King Juan Carlos Retires from Public Life - May 2019

[lula]

The Royal House announces that King Juan Carlos is retiring from official activity, starting on June 2, five years after his abdication.

https://www.abc.es/espana/casa-real...os-anuncia-retirada-201905271904_noticia.html

http://www.casareal.es/sitios/lista...tividades institucionales Rey Juan Carlos.pdf

 

[Marengo]

Queen Juliana -or her office- published a simular letter upon her 90th birthday IIRC.

Let's hope the free time will enable the king to focus on the things that are the most important to him.

With the king retiring it seems that there is only one working royal left in the family, next to the king and queen. Perhaps a pity that the infanta Elena was swept aside.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The old king looked very feeble and frail at the funeral of Grand Duke Jean earlier this month.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Did JC do that many institutional events recently? Ok a few come to my mind but I guess we'll still see him at Formula One, Bullfighting or fancy restaurants.

Now Queen Sofia, the most popular member of the SRF, will have the 'I'm still important' stage all for herself ??

 

[Blog Real]

King Juan Carlos does well to retire and take advantage to do the things he likes while still having some health.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Did JC do that many institutional events recently? Ok a few come to my mind but I guess we'll still see him at Formula One, Bullfighting or fancy restaurants.

Now Queen Sofia, the most popular member of the SRF, will have the 'I'm still important' stage all for herself ??

Other than bullfights and car racing his events have been few and far between,I'm sure queen Sofia will continue as the power behind the throne.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Well, Juan Carlos didn't seem to do many royal engagements by the end of it so I'm not surprised by this announcement.
Do bull fighting matches etc count as official engagements? I'm curious because I can imagine him still attending them out of leisure, but not sure if they'd be included in the calendar.

 

[Somebody]

Other than bullfights and car racing his events have been few and far between,I'm sure queen Sofia will continue as the power behind the throne.

And those aren't 'institutional events', so I don't expect him to cease attending the activities he enjoys and expect he will be shown the same courtesy as always and not been treated like an ordinary citizen.

So, an unexpected move but I wonder whether the difference will be that big in practice. What institutional events are coming up for example? Is there a celebration of 5 year kingship of Felipe that he will be missing out on this way?

 

[An Ard Ri]

I can't think of any upcoming major family events or celebrations ,king Juan Carlos probably wouldn't attend anyways!

 

[Somebody]

I'd say his main institutional responsibility was attending inaugurations of Latin-American heads of state, so I wonder who will take that on. Queen Sofia, queen Letizia or will they ask Elena to come back and support her brother as it wasn't such a good idea to be depended upon only 4 people of whom one clearly had health issues and two are way passed retirement aga.

 

[Mbruno]

Queen Juliana -or her office- published a simular letter upon her 90th birthday IIRC.

Let's hope the free time will enable the king to focus on the things that are the most important to him.

With the king retiring it seems that there is only one working royal left in the family, next to the king and queen. Perhaps a pity that the infanta Elena was swept aside.

The obvious solution would be to bring Elena back and assign her some official royal work, but maybe the problem is that the King cannot reinstate Elena as a working royal while Cristina remains an outcast, or can he ?



I agree that three working royals only are probably not enough for a country of the size of Spain.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Given that king Juan Carlos performed only a handful of duties per annum I don't see any reason as to why Elena cannot take these over she has from time to time performed some official duties on behalf of her brother the King .

It would make sense as queen Sofia is getting older and it will be many years before Leonor/Sofia take on anything official.

 

[lula]

Actually his institutional activity was minimal, his absence will not be a difference.

Sporting events only occasionally, when they deliver the trophy ot it is a final, are considered official acts. Only two bullfights are usually on the official agenda, those organized in Madrid by the Press Association and a Charity bullfight.

Since the summer, Juan Carlos was not expected to continue attending the changes of president in Latin America. In case the King or before the Prince does not attend, the representation is made by the Presidents of the Congress or the Senate, who are the second and third political authorities of the country.

So most of the events he goes to are private, this often creates confusion in public opinion ... now it will be clear that everything is private.

Elena is no longer King's daughter, as King's sister she is not part of the Royal Family and therefore she can not work for the Crown full-time (also if she works for the Crown she could not work for the company where she works). The King does not have the capacity to change that. The King can ask that his sister occasionally represent him in some events, but they are events of little institutional weight.

The weight of the agenda is carried by King Felipe and Queen Letizia. Even most of Sofia's events are related to her own social interests ... and they would be dispensable without big problems, because Queen Letizia is not going to continue with them because she has her own.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Once Queen Sofia retires or is forced to retire there will be more pressure on King and Queen and their daughters, especially Leonor, to become more prominent in the royal agenda. Sofia is 80 years old and seems in good health but not everybody is like QEII and Prince Philip, still active well past 90.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Hopefully that won't be for another few years

How ever I would like to see the Infanta Elena taking on a few more duties on behalf of the king .

 

[Princess B]

This doesn’t come as a surprise. We hardly saw the king conduct any official duties in recent years. Also, he looked very frail at GD Jean’s funeral.
I think it’s a good move, and I hope King Juan Carlos enjoys his final years, doing what pleases him

 

[rominet09]

I think he's really right. He deserves a tranquil life now so to enjoy life.

 

[Blog Real]

As I said, I think King Juan Carlos did well. He has some health problems and the last few times he appeared gave him to realize that he is very fragile. This was a very smart decision but it should not have been anything easy to take.

 

[camelot23ca]

I also think it was a good decision on the part of Juan Carlos and, as others have said, it’s not as if he’s had so many events lately anyway.

I would expect Sofia to continue carrying out events on a limited basis, (it’s not as if she does a huge number, either), as she’s physically much less frail than Juan Carlos. At some point, though, she will need to wind down due to failing health or frailty.

I don’t think that means Elena will be called upon to take on more royal work. Hopefully by the time Sofia can’t carry out official duties, Leonor will be at the age and stage in her royal education that she will be able to take on more, obviously worked around school and university at first. If there is a gap between Sofia winding down and Leonor winding up then Felipe and Letizia will have to increase their workload, at least for a few years. Looking at the royal calendar over the course of a few months, (any few months), shows that Letizia, in particular, has room to take on more public engagements without undue difficulty.

 

[Mademoiselle Lilo]

About time,no surpise here,
Now with only 3 members of RF fully active brinhing back Princess Elena would be usuful i can't see the King and Queen managing alone espacially Queen Sofia is not gztting any younger.

 

[Countessmeout]

I actually thought he was retired, since we rarely see him outside bullfights and such. So only surprised its just happening now.

Leonor is only 14 this year. She has a good 8 years to go before she will likely take on royal duties, at least full time. Perhaps longer if she does a masters like her father did. I am sure as she gets older she will take on some duties while in school, but it will certainly be limited.

If Sofia is up to it I can see her perhaps being able to fill the void at home while Leonor gets older. She is certainly in better health then her husband and still seems quite active as it is.

But I don't see Sofia making foreign trips for them.At least not for much longer. Traditionally when a sovereign's heir is a minor, it has fallen to a sibling to do the trips and representation for them abroad. It would make sense if they asked Elena to step up and represent them from time to time until her niece is old enough do so.

It wouldn't require them to reinstate Cristina. Cristina is another matter all together. Though acquitted of her charges, I don't see Cristina ever being official again. Her loss of her title was a sign of that.

 

[Alison H]

He was at the tennis in Madrid - I hope he's able to go to things he enjoys, without the pressure of being an "official" business. The issue of cutting down the number of active Royals has arisen in the UK as well - it's all very well talking about "slimming down" the Royal Family, but a lot of charities and other organisations rely on royal patronage, and the core members of the family can only be in one place at a time.

 

[Somebody]

He was at the tennis in Madrid - I hope he's able to go to things he enjoys, without the pressure of being an "official" business. The issue of cutting down the number of active Royals has arisen in the UK as well - it's all very well talking about "slimming down" the Royal Family, but a lot of charities and other organisations rely on royal patronage, and the core members of the family can only be in one place at a time.

The debate is indeed international but the UK has a huge number of active royals, and would still have the largest number in Europe after slimming down significantly. Spain is very much on the other end of the spectrum.

Most European countries seem to have 3 to 4 (max 6) full time royals; sometimes supported by a few family members doing the occasional activity. Spain especially has a shortage of the latter.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I would imagine that the Spanish Royal Family is the most slimmed down RF in Europe,soon to be with just 3 working members!

 

[maria-olivia]

King Albert II of the Belgians retires since his abdication.
Queen Paola attends really nothing anymore.
Princess Astrid attends some Events but has 2 economic Missions a year.
Who will do this for the Spanish Royal Family.

 

[Stefan]

I would imagine that the Spanish Royal Family is the most slimmed down RF in Europe,soon to be with just 3 working members!

Only Norway can be compared where there are 4 working mebers but one can't do much because of health Issuses. But ofcourse Norway is much smaller and has much less inhabitants then Spain.

 

[Mbruno]

Only Norway can be compared where there are 4 working mebers but one can't do much because of health Issuses. But ofcourse Norway is much smaller and has much less inhabitants then Spain.

In addition to Spain having a much larger population (almost 10 times the population of Norway), the Spanish monarchy still has a strong connection to Latin America, which implies overseas committments such as attending inaugurations of Latin American presidents and Ibero-American summits .

 

[lula]

On June 2, the day he officially leaves the institutional activity, Juan Carlos will attend privately a public event. He will attend the reopening of the Bullring of Aranjuez where a tribute to the Countess of Barcelona will be made.

https://www.cope.es/actualidad/espa...na-corrida-toros-dia-retirada-20190528_424756

According to a magazine, one of his nephews has confirmed that a private family lunch is also planned.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

with his very, very limited institutional agenda in mind, not sure his announcement was needed.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...ng-juan-carlos-bows-public-life-mixed-legacy/

Telegraph writes that JC retired because Felipe did not invite him to Seville to attend Arms Day, an event he has not attended since he abdicated ... but no doubt his retirement has to do with his EGO!