HOW KING JUAN CARLOS WENT FROM NATION'S DARLING TO UNPOPULAR ELEPHANT KILLER
Once one of the world's most beloved
monarchs, King Juan Carlos I has seen his popularity plummet in the wake
of a series of scandals that have plagued the last years of his
monarchy.In his early years as king, he was vaunted as an energetic and affable young statesman who paved the way for Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy.
One of his greatest achievements came in 1981 when he was instrumental in supressing a military coup.
Dressed as Captain-General of the Spanish armed forces, he gave a public television broadcast calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government in a speech widely considered to have helped sway public opinion away from the coup.
In 2004, following the devastating Madrid train bombings that killed 191 and wounded more than 1,800, he went row-by-row through Madrid's Almudena Cathedral during an emotional memorial service for the dead, clasping the hands of sobbing mourners or kissing them on the cheek.
Two years later, he was accused of bear hunting in Russia and shooting Mitrofan, a tame bear raised in captivity, after he had been fed honey spiked with vodka and released to make killing him easier.
By 2006, he came under fire again as critics began to hit out at his family's 'excessive' household spending.
And in 2007, he isolated himself further by telling popular Venezuealan president Hugo Chavez, 'Why don't you shut up,' during the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile.
But his most controversial moment came in July 2012 when he was photographed with a dead elephant in Botwana as Spain reeled from its financial crisis.
That resulted in him being removed by conservation group WWF as its honorary president.
His latter years have also been blighted by health issues.
By 2010, he began to suffer from a range of health problems, having a benign grotumour wth removed from his right lung, followed by hip joint reconstructive surgery in 2012, surgery on herniated discs a year later. Then in September 2013 he underwent hip surgery in Madrid, his fifth operation in 18 months.
The 76-year-old king, whose health is failing and has had five operations in two years, had a reputation as a fun-loving ladies' man who slept with over 1,500 women.
Among them, was alleged to be Princess Diana herself, according to Barcelona-based author Pilar Eyre who has written six books about the Spanish royal family.
After her first trip to Majorca in 1986, Eyre alleged Diana told her bodyguard Ken Wharfe that Juan Carlos fancied her. The king allegedly made all manner of excuses to get tactile with her and used to love bending down with her and inviting her to stroke his old German shepherd dog, Archie, Eyre claimed.
Another royal biographer, Lady Colin Campbell, has long insisted that the Princess and the king embarked on an affair while on a cruise with their spouses in August 1986, and that they took up with each other again the following summer.
Meanwhile, David Cameron today hailed King Juan Carlos as a 'great friend to the United Kingdom' following his announcement that he is to abdicate.
The Prime Minister wrote to Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy to pay tribute to the King of Spain, who he said had helped the country's transition to democracy.
Asked whether there was merit in monarchs abdicating towards the end of their reign, Downing Street insisted Mr Cameron hoped the Queen would remain on the throne.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The PM wishes her the longest and happiest of reigns.'
In his letter, Mr Cameron wrote: 'May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to King Juan Carlos who has done so much during his reign to help Spain's successful transition to democracy and who has been a great friend of the United Kingdom.'
Spain does not have a precise law regulating abdication and succession.
Prime minister Rajoy said his cabinet would meet very soon to set out the steps for Prince Felipe to take over as Felipe VI.
The country is just pulling out of a difficult and long recession that has seen faith in politicians, the royal family and other institutions all dwindle.
Felipe, 46, has had an increasingly important role in ceremonial events in the past year and has not been stained by the corruption case involving his sister and her husband.
The soon-to-be-crowned king has led a low-key private life with his commoner wife and two daughters, often seen at a cinema in central Madrid or taking his daughters to school.
Royal observers think his lifestyle is informed by both his natural character and his awareness of the times.
Happy: This family portrait was taken in 1972,
three years before Juan Carlos was crowned King of Spain. He and Queen
Sofia are pictured with children, (from left) Felipe, Cristina and Elena
in the grounds of Zarzuela Palace, Madrid
Dashing: Juan Carlos has melded the trappings of royalty with down-to-earth, regular-guy charm (pictured with Sofia in 1970)
The sports-mad king: Juan Carlos is also known
to be an avid sports fan, pictured here handing the World Cup trophy to
winning Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas as coach Vicente del Bosque
looks on at the Royal Palace in Madrid in 2010
'Felipe will have to earn his place in the public's affection starting from a low point, no small task,' said a veteran politician who did not want to be named.
He has taken pains to position himself as a believer in public service rather than one of the easy-living monarchs of the past.
'The current economic crisis ... requires serious reflection as to how the collective spirit can ... recover values that have, in recent times, gone astray,' Felipe said in a 2012 speech, referring to 'generosity, integrity, effort and excellence'.
MEET FELIPE THE 6'5" FORMER PLAYBOY AND NOW THE NEW KING OF SPAIN
Playboy: King-in-waiting Prince Felipe has had a
lifetime's training for a position which has changed dramatically since
his father took the throne
King-in-waiting Prince Felipe has had a lifetime's training for a position which has changed dramatically since his father took the throne.
He has not been implicated in the allegations of royal extravagance and corruption that tarnished the last years of the reign of his father Juan Carlos.
But the legacy of the 39-year reign of the once beloved king hangs over him and Spain no longer needs the monarchy for political stability as it did when his father took on the role to oversee the transition from dictatorship to democracy.
The younger brother of the Princesses Elena and Cristina, Felipe was educated at a middle class day school close to his parent's residence in Madrid. His daughters, Leonor and Sofia, now both attend the same school.
Keen on sport, particularly sailing, he went to university in his home city and like most of Spain's ruling class studied law. He completed military training and then headed to Georgetown, Washington to study international relations.
The 6 feet 5 inches (1.97 m) tall prince was regarded as a playboy in his twenties.
Two of his girlfriends were rejected by his parents as inappropriate partners, one because she had been an underwear model.
But Felipe's greatest rebellion was to refuse to back down when his parents objected to him marrying Letizia Ortiz, a divorcee TV presenter whose grandfather worked as a taxi driver.
'Some aristocrats were outraged when Felipe married Letizia,' a royal observer told Vanity Fair magazine. 'They make fun of her behind her back, but they won't say it publicly, because they're monarchists. Letizia knows it, and she can't stand them. I think she's in a difficult situation.'
It may be proof that Felipe has inherited something of his mother Queen Sofia's iron will.
Unlike his father, Prince Felipe is regarded as a loyal husband and father, untainted by corruption and scandal.
'He's colder in character, more like his mother," said Eusebio Val, a correspondent for La Vanguardia, a Barcelona daily.
'Juan Carlos is very Spanish – he likes to talk, to joke. Felipe is more distant, more Anglo-Saxon. But he is well-prepared for the role – he's much more professional in giving speeches, for instance. His father didn't really do that.'
In an era when job security, perhaps even for the prince, is a thing of the past, the success of the monarchy will lie in Felipe's ability to convince younger Spaniards that the royal stipend can be justified.
No comments:
Post a Comment