King Juan Carlos has surprised his son and successor, King
Felipe, with an unexpected public statement about him on an
historic day for Spain.
The country is reflecting on the fiftieth anniversary of the
death of the fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, and the
restoration of the monarchy.
A series of public events are planned to mark half a century of
new Borbon rule but Juan Carlos, the king who brought back the
monarchy and who helped establish democracy before a spectacular
fall from grace, hasn’t been invited to any of them.
Instead, Felipe VI has asked him to come to a private lunch that
will be held at the end of the events marking the half century.
It’s been reported that King Juan Carlos is unhappy with that
and so his decision to release a public statement on the
anniversary of Franco’s death, November 20, caused some debate.
The message was read at an event being attended by the eldest
daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Infanta Elena, their
first born child, didn’t succeed to the throne as Spain has male
primogeniture, meaning younger brothers outrank older sisters.
Elena has been particularly loyal to Juan Carlos who now lives
in Abu Dhabi after choosing self appointed exile when the scandals
around his private life and finances threatened to overwhelm the
Spanish monarchy in 2020.
At the event, called ‘The King and the Transition: 50 years
since his Proclamation”, Elena joined a host of well known Spanish
personalities. The message was read to them and King Juan Carlos
urged all taking part to ”support my son, King Felipe, in this
difficult role”.
The message had mostly been thanks for the support he himself
had received. King Juan Carlos said ”I want to sent my warmest
greetings to all those who are there today and those who have given
me their support for 50 years.”
He described the restoration of the Spanish monarchy, which
happened because Franco had designated Juan Carlos as his
successor, as ”difficult”, a word he also used to describe the
Transition, the name given to the time when Spain was moving from
the totalitarian state of Franco to the democracy it is today.
And he ended with his call for all to give the ”same support’ to
Felipe VI.
On November 21, King Felipe will be joined by Queen Letizia and
their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, for a special
ceremony in which Spain’s highest honour, the Toison d’Or, will be
presented to a number of people including Queen Sofia of Spain.
Juan Carlos is not invited and it’s not known whether Queen Sofia’s
daughters, Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina, have been asked to
witness this special moment. Elena and Cristina have six grown up
children between them but their presence isn’t confirmed
either.
