King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's Marriage

[LadyFinn]

Oggi claims that king Juan Carlos lives with Corinna in London and will get married with her after the divorce from queen Sofia.
Juan Carlos di Spagna divorzia da Sofia vive già con l’amante Corinna Larson People

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by LadyFinn

Oggi claims that king Juan Carlos lives with Corinna in London and will get married with her after the divorce from queen Sofia.
Juan Carlos di Spagna divorzia da Sofia vive già con l’amante Corinna Larson People

Say what?!?

Whoever predicted that in a "what will happen in 2014" poll could have won the jackpot

That said, imo K.Juan-Carlos and Q.Sofia have no reason to divorce (they have plenty of properties to never ever have to see eachother again without getting divorced), except if either wants to remarry. And when you say remarry, the most likely option is JC and Corinna..
(she's almost 50, I think, so at least he very likely doesn't *have* to get married because he got her pregnant imagine the gossip-columns that would fill)

[SElizabeth]

And sometimes when there is smoke there is fire so,

Maybe he, JC, could just go away and live his life with whomever.

I am glad that King Felipe and Queen Letizia are the representatives of Spain now. I very much admire Queen Sophia for she is a strong lady who does Spain proud. Whatever happens in the future I hope all the best for the royal family of Spain.

[Duc_et_Pair]

When we look to his former "colleague" Princess Beatrix: she lives on her privately owned estate, in a beautifully restored countryside mansion. However the Government spends nearly 4 million Euro to refurbish Noordeinde 66 (a city mansion next to, and connected with, Noordeinde Palace in The Hague) as a pied-à-terre for the Princess. Not for living, just for when she is in The Hague and receives guests, then she can do that in surroundings which befit her position as former Sovereign. Also her particulier secretariate will have offices in that mansion.

I think I can follow the way the Dutch Government thinks. King Juan Carlos is the former Sovereign. He needs a place and an office which fits to his stature as former Sovereign.

Pic: the monumental Louis XV-style mansion for Princess Beatrix is in scaffoldings: http://haagspraak.files.wordpress.co...1203_31471.jpg She can retreat there when she is in The Hague, can receive her guests in a splendid interior, has her own staff, offices, etc. Despite having abdicated as Queen, she of course holds a high status and apparently it was thought "fitting" to have an own office rather than making use of Noordeinde Palace, Huis ten Bosch Palace, the Royal Palace Amsterdam or other royal residences. It has a considerable prize tag but so far the upset seems not to be too big.

[Al_bina]

King Juan Carlos has started the divorce proceedings | Blogs•Spletnik.ru

https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/2....html#comments

The above link contain various Spanish mass media links that report about the possible divorce.

If the links are against TRF rules, it would be kind of moderators to delete the post.

[Marty91charmed]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

King Juan Carlos has started the divorce proceedings | Blogs•Spletnik.ru

https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/2....html#comments

The above link contain various Spanish mass media links that report about the possible divorce.

If the links are against TRF rules, it would be kind of moderators to delete the post.

If I remember correctly there was a deny from an aid of the spanis royal house...But I'm not sure about it

[Duc_et_Pair]

The Court has not issued any communiqué, no any serious Spanish newspaper or serious Spanish TV-channel has brought the news, which would have been absolutely breaking news when it was true. So it is a canard.

[Al_bina]

https://ru-royalty.livejournal.com/2711177.html

The above link contain various Spanish mass media links saying that (1) the affair between Corinna and King Juan Carlos has come an end, and (2) Corinna is rumoured to receive handsome payoff for her silence.

If the links are against TRF rules, it would be kind of moderators to delete the post.

[hana]

Poor sofia she doesn't deserve this

[Winnie]

Queen Sofia doesn't deserve having to have her private hurts paraded in public. I feel deeply for that good woman. Her husband became king by the "skin of his teeth" and although did well for Spain 30 years ago, morally he was nothing less than bankrupted. Publically he would genuflect to the Church, privately he would disrespect on many counts. I strongly believe in KARMA and Queen Sofia will have a future peaceful and precious life. JC, who cares.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Winnie

Queen Sofia doesn't deserve having to have her private hurts paraded in public. I feel deeply for that good woman. Her husband became king by the "skin of his teeth" and although did well for Spain 30 years ago, morally he was nothing less than bankrupted. Publically he would genuflect to the Church, privately he would disrespect on many counts. I strongly believe in KARMA and Queen Sofia will have a future peaceful and precious life. JC, who cares.

I do agree that Sofia could do without having all of this dragged out in public. What she may have endured privately, is a matter between her husband and her, not one for public consumption.

That said, I do believe she has done a sterling job in her role as Queen, and continues to be respected in Spain for it. My sense is that JC continues to be unpopular, and unfortunately, may be remembered for these matters, rather than his role in restoring the monarchy in Spain, and defending its democracy.

[sm1939]

does Queen sophia live apart from JC now ? ..........

[vkrish]

I dont think we need to feel too sorry for Queen Sophia. She made the choice to go on with the marriage, with sense of duty or old-fashionness or pragmatism or foresight to ensure stability in her kids lives or her sons reign or whatever reason. She always had an option to follow the 'angel' in the island across the sea and play victim, getting her own share of global fame, glory, sympathy. But then she remained Queen, enjoyed the perks, enduring the pains, and will go down well with the stiff upper lip.
You get something, you give up something. To each one, their own choice

[Winnie]

vkrish, I don't think that is 100% correct. Queen Sofia is an extremely devoted Roman Catholic of the "old school". Divorce is out and breaking with holy sacraments forbidden. My Aunt Helen went to her grave in unhappy marriage because of a fear of hell if Church's old teachings were broken. Today's younger Catholics tweak the obligations a bit, but the older ones still have that small fear factor in them as was taught in 30s and 40s. I am sure Queen Sofia stayed true to marriage prayers for faith reasons rather than some showy perks.

[grevinnan]

Originally Posted by vkrish

I dont think we need to feel too sorry for Queen Sophia. She made the choice to go on with the marriage, with sense of duty or old-fashionness or pragmatism or foresight to ensure stability in her kids lives or her sons reign or whatever reason. She always had an option to follow the 'angel' in the island across the sea and play victim, getting her own share of global fame, glory, sympathy. But then she remained Queen, enjoyed the perks, enduring the pains, and will go down well with the stiff upper lip.
You get something, you give up something. To each one, their own choice

Considering the royal need for an heir and a spare she would have no choice but leave the children behind with Juan Carlos if she decided to leave the marriage. Sometimes staying in the marriage and keeping the children close is the better of two evils. The rumors have been around since they married that the King have had other women so perhaps the
Queen accepted the life as a single parent. Perhaps her choices were single with the children or single without the children. Unfortunately a choice many parents face.

[Zonk]

If that is one of the reasons (i.e. her children) that Sofa stayed..its not really surprising. When Charles and Diana divorced..the Queen had the final say in regards to William and Harry. And its reported that if anything happens in the Frederick and Mary marriage....the kids stay with Fred. These aren't normal children. There is no way Juan Carlos or Franco were going to let Sofia raise these children any place but Spain.

Lets not also forget that Sofia is a woman of a different generation and class...what was acceptable in the first 20 years or her marriage might be a no go for a woman in her position now. Sofia is of the old school royal. Stiff upper lip..For God and Country. She knows what is expected of her. And I don't think she expects anyone to feel sorry for her. There are a lot of other people who are worse off.

Oh for the record, while I certainly believe that Juan Carlos has an affair with this woman...I don't think he ever planned to leave Sofia for her.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Free to the words attributed to Queen Victoria: "Lie back and think of Spain."

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Winnie

vkrish, I don't think that is 100% correct. Queen Sofia is an extremely devoted Roman Catholic of the "old school". Divorce is out and breaking with holy sacraments forbidden. My Aunt Helen went to her grave in unhappy marriage because of a fear of hell if Church's old teachings were broken. Today's younger Catholics tweak the obligations a bit, but the older ones still have that small fear factor in them as was taught in 30s and 40s. I am sure Queen Sofia stayed true to marriage prayers for faith reasons rather than some showy perks.

Queen Sofía is born, baptized and raised as an Orthodox-Catholic. I am not sure how devout Roman-Catholic she is, the two different rites are incomparable.

[WreathOfLaurels]

Honestly, I feel sorry for both of them. Although Sofia is a great lady and a fine queen I don't think it's fair to blame the demise of the marriage solely on Juan Carlos. Relationships are the responsibility of both parties and one of the sad truths of affairs is that the person getting cheated on does ultimately bear some responsibility at some level for what happens. I did read in "The Great Survivors" that JC and S gave some form of marriage counseling a try during this period, but I have no idea how true that is as Conradi wasn't particularity careful with his sources. However, the relationship broke down due to a combination of factors - JC's affairs are only one factor. They don't have much in the way of common interests - S is more intellectual and cultured, while JC frankly is a philistine. the children have grown up so that is no longer a realistic factor. On top of that, once you get into a cycle of rejection, humiliation, and guilt its very hard to break out of, especially when you see yourself as the aggrieved party - which doubtless both do; and guilt more often than not makes people behave worse not better.

Don't forget that its very hard to make a relationship work when you have not had the chance to see what one is meant to look like, and JC did not get this opportunity growing up. Likewise when the cracks first appeared in the 1970s Sofia was distracted with family problems and child rearing. in other words, he got bored and lonely and she was distracted - very common combination. Other factors that I would guess are involved are possibly a libido mismatch, maybe S has had gynecological issues - Paul Preston claims that she had an etopic pregnancy soon after she married, and problems associated with menopause can't be ruled out.

Also, this is a courtly setting - there are a lot of people who would be willing to 'help' the king in such matters as a way of currying favour (and also to blackmail him if Preston is anything to go by), and S has never been popular with Spanish high society, many of whom would want to punish her for her transgressions, real and imagined. And a royal household split down the middle is a breeding ground for intrigues like this (Gerard Noel's bio of Queen Ena talks at length about what happened to JC's grandparents and the parallels between Alfonso/Ena and JC/S are striking).

Sorry about the length of the post - its just there is a lot to say.

[WreathOfLaurels]

I did read in "The Great Survivors" that JC and S gave some form of marriage counseling a try during this period

period being the late 1970's