King Juan Carlos Announces Abdication: June 2, 2014

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

I don't know much about this lovely aunt,is she an attention seeker like the cousin who wrote that awful book?

she is the sister of Letizia's father (the cousin is the son of her mother's brother). the whole family has always been republican.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Esmerelda

Interesting article about the lead-up to the announcement. It seems only Felipe (and staff) was in the loop.
How King Juan Carlos revealed his abdication secret | In English | EL PA�S

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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???
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.

[An Ard Ri]

Hasn't King Juan Carlos a villa in Lanzarote,perfect place for retirement!

[lula]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

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.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by lula

"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?

[lula]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

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.

[An Ard Ri]

Thanks I'd forgotten that.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

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.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

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???
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.

[Emmily]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

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 disagreeThis 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.

[Terri Terri]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

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!!! 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!!

[Terri Terri]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

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.

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! l

[fearghas]

Originally Posted by Terri Terri

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! 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.

[COUNTESS]

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

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

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.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Terri Terri

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! 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.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by COUNTESS

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.

[HereditaryPrincess]

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.

[An Ard Ri]

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!

[COUNTESS]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

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?