King Juan Carlos Announces Abdication: June 2, 2014


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Hasn't King Juan Carlos a villa in Lanzarote,perfect place for retirement!
 
"La Mareta" is property of the National Heritage, no private property of the king.

It was private property at one stage wasn't it and the King handed it over to the National Heritage?
 
It was private property at one stage wasn't it and the King handed it over to the National Heritage?

The house was owned by King Hussein of Jordan, he wanted to give it to the Royal Family, but did not look right to accept such a gift, so they agreed, but the house was given to National Heritage.
 
Thanks I'd forgotten that.
 
I don't know much about this lovely aunt,is she an attention seeker like the cousin who wrote that awful book?

Probably a disappointed aunt who thought that having the (future) Queen of Spain as family was a guarantee for wealth and privileges and found very little of that.

For an example, I can imagine that Máxima has helped her siblings and her parents. Not only her formidable finances but also her network will undoubtedly open doors for them. Máxima did the same for her best friends. She introduced them to the high society and some of them are even married into Dutch aristocracy. In Letizia's case her family and friends seem to have no any gain or profit like in Máxima's case. Just my personal guess.
 
I can easily believe that Sofia was only informed about JC stepping down, not involved in the decision.
I am curious on how the couple JC and Sofia move forward. Will JC remain behind the scenes or will he keep out, spending a lot of time abroad, possibly with Corinna??? :whistling:
Sofia has good chances to keep her standing as Queen, albeit 'senior queen' but still, the respect is hers, Letizia will still not dare stepping on her toes, Felipe is a mama's boy, he won't do anything that upsets or downgrades his mother, she'll be keeping all her perks if she wants to. F&L need an additional hard worker to cover events, that would be Sofia.
I wonder if she keeps her secretary and staff since I believe she has moved quite independently within Zarzuela without JC controlling her every step.

Don Felipe stood under intense pressure of the King, the royal family, the establishment and the aristocracy to marry within his standing. Yet he came up with a TV-presenter and made her the future Queen of Spain, withstanding all storms and disapproval which came over him and his choice. The Prince has the ability to remain absolutely stonefaced and stoïc when he is whistled and booed by the public. The Prince has the quality to endure the most stupid and sometimes even insulting questions from media and public with sphinx-like answers. Don Felipe is much stronger than your portraying as "mana's boy" seems to hint. If it is neccessary for his postion, or the position of his spouse, or in the interest of the dynasty, to displease mama, he will do so.

:flowers:
 
Probably a disappointed aunt who thought that having the (future) Queen of Spain as family was a guarantee for wealth and privileges and found very little of that.

For an example, I can imagine that Máxima has helped her siblings and her parents. Not only her formidable finances but also her network will undoubtedly open doors for them. Máxima did the same for her best friends. She introduced them to the high society and some of them are even married into Dutch aristocracy. In Letizia's case her family and friends seem to have no any gain or profit like in Máxima's case. Just my personal guess.

I disagree:flowers:This doesn't appear to be a new position for her. Not saying I agree with her:) But I don't think she's mouthing off because she hasn't gained anything from her niece's marriage.
 
Probably a disappointed aunt who thought that having the (future) Queen of Spain as family was a guarantee for wealth and privileges and found very little of that.

For an example, I can imagine that Máxima has helped her siblings and her parents. Not only her formidable finances but also her network will undoubtedly open doors for them. Máxima did the same for her best friends. She introduced them to the high society and some of them are even married into Dutch aristocracy. In Letizia's case her family and friends seem to have no any gain or profit like in Máxima's case. Just my personal guess.
Good choice of Letizia!!!:flowers: If she had done favors for her family and friends, she will be caught up in the scandals surrounding the king and her sister-in-law! Not saying that she would do something illegal...but in the present climate, it would look bad if her family and friends had become wealthy based on their connections to her!!:)
 
Don Felipe stood under intense pressure of the King, the royal family, the establishment and the aristocracy to marry within his standing. Yet he came up with a TV-presenter and made her the future Queen of Spain, withstanding all storms and disapproval which came over him and his choice. The Prince has the ability to remain absolutely stonefaced and stoïc when he is whistled and booed by the public. The Prince has the quality to endure the most stupid and sometimes even insulting questions from media and public with sphinx-like answers. Don Felipe is much stronger than your portraying as "mana's boy" seems to hint. If it is neccessary for his postion, or the position of his spouse, or in the interest of the dynasty, to displease mama, he will do so.

:flowers:
I am so glad that Felipe stood his ground. His family happiness and stability has contributed to him being elevated to King today!
And let's face it...his father married a royal princess....looked how that turned out!:flowers::whistling: l
 
I am so glad that Felipe stood his ground. His family happiness and stability has contributed to him being elevated to King today!
And let's face it...his father married a royal princess....looked how that turned out!:flowers::whistling: l

I dont think it would have mattered who he married, royal, aristocrat or not, he would still have cheated on her. That is the sort of man he is.btw corrina is not a german aristocrat as the media portrays her. Sdhe mwrried intyo aristocracy.
 
I have a question, and I have wondered if King JC abdicated and proclaimed his son King, had a date set for the turnover, would that have prevented any of the most recent problems with the Spanish public? I asked this out of my own ignorance, as I have no idea what the laws of succession are in Spain. I know that Franco opened the door for JC
 
The Prince has the ability to remain absolutely stonefaced and stoïc when he is whistled and booed by the public. The Prince has the quality to endure the most stupid and sometimes even insulting questions from media and public with sphinx-like answers.

Yes, he inherited this tread from his mother. She is best at 'all is well smiling' even if heaven should fall on her head.
 
I am so glad that Felipe stood his ground. His family happiness and stability has contributed to him being elevated to King today!
And let's face it...his father married a royal princess....looked how that turned out!:flowers::whistling: l

Other marriages with non-royal partners prove this is no guarantee at all. The examples of Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Princess Margaret, Prince Joachim, etc. prove this. There are also royal couples who married "acccording their standing" and have great, harmonious and loving marriage. It is not that marrying according expectations leads to unhappy marriages. We must also not take today's situation as exemplaric. It is very well possible that Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía were the happiest-of-happy during the first 10 or 20 years of their marriage. But as so often, people grow apart, their eventful life which saw exiles in both royal families (Spain and Greece), being under Franco's control, the tense first years of the kingship and the transition, the Coup d'État of the military against the democratization, the glory years of Spain's incredible boom which started with the best Olympics ever: Barcelona 1992. The terrorist attacks of ETA and the islamic terrorism. The tensions around the marriage of the Heir. The unbelievable hard recession which has hit Spain right in the face, only to be survived with an unbelievable series of injections of not-to-imagine amounts of billions and billions by the European banks, the fall in popularity by the stupid private adventures of the King, the problems with the second child (Noos scandal)... boy... no wonder that there were so many moments that the marriage could have rocked and it speaks volumes for the couple's commitment and duty that they remained together, for the sake of the dynasty and the monarchy.
 
I have a question, and I have wondered if King JC abdicated and proclaimed his son King, had a date set for the turnover, would that have prevented any of the most recent problems with the Spanish public? I asked this out of my own ignorance, as I have no idea what the laws of succession are in Spain. I know that Franco opened the door for JC

The King's ill-judged decision to go on safari with Ms Corinna Larsen formerly Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and even to shoot a majestic animal as an elephant would have outraged the Spaniards, no matter there was an abdication set. The Spaniards, faced with the worst economic recession imagineable, had every right to be furious on their King, the more because Don Juan Carlos publically stated that "he could not sleep a minute" because of the worries his fellow citizens have to endure. The contrast between his words and deeds could not have been bigger. This would have been a fierce riot in any monarchy. Remember that before the economic downfall, the King was on the top of his approval, heading Spain's remarkable transition and following unbelievable economic boom.
 
I was expecting an abdication at some point, but I must say that this came as a shock to me. IMO Juan Carlos has made a sensible choice, with the hunting trip and the corruption scandal. I remember there being previous speculation which said that if Juan Carlos abdicated, the Spanish Monarchy would be abolished altogether, but I'm pleased to see Felipe succeeding his father and not a politician.

Perhaps Juan Carlos had already decided that he was going to abdicate during Felipe's military graduation ceremony - maybe that explains the Two Infanta's attendance (to prepare them both for royal duties as the King's children, or as a "this is what you should expect" sort of thing).

On another note, I hope Leonor won't receive the same amount of attacks from the press that Letizia did when she was Princess of Asturias. Since she's still a young child, perhaps they'll be more civil, and Sofia also. It will be interesting to see if Felipe and Letizia are more low key with their daughters once they ascend the throne, like WA and Maxima are doing in the Netherlands.
 
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Imagine if King Juan Carlos had abdicated in 2004 or 2005,the reaction would have been so different,back then he could do not wrong!
 
The King's ill-judged decision to go on safari with Ms Corinna Larsen formerly Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and even to shoot a majestic animal as an elephant would have outraged the Spaniards, no matter there was an abdication set. The Spaniards, faced with the worst economic recession imagineable, had every right to be furious on their King, the more because Don Juan Carlos publically stated that "he could not sleep a minute" because of the worries his fellow citizens have to endure. The contrast between his words and deeds could not have been bigger. This would have been a fierce riot in any monarchy. Remember that before the economic downfall, the King was on the top of his approval, heading Spain's remarkable transition and following unbelievable economic boom.

I am aware of all that, but I am just speaking of the succession. Could he have said, I shall abdicate on...and proclaim my son Filipe my successor, long live King Filipe?
 
Probably a disappointed aunt who thought that having the (future) Queen of Spain as family was a guarantee for wealth and privileges and found very little of that.

For an example, I can imagine that Máxima has helped her siblings and her parents. Not only her formidable finances but also her network will undoubtedly open doors for them. Máxima did the same for her best friends. She introduced them to the high society and some of them are even married into Dutch aristocracy. In Letizia's case her family and friends seem to have no any gain or profit like in Máxima's case. Just my personal guess.

Can you tell us the names of Maxima's friends who married into the Dutch aristocracy?
 
I am aware of all that, but I am just speaking of the succession. Could he have said, I shall abdicate on...and proclaim my son Filipe my successor, long live King Filipe?


I don't believe that JC could just go "I'm abdicating and my son is king now."

The succession is set so that when JC is no longer king the next person in the line of succession - Felipe - becomes monarch. However, the monarch cannot simply abdicate without parliamentary approval - legislature needs to be passed in order to allow JC to abdicate.

I think had the abdication been announced with information about the changeover of power clear, the current protests would have still occurred. The uncertainty surely helped, but the protests are more because under JC in recent years the monarchy has plummeted in popularity. Felipe may be more popular than his father (I believe he even has more support than the monarchy itself), but the fact remains that the monarchy isn't popular right now and that's why the protests are happening.
 
There was an article in the Daily Mail which said that Juan Carlos abdicated because he didn't want Felipe 'to wither like Prince Charles'. Is this true? For some reason, it sounds made up to me. I would post the article but I'm on a laptop since I'm enjoying the sunny weather, and my laptop is a bit rubbish when it comes to quoting articles.
 
That sounds like the DM taking a chance to attack Charles to me.
 
That sounds like the DM taking a chance to attack Charles to me.

Yes that's what I thought too. I doubt Juan Carlos would actually say that in public and that the person he said it to would report it to the Daily Mail, because for all they know Charles could have read it. Also, that reason doesn't sound like a 'proper' reason as to why he abdicated if you get what I mean, since the age of an heir to the throne of another country that isn't Hispanic shouldn't bother him. I'm sure that more serious issues like the corruption scandal were the main reasons as to why Juan Carlos abdicated.
 
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El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper has published it but refers to a supposed chat completely private, so no one can really know if it's true. With so many covers on the monarchy, that headline hits.
 

I have a real hard time believing this story on many fronts. It just doesn't seem to be the King's style or his personal mode. Sounds nice but I still believe health problems and scandals played the big part in him stepping down. Spain would be smart if they waited 2 or 3 years [after viewing the performance of Felipe as their King] and then have a proper legal referendum on the saving of the monarchy. The transition would then be so much smoother for the Spanish people. A general election of candidates would give the Spanish people the right to vote and not just have someone step into the leader of a country. The present advisers would then be let-go entirely. A clean sweep. I really don't see that happening as I truly believe Felipe will do a good and proper job. I also see Queen Sofia coming into her own as a trusted helper to Felipe and his family. I can actually see her becoming extremely important to the Spanish way of life. JMHO
 
Can you tell us the names of Maxima's friends who married into the Dutch aristocracy?

Heu... let me think, Samantha Deane Kenny Green, her childhood and university friend as well witness on her wedding and godmother to Princess Amalia married Willem-Frederik van Welderen Baron Rengers. There is another friend who married into the nobility, there was a lavish wedding at a renowned studfarm estate where top horses are bred, I have to look for the name.

Picture: Samantha Deane Kenny Green as godmother, source ANP: http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g264/vickymax/a2.jpg
 
I have a real hard time believing this story on many fronts. It just doesn't seem to be the King's style or his personal mode. Sounds nice but I still believe health problems and scandals played the big part in him stepping down. Spain would be smart if they waited 2 or 3 years [after viewing the performance of Felipe as their King] and then have a proper legal referendum on the saving of the monarchy. The transition would then be so much smoother for the Spanish people. A general election of candidates would give the Spanish people the right to vote and not just have someone step into the leader of a country. The present advisers would then be let-go entirely. A clean sweep. I really don't see that happening as I truly believe Felipe will do a good and proper job. I also see Queen Sofia coming into her own as a trusted helper to Felipe and his family. I can actually see her becoming extremely important to the Spanish way of life. JMHO

You don't vote on your head of state in a monarchy, nor do monarchies come up for "voter approval" periodically. It defeats the purpose of the entire concept of a monarchy, being above politics, the whims of the electorate and providing continuity. Good, bad or in-between each country gets a new monarch eventually. "Voting" is not the solution to everything. Do you let your children vote about being allowed to play in the road?
 
You don't vote on your head of state in a monarchy, nor do monarchies come up for "voter approval" periodically. It defeats the purpose of the entire concept of a monarchy, being above politics, the whims of the electorate and providing continuity. Good, bad or in-between each country gets a new monarch eventually. "Voting" is not the solution to everything. Do you let your children vote about being allowed to play in the road?
No, you missed my point or I express it incorrectly. I meant that if the monarchy was voted out, then a proper running of many politicians would be placed for a vote. We all know Kings and Queens are not voted in, but politicians certainly are if the monarchy no longer exists.
 
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