King Juan Carlos Announces Abdication: June 2, 2014

[An Ard Ri]

I heard this earlier on the radio but thought I was hearing things! Just watching the live reports on the BBC live from Madrid and it reports that there will be anti Monarchy demonstrations in Madrid later this evening.

Somehow I expected this last year and not now so its all a bit of a shock.I really wish Felipe,Letizia and the girls the very best.I'm hoping the Spanish Monarchy can muddle through this abdication and restore public approval of this damaged and battered institution1

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Admiral Horthy

Could the King and Queen become Duke and Duchess of Barcelona? Though it seems most retired Kings and Queens, excepting Princess Beatrix, keep their existing titles.

There's no such title,its Count & Countess of Barcelona,the kings late father held that title and it merged with the crown after his death in 1993.

[Spheno]

Originally Posted by QueenJen

Please help me understand. Has KJC abdicated effective NOW, Today? Or is it something that is coming in the future? What happens next, does anyone know?

Today KJC still is the king.

Originally Posted by Mbruno

The Spanish constitution says in Art. 57(5) that:

" Abdications and renunciations and any doubt in fact or in law which may occur in the order of succession to the Crown, shall be resolved by an organic law."

Apparently, the Spanish parliament never bothered to pass the required organic law, which means that, currently, there is no legal instrument to validate a monarch's intention to abdicate. I suppose the council of ministers will introduce the required legislation in the coming days though. Until the legal question is sorted out, Juan Carlos remains king.

[An Ard Ri]

Just had a thought about Zarzuela,will the King continue to live there with Queen Sofia and Princess Irene?

Will Felipe & Letizia continue to reside at the Princes House?

So many questions to ask!!

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

you are correct with the date of course, i mixed up the years. but still, it would have been a good date to go. jc does not give his health as the main reason to go, we all know he is old but casareal was stressing the past months that the king has recovered well, is full of energy blah blah
i dont believe a second that sofia will go back to being a princess.

I don't think it would have been a good date. Why wait for another 1+1/2 years and then spoil the party (if there would have been one) by announcing your abdication? JC has already been longer on the throne than Beatrix and Albert.

JC may have some faults and made some mistakes but IMO everything he did in life (from childhood on) was in the best interest of the Bourbon dynasty.
I don't think he was forced to abdicate but believe that perhaps last year's abdications showed him that "things must change to stay the same" or become even better (like in NL, Belgium, Vatican).

Actually when I read about the business deals he made in UAE recently I had a feeling that this might be the foreplay of an abdication (contrary to other opinions on this board) - but I didn't feel it would be that soon. I think JC didn't want to go on the absolute low point of his career and waited until he had something to "show off".

[fortimo]

King Harald didn't want to make any comments on the abdication, but Eva Sannum (the exgirlfriend of Felipe) congratulated to the new king...
: Kongen ville ikke kommentere - Se og hør
https://translate.google.hu/translat...882&edit-text=

[Charlotte_Aster]

What about the Prince of Asturias Awards? Will Felipe continue to preside over them? Or will Leonor be the chairwoman? Or will Letizia (or Sofia) act instead of Leonor?
So many questions..

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

you are correct with the date of course, i mixed up the years. but still, it would have been a good date to go. jc does not give his health as the main reason to go, we all know he is old but casareal was stressing the past months that the king has recovered well, is full of energy blah blah
i dont believe a second that sofia will go back to being a princess.

You are correct. There is more then meets the eye on this. I don't believe the King is all that well and not waiting until he sits as King for 40 years, to me, is telling. I also don't believe that a country should have two Kings and two Queens at same time.

Queen Mum of GB refused to give up her title so without causing a big fuss with her mother, country gave her honorary title of "Queen Mum" but it was never official. Citizens just had to know that she was no longer "top star" . She hated it, but nothing she could do about it. I hope that a special title will be given Sofia as if anyone deserves special treatment now, it is her.

IMHO this has been in the works for months. Breatrix did the old school thing by retiring to her own estate after giving up her position to enjoy a lovely retirement. I just can't see JC accepting that. Will be pleasantly surprised if he does.

Many theories going around here in America at present......most of which are silly and dumb.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

What about the Prince of Asturias Awards? Will Felipe continue to preside over them? Or will Leonor be the chairwoman? Or will Letizia (or Sofia) act instead of Leonor?
So many questions..

We'll just have to wait and see what information is released over the next few days!

[ANNIE_S]

About the PoA Awards, I´ve been wondering the same since the news broke up.
I´m guessing next October the event will be similar to the first awards for Felipe. He was around 12 (I think) and he was sit next to his father. He read his speech, too (the King didn´t read any).

Leonor is younger, but I think she is capable of doing something like that next October.

[dazzling]

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

What about the Prince of Asturias Awards? Will Felipe continue to preside over them? Or will Leonor be the chairwoman? Or will Letizia (or Sofia) act instead of Leonor?
So many questions..

It's too early to say. These are questions will be answered in the next coming days or weeks I assume.

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by Charlotte_Aster

What about the Prince of Asturias Awards? Will Felipe continue to preside over them? Or will Leonor be the chairwoman? Or will Letizia (or Sofia) act instead of Leonor?
So many questions..

All these things will and easily be dealt with
in good time. They are not that important right now. Although they might have been already been taken care of behind closed doors. I guess we will know when they want us to learn.

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by Winnie

IMHO this has been in the works for months. Breatrix did the old school thing by retiring to her own estate after giving up her position to enjoy a lovely retirement. I just can't see JC accepting that. Will be pleasantly surprised if he does.

Actually I can see JC accepting that but I can't see Sofia accepting it. I think the transition is going to be more difficult for Queen Letizia than for King Felipe. And it might well be that she will still stand in Sofia's shadow who is after all the most popular member of the RF.

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by Alondra

It's difficult to explain why unless you understand Spain. Many Spaniards don't think the monarchy is a fair political choice of head of state. We did after all got rid of Alfonso XIII (JC grandfather) and JC himself was called the Breve "The Brief One".

No many people thought the monarchy could have lasted this long when I voted for the first time in 1978. But it did...and gave our democracy stability and groundness. Juan Carlos reigned in extraordinary circumstances. He was able to navigate a political minefield towards consensus, dialogue and discussion. This is his legacy....and his abdication wraps it up. He's doing what he needs to do for Spain.

There is simply no point of reference of his abdication with those of Holland and Belgium.

Thank you for sharing your perspective as a citizen who lived through Spain's transition in the Post-Franco era.

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by NoorMeansLight

So many questions indeed, Duke! I guess JC & Sofia will become Prince & Princess now? And Elena could give them a hand or two until Leonor reaches a certain age.

I don't know what JC and Sofia will do regarding their titles. However, I do see Infanta Elena staying on to help her brother and sister-in-law.

[Rossina]

Any further details about the abdication legislation to be proved by the Spanish Parliament?

[NoorMeansLight]

I too think that Queen Sofia & Infanta Elena will help & support the new King & Queen by taking on some more duties and responsibilities.

[Blog Real]

Felipe and Letizia will be good Kings.

Looking forward to seeing the proclamation.

[Baroness of Books]

Well, this news certainly elicited a gasp from me. As many have said, it was unexpected, and yet not. I suspect there is more reason than meets the eye for this decision, but whatever it is, I wish the new king and queen best of luck as well as the outgoing king and queen, and Spain as it goes through this transition.

[Mermaid1962]

I'm shocked. I wonder whether the Asturias' 10th wedding anniversary had anything to do with it. Perhaps there was some agreement that the abdication would be announced after that milestone.