King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, Current Events Part 12: August - October 2006

[planetcher]

Has this news reached Spain yet? I wonder how the public, press, and Casa Real are reacting to this. The press are probably not criticizing him because they have so much respect for him. Can you imagine if it were another member of the Spanish royal family who did this?

 

[princess olga]

False reports? The King is denying he shot the bear (although he was in Russia at the time hunting), but local Russian authorities aren't buying his side of the story and are launching an investigation, good for them!

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/19/europe/EU_GEN_Spain_The_King_and_The_Bear.php

From the article:

"the region's deputy hunting chief, Sergei Starostin, claiming the bear — named Mitrofan — had been fed honey mixed with vodka before being released near the site where the king was to be hunting.
Toloknova refused to say whether any local officials had accompanied the king on his hunting trip. Starostin wrote in the letter that the local authorities turned the king's hunting into a "disgusting fraud."
Mitrofan, whom Starostin described as "a good-natured and joyful bear" was taken from his home at a local holiday resort and brought to the hunting place where they "generously fed him with vodka mixed with honey and pushed him into a field," the newspaper quoted the letter as saying."

In other words, the bear was so drunk that the hunt was more akin to a good-old execution. This is why royalty isn't that revered by many many people: these rich folk whose arrogance leads them to believe they are above the law--even in countries they're not citizens of. Ugh. Thumbs way down for arrogant royals.

 

[*SofiaM*]

Has this news reached Spain yet? I wonder how the public, press, and Casa Real are reacting to this. The press are probably not criticizing him because they have so much respect for him.

I also wonder what The Queen thinks about this because as we know she is totally against this sort of thing

 

[planetcher]

I also wonder what The Queen thinks about this because as we know she is totally against this sort of thing

She probably smacked him in the head .

"Juanito, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Sofi, I didn't realize I would get caught. Damn, I forgot I was not in Spain."

 

[Marengo]

Why is everybody so eager to believe the Russian newspaper on this matter? The Spanish court denied the whole story and described it as utter nonsense.

 

[Dennism]

She probably smacked him in the head .

"Juanito, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Sofi, I didn't realize I would get caught. Damn, I forgot I was not in Spain."

Ha ha ha. Very funny. Poor bear though. He should not have been shot by anybody.

 

[Alisa]

Here's another article from the Scotsman:

Claims king shot drunk bear dead dismissed as 'ridiculous'

CIARAN GILES IN MADRID
THE Spanish royal palace yesterday dismissed reports that King Juan Carlos shot dead a drunken bear during a hunting trip in Russia as "ridiculous".
However it seemed to edge away from an initial flat-out denial that he had killed a bear.

We have no comment to make because this story is totally ridiculous and the source is sensationalist," said a palace spokesman. Tabloids and the yellow press are sensationalists but an official? He added that the palace would neither confirm nor deny that the king had been hunting during a trip to Russia in August or whether he had shot a bear.
On Thursday, the palace denied that the king, a known hunting enthusiast, had killed a bear - drunk or sober. However, the spokesman said yesterday: "I don't know if he was hunting or not. It was a private visit on the invitation of President (Vladimir) Putin."
Vyacheslav Pozgalyov, governor of the Vologda region northeast of Moscow, has launched an inquiry after he received a letter from the region's deputy hunting chief, Sergei Starostin, claiming a bear - named Mitrofan - had been fed honey mixed with vodka and released near to where the king was said to be hunting. Mr Starostin wrote that local authorities turned the hunt into a "disgusting fraud".
Mitrofan, who Mr Starostin described as "a joyful bear", was taken from his home at a local holiday resort and brought to the hunting place where he was "fed with vodka mixed with honey and pushed into a field".
"A heavy, drunken animal became an easy target. His Highness, Juan Carlos, took Mitrofan out with one shot," Mr Starostin reportedly wrote in the letter.
This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1558872006

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I must say I find it quite strange and a bit undiplomatic for the spokeswoman to call the Russian official sensationalist. Also how can the spokeswoman deny the story and call it "totally ridiculous", if she cannot even deny that the King was hunting in Russia?

 

[lula]

Commemorative acts of the L Aniversario of the Revolution 1956
Budapest. Hungary

From terra, afp-getty and reuters

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[fanletizia]

Queen Sofia

Hearing in the Palace of the Zarzuela to Mrs. Thoraya Amhed Obaid

from terra

 

[lula]

From terra

Military hearings in the Royal Palace of Madrid to a Commission of the Promotion XII of the General Academy of the Air

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[Anna_R]

Time for a new thread.

Thank you all who shared news, pictures and thoughts.

The new thread can be found here