King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's Marriage

[Josefine]

do you think they have a happy marrige?
do you know if it was a love match....

 

[xicamaluca]

Originally posted by Josefine@Oct 7th, 2003 - 11:10 am
do you think they have a happy marrige?
do you know if it was a love match....

I think that for Queen Sofia was a love match, for the King, i'm not sure. In those times he had a lot of preassure on him to get married with a very suitable princess and Queen Sofia was the best I've hread several times people say that he had many lovers But i also saw so many sweet moments between them I think that they work together very well Spain and i remember very well of listen King JC say in an interview that no matter what, Queen Sofia was his biggest support and is and always be his best friend . So, they have a very close relationship

 

[zhontella]

Originally posted by Alexandria@Nov 20th, 2003 - 6:09 am
Queen Sofia looks so radiant and beautiful in this last picture. Something about the hair, the black dress and the jewellery - so absolutely perfect and elegant.

I wonder what the source of Queen Sofia's radiance is? I heard the rumor that Queen Sofia tried to escape her husband and Spain with Felipe when he was a small boy, but JC was alerted and the police stopped her and forced her to return.

That sounds rather serious. Have JC and Queen Sofia managed some kind of truce in their older and "wiser" age? Is there any affection or acceptance? Are there any pictures of any kind of touch between them?

 

[hrhcp]

zhontella  Posted: Dec 9th, 2003 - 3:19 am

(Alexandria @ Nov 20th, 2003 - 6:09 am)
Queen Sofia looks so radiant and beautiful in this last picture. Something about the hair, the black dress and the jewellery - so absolutely perfect and elegant.

I wonder what the source of Queen Sofia's radiance is

Grandchildren, and now her only son marrying.

 

[zhontella]

Originally posted by King Christian@Dec 9th, 2003 - 12:35 am

zhontella   I wonder what the source of Queen Sofia's radiance is

KC: Grandchildren, and now her only son marrying.

Children or grandchildren are a poor substitute for a partner or confidant of more equal age or experience.

Otherwise the *beloved* grandmotherly matriarch can become a nuisance or a menace.

 

[Alexandria]

Queen Sofia is very devoted to her royal duties and to her adopted country. Whatever infidelities the King has committed in the past (or presently), I think the Queen has resolved to carry on her royal duties and obligations despite whatever hurt she may be enduring. And I think that when you have been with someone for as long as the King and Queen have, gone through so much politically and emotionally, raised three grown children to watch them marry and welcome grandchildren into the world, you sort of rise above all the infidelities. I know it sounds like an awful way to have to life, to know that your husband is unfaithful to you, not to mention a source of embarassament, but I think the Queen was raised of a certain social class where men are unfaithful and the women turn a blind eye to it.

The same stories that cite that Queen Sofia tried to flee Spain with her young children over the King's infidelities early on in their marriage are also often associated with the stories of how the Queen's own father and brother were/unfaithful to their own wives. So perhaps it has just always been a part of Sofia's life in some shape or form.

And the second part to the story of Queen Sofia trying to flee Spain with her young kids because she was so upset over the King's infidelities also has a second part, in which the King showed up at the airport and in a sense asked her where she would flee to. Her brother was in exhile, so he could not support her, her sister Irene had no real funds to support the Queen and her three children, and as Elena, Cristina and Felipe were Infantas and a Prince of Spain, the King would not allow the Queen to leave the country with his children. The King essentially gave her an ultimatum of leaving Spain but without her children or staying in Spain and be with her children but also live with the King's infidelities. A horrible position the King put her in, but the Queen chose her children and in a sense made her bed and now she is living with the consequences.

I think as the years pass on, you come to accept your husband or your wife for whatever faults they have and rise above it. If it really bothered the Queen, I suppose she could leave the King now that her children are grown up, but where would she go? What would she do?

 

[bigheadshirmp]

Juan Carlos and Sofia... cheating?

I just have a question.....I read somewhere saying that King Juan Carlos had cheated on Queen Sofia in the past....is that true?

 

[Genevieve]

I've read numerous stories of the King cheating on the Queen; that he is quite a ladies man and during the 70s/80s had a long term relationship/affair with a woman who later claimed that her daughter's father was the King. I never heard much further on that matter, whether it resulted in a paternity test (probably not) or if the King ever paid this woman off. He certainly never recognized her as his daughter like King Albert of Belgium did with Daphne.

At one point when the children were very young, the Queen had had enough of the affairs and left him with all three children in tow. She made it as far as the airport to leave him but he showed up there and talked her into staying, promising to stop the phillandering, or at least to be more discreet about it. I've read too, though am not certain, that the Queen had no choice but to return to the King as she really had no where else to go. Her brother Constantine had been exhiled from Greece by then and did not have the financial means to support her, just as her sister Irene could not either. She had no other financial recourse to support herself or her children.

Also, the King told her at the airport that if she ultimately chose to leave, that if he could not talk her into staying in Spain, she was free to leave but had to leave the three children in Spain with him as they were the heirs to the throne. (Or at least Felipe was.) Sofia could not bear to leave her children behind so she reluctantly went back to the King.

 

[bigheadshirmp]

thank you for telling me that....

 

[Ennyllorac]

Despite the talk about the King and Queen leading "separate" lives behind clothes doors, They always give me the impression that they work well to gether and have a genuine relationship of respect and trust.

 

[USCtrojan]

Despite the talk about the King and Queen leading "separate" lives behind clothes doors, They always give me the impression that they work well to gether and have a genuine relationship of respect and trust.

Very much agreed! I must say if this is true, then they are exreamly good at lying to the spanish people about their marriage. I know that Queen Sofia has been so much with Juan Carlos, but, I don't think that they are leading seperate lives. At least that is not what I get from either of their characters. What kind of marriage would that be?

 

[micas]

One lovely pic from a rare moment

 

[Mascha]

Too bad it was a rare moment, but it shows they care about each other!

 

[Lyle]

Yeah...that picture is so sweet! So is all this stuff about them living separate lives behind closed doors rumor or is it a generally accepted truth? Like people have said before, they are doing a very good job of keeping up the appearance of a happy family to the public if it is true.

 

[Mascha]

very close together!

 

[lucys]

Yeah...that picture is so sweet! So is all this stuff about them living separate lives behind closed doors rumor or is it a generally accepted truth? Like people have said before, they are doing a very good job of keeping up the appearance of a happy family to the public if it is true.

What I've heard, and it's just as much gossip as the rest, is that they did marry with much "feeling" between them. However, it's commenly accepted in Spain that the King has not been faithful and that that has been personally very difficult for the Queen. However, they are also committed to their marriage, their destiny and their duty. I've always heard that they are a very strong and very united family--but that doesn't mean a perfect family. The Queen has admited that she is particularly devoted to her son, as is Infanta Elena to her brother, whereas Cristina and Felipe are said to be great friends. Felipe, for his part, is said to idolize his father and to have a very tight relationship with his mother. from what I have read it would seem that Felipe is the family's center of attention, but the Queen is the emotional core.

 

[Lyle]

Thank you Lucys! That makes a lot of sense and really puts a humane face to the situation. Hopefully the King and Queen have mended up their differences...I hope, for the family's sake, that they are not just a close family, but a happy family. They all seem so kind and really devoted to the people of Spain.

 

[biathlon22]

Four more pictures of rare moments

 

[Jackswife]

It seems to me that, no matter what else can be said about Their Majesties, that they have stayed together for 44 years (!!!!!!!!!). I'm sure there have been many stresses and tensions between them, not just personal but the political ones as well. I'm sure the Franco years before Juan Carlos' accession made for some difficult and uncertain times. I think they are committed to each other no matter what happens.

 

[Reina]

Queen Sofia is an awesome queen. I don't see why Juan would cheat on her. WHy does everyone have to have affairs?

 

[Juanita]

I have a doubt: It is truth that Queen Sofia has some years wanted to leave Spain with the Principe and the Infantas?

 

[Bubbette]

I just have a question.....I read somewhere saying that King Juan Carlos had cheated on Queen Sofia in the past....is that true?

I can't imagine he wouldn't cheat--I mean is Sofia going to leave him? Doubt it.

 

[rchainho]

i read that stories in some articles, forums and a book.

 

[Juanita]

i read that stories in some articles, forums and a book.

Can you say to me in which?

Sorry my english...

 

[rchainho]

in spanish forums and spanish book.

 

[Ennyllorac]

I know there is a book that was recently published about the King that talked about affairs. I will see if I can find the name of the book. This is very common talk among Spaniards. However, let's try not to spread rumors. The only ones that would know the truth are the parties involved.

 

[Ennyllorac]

The book is Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy by Paul Preston. According to the Washington Post, Preston is one of the most respected historians of modern Spain. You can read the excerpt on Amazon.com if you look for the book. I tried the Washington Post but it is in the Archives and you have to pay for the article.

 

[Elise27]

I don't know why and this is pure speculation but to me it seems that they are not very close at all. Very rarely as just recently have we seen some demonstrations of closeness between them. But it just seems odd to me because the spanish royal family seems so relaxed and yet based on body language their relationship in public seems to be somewhat cold to me especially when I think how warm Queen Sophia can be with other people like the wives of foreign dignitaries or just randomn children. When I look at other royal couples like Paola and Albert, , Queen Margrethe and her husband, The Kings of Sweden, Queen Beatrix and Claus, and even Queen Elizabeth II and Phillip (at least from her to him in the way that she sometimes/ocassionally looks at him), they seem to betray some sort of affection and warmth and yet I dont feel the same about Sophia and Juan Carlos.

 

[*SofiaM*]

You're right in a way Elise... because in public the King and Queen don't show as much affection towards each other as say Albert and Paola or Margrethe and Henrik. But nobody will ever know what goes on in private

Even though there have always been rumors of Juan Carlos cheating on Sofia, afew of us agreed in the 'summer 2005' thread that the couple look at lot closer or 'have never looked better' with each other than years ago

 

[Ennyllorac]

I do believe they have an excellent working relationship and if one looks at current pictures there does seem to be a closeness that was there years ago.