efore dawn

on Friday, April 13, 2012, King Juan Carlos

of Spain took a fall while on an elephant-
hunting safari in Botswana and was im-
mediately flown home to Madrid, where
he underwent emergency hip-replacement
surgery the next morning. Were it not for
the injury, His Majesty's African adven
ture would have no doubt remained a se-
cret, as had almost everything to do with
his private life since he took the throne,
in 1975, upon the death of Generalissimo
Francisco Franco, the long-ruling dicta-
tor who had arranged for the restoration
of the monarchy. Instead, the 75-year-old
King-long accustomed to stratospheric
popularity ratings and deferential treat-
ment from the press for his role in secur-
ing Spain's democracy-was confronted
with an avalanche of scathing criticism
"The spectacle of a monarch hunting
elephants in Africa while the economic
crisis in our country causes so many prob
lems for Spaniards transmits an image
of indifference and frivolity," thundered
1 Mundo, Spain's leading
newspaper. The countr y' s largest paper,
1 Pais, calculated that a luxury safari
like the King's would cost nearly $60,000
(including $15,000 for a permit to kill an
elephant)-twice the average
111 a through the worst
in Europe s
Nearly every Spanish newspaper, TV
channel , and online news site ran the
now infamous photograph of Juan Car
los standing proudly in front of a dead el
ephant , which he had killed on a previous
undisclosed big-game shooL. Compound-
ing the embarrassment, four days before
the King's fall , his 13-year-old grand-
son-the son of his older daughter-had
shot himself in the foot during target prac
tice at one of the royal family's country
houses, and police were investigating the
incident because in Spain the use of fire-
arms by those under the age of 14 is illegal
This in turn had allowed the press to bring
up a family tragedy that had occurred 56
years earlier, when Juan Carlos, then 18,
accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old
brother, Alfonso
It soon came out that the King's hunt-
ing party had included Princess Corin
na zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a glamorous ,
46-year-old, twice-divorced German
businesswoman based in Monaco, and
that she had flown with him on the plane
of Mohamed Eyad Kayali , a Syrian-born
Saudi deal-maker, who paid for the safari
Although denied any
"improper relationship" with the King, it
was reported that Queen Sofia, who had
flown to Athens Friday, to spend Greek
Orthodox Easter with her brother, former
king was informed of her
husband's fall upon her arrival there, and
decided to stick to her plan lo return to
Madrid on Monday
The first call for the King to step down
in favor of his son, Crown Prince Felipe,
came that weekend, when Tomas Gomez,
Madrid's regional Socialist Party leader,
told the press, "The moment has arrived
for the head of state to decide between
his obligations and public responsibilities
and an abdication that would allow him
to enjoy a different life." Such a suggestion
would have been unheard of a week ear-
lier, and it shocked most Spaniards. Three
days later stunned again. Leav
ing the hospital on crutches, Juan Carlos
addressed the waiting journalists and TV
crews with a statement about the ill-timed
safari. "I am very sorry," he said. "I made
a mistake. It won't happen again."
From Bad to Worse
for the King,
the Botswana fiasco fol-
lowed by only a few months
another messy royal scan-
da!. In November 2011 ,
the Spanish people learned
that Ii\aki the husband of the
King's younger daughter, Infanta Cristina,
was under investigation for allegedly embez-
zling millions of euros from his nonprofit
sports foundation, the Noos Institute. A
former Olympic handball champion, Urdan
garin, who had been given the title Duque de
Palma de Mallorca upon marrying Cristina,
in 1997, denied all charges. Nevertheless, the
royal household announced that Urdangarin
would not participate in official family func-
tions while under investigation, and in his an
nual Christmas address Juan Carlos made a
point of stating, "Justice is for everyone."
On December 28, the royal household
published for the first time its earnings and
expenses. In the King had received
close to $400,000 from the slate, almost
evenly divided between salary and ex-
penses; he paid 40 percent income tax on
his salary. Crown Prince Felipe received
nearly $200,000, and the royal women
Queen Sofia, the lnfantas Elena and Cris
tina, and Felipe's wife, Princess Letizia
shared some $500,000. The total budget
for the royal household, including a staff
of about 500, was approximately $1 1.34
a relatively modest sum compared
with other European monarchies
Yet questions remained as to how Juan
Carlos had amassed a personal fortune
said to be about $2 billion. And the royal
lurch toward openness would prove futile
as developments in the Noos imbroglio
threatened to ensnare the King, and as the
press dug deeper into his private affairs
In February 2012, Urdangarin testified
for the first time before Judge Jose Castro,
the Majorca magistrate presiding over the
Noos case. He admitted under questioning
that he had defied an order from his father-
in-law in 2006 lo disassociate himself en-
tirely from the Noos Institute. Though he
resigned as president, he
years to be involved in its activities. His les-
timony raised new questions concerning
LOWOF 54 PERCENT.
A Y N A V 0 3
2013
the King; for example, if he knew of shady
business at Noos, why didn't he inform the
authorities?
Meanwhile, in a book titled The Solitude of
fhe Queen, Spanish author Pilar Eyre called
the King a serial womanizer and alleged that
he had even made a Princess Diana
while she and Prince vacatIon
ing on King Constantine's yacht with the
Spanish and Greek royal families. Within
weeks of the monarch's apology for the Bo
tswana Spanish Vanity Fail' caused a
sensation by putting on the
June 2012 cover as "The Friend
of the King." Lourdes Garzon, the editor in
chief, told me, "Everyone more or
about this woman, but it was impossi
ble to find anything written about her
Because to write about the monarchy
was the biggest taboo in our society."
worse
The Palace announced the King
and Queen not be
golden In
Torres,
Urdangarin's former business partner,
testified that the King's son-in-law
never made a move without Palace
approval, and that his wife, Cristina,
as an officer of the Noos Institute,
was involved in the running of it. To
support his claims, Torres submitted
more than 200 e-mails to the court. They
revealed that , as early as June 2004, the
King had asked Sayn-Wittgenstein to help
a newjob, which suggested
that her role in royal matters was even larger
than suspected. When arrived
at the Palma de Mallorca courthouse, he
was taunted by protesters shouting, "Down
with the monarchy! Down with corruption!"
In sworn testimony he insisted, "The royal
family did not give its opinion on, advise or
authorize the activities of Noos." Several
later, however, Judge Castro subpoe
naed lnfanta Cristina-the first time in his
tory that a member ofthe royal family had
been ordered to appear in court
On March 3, Juan Carlos returned to
the hospital for back surgery, his fourth
operation in less than a year. The previous
week Sayn-Wittgenstein had given an in
terview to 1 Mundo. She told investigative
reporter Ana Romero that she had met the
King nine years earlier, at a shooting party
at the Duke of Westminster's estate in
England, and that they had become "close
friends." She further confided that she had
performed "sensitive and confidential" as
signments for the Spanish government ,
"These were specific
S matters and I helped for the good of t
OCTOBU 2013
National Intelli
gence Center, had
been questioned
bya parliamentary
committee "prob
ing whether Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
had ever benefited from a Spanish secu
rity detail or received any payments from {.
the state as a lobbyist for Spanish firms ...
abroad." In early April , EI Mundo alleged
that Juan Carlos had secreted in Swiss
accounts millions of dollars that he had
inherited from his father, Don Juan de
Borbon, who had lived in exile during the
Franco years (and would have been king
had the Generalissimo not chosen his son
as his successor instead)
All this was happening as increasingly
harsh austerity measures imposed by the
conservative government of Prime Min-
ister Mariano Rajoy and an epidemic of
political-corruption scandals had Span-
iards feeling beleaguered and angry. With
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands an-
nouncing her abdication in favor of her
son in January, and an ailing Pope Bene-
dict XVI resigning in February, the idea
of an ill and embattled Juan Carlos giving
up his throne suddenly seemed plausible
By mid-April , when I first traveled to Ma-
drid to explore the situation for Mlnity Fail;
the King hadn't been seen in public for
six weeks, his approval rating had plum-
meted below 50 percent-both the Queen
and Prince Felipe were polling higher-and
talk of abdication had reached a fevel
pitch across all of Europe. SPAIN'S KING
JUAN CARLOS IS ENGULFED IN SCANDAL,
declared The Guardian of London. Ger
many's Der went further: IS IT TIME
FOR SPAIN TO DISSOLVE THE MONARCHY?
The Defense Team
f the King leaves, it would be a
disaster. He's the center of every-
thing. It's not only that we love
him, we need him." So said
Blanca Martinez de Irujo, a grande
dame ofthe Spanish aristocracy, as
she passed me a plate of finger
in her Madrid apartment She and her sis
ter, Victoria, Marquesa de Tamarit,
had agreed, reluctantly, to talk about Juan
Carlos, who is both their friend and relative
"We have known him since he was a young
boy in short pants," said the marquesa
A full-length portrait of Queen Isabella 11,
the great-greagrandmother of Juan Carlos
and the sisters, hung over the mantelpiece
The ladies' mother was a princess of the
Borbon dynasty, which has produced Span-
ish monarchs since 1700 and French kings
from the 16th to the 19th century. Their
grandfather the Count of
a prime minister under King Alfonso XIIl,
the last Borbon ruler before the monarchy
was replaced, in 1931, by the Second Spanish
Republic, which in turn was vanquished by
Franco in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39
"I think the best thing we have in Spain
is the King," conti.nued the Marquesa de
"We don't have to criticize him
We-all of us who are not Communists
VANITY ,
/
: ,
have to help him. He has done may
be, that people can think are not so good
But he's a human being."
Former king Simeon 11 of Bulgaria, who
was exiled as a boy after the Communist
takeover of his country, in 1946, more or less
grew up with Juan Spain granted
his family asylum in 1951. He told me that ab-
dication had suddenly become a
which he was not happy about. "One has to
put the King's whole
life in context and I _ I'

not focus on
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that are accidental -{
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"And looking on the
balance at what the monarchy itself and the
King personally have contributed to Spain's
contemporary history, I would think it's ab
surd to blow up these unpleasant situations
The definition of monarchy is a lifetime
job. It's a dedication. All ofa sudden,
because the King has had four op-
eratlons 111 a he's got to abdicate?
Give me a break."
Even one of Juan Carlos's toughest
critics, Pedro 1. Ramirez, the editor
in chief of 1 Mundo, the paper that
has been most aggressive in pursuing
the royal scandals, had nice things
to say about him. Ramirez told me
of an exchange he had had with Juan
Carlos in 1990, after being fired from
his previous job as editor of Diario 16
because the King had complained to
the owner about stories he didn't like
''The King said, I know you know that
Itold your boss to get rid of you. But I
didn't think he was going to be such an
asshole as to accept my suggestion,'''
Ramirez recalled. "Ithought. O.K., this
is Juan Carlos, a guy who always tries to
be everyone. I would not say
he's intelligent. He is shrewd like a fox
Well. now he is an old man with a lot of
health problems and personal problems
But I think, on the whole. he has been a
great king."
hat was clearly the consen-
sus among Madrid's po
litical, media, and society
circles. Laurence Debray,
the author of an unauthor
ized French biography, Juan
d'Espagne. called the King "a real
political animal ," who deserved enormous
credit for declining to become the absolute
monarch Franco had set him up to be, and
for refusing to go along with the attempted
coup staged in his name by right-wing mili-
tary officers in 1981. "That was the moment
when he really CONTINUED ON PAGE 3(,)
312 I FA I R

J
?
I ,

station, which was being blasted from the rock
The company doing
the work was Skanska, a big player in heavy
construction worldwide. Its project boss was
a vetemn underground engineer named Gary
Almeraris. Much of the being torn
up for the excavation of the future station
entrances, and years of disruption
some of the neighbors were unhappy. We
climbed down a series of stairs and ladders
a dank void 938 feet long by 65 feel high,
loud with the clatter of hammers and drills
and the roar of diesel engines. Perhaps 200
men were at of the famous
Sandhogs union, Local 147-many of them
clustered around machinery and preparing
yet another round of blasting. At either
end stood the twin tunnels ofthe new subway
itself, still trackless but already fully bored
and lined. A sign read, WELCOME TO THUN-
DERDOME. Two giant ventilation shafts rose
to fan houses far above. An
ciliary chambers and angled ramps led
directions. The ground underfoot was
rough, and in places slick and thick with mud
In March of this about 10 blocks
north, a Second Avenue worker had sunk up
to his chest in a of similar mud, and
it had required four hours and more than 150
to pull him out
Almeraris led through the cavern, ex-
plaining the process unfolding. I heard every
other sentence at best. A subway man had
warned me about the front-end loaders ma-
around. He said, "The driver won't
even know he ran you that a pebble
or a man? He's got 40 tons of rock in his buck-
et. Ifyou see him coming, you gotta get out
of the way."
Back aboveground, Horodniceanu looked
around at the construction zone and brou1!ht
up the subject of neighborhood disruption
He said, "People do not like surprises unless
it comes out of a cake-and maybe is naked
have to work with people so they be
come your allies. When you
can't the fuck away.' You have to lis
ten to what they say, and say,O.K., help me to
help you. We want to get out ofhere as soon as
possible. We have to build. Ifyou've gOI good
ideas, r'lI listen to you. Tell me what I can do.'"
"And do they have good ideas?"
"No. Well, sometimes a few of them do
Like there's no need to blast past eight P.M. at
night, because there is other work you can do
So we listen to them. But we don't stop work."
No, they don't stop work. The work never
stops. Underground, it hasn't stopped in
ades-or, really, in two centuries. Every day
the city beneath the city grows and deepens,
an expanding universe down every entrance
and
FROM THE ARCHIVE
For stories, visit ,\ReIl IVE
New Orleans and the great deluge
(DO l/gIlls ./lIll e: wo6)
Conslructing the George
./llly l!Jjo)
'Inside the underground world oflhe Large
Hadron Collider (KurIAllderse: ll. .IwllI ar:. r WIO)
King Juan Carlos
FROM rAGE 312 wonhiscrown,"
she said. "To my mind, he is one of the
greatest leaders of the 20th century."
"King Juan Carlos is really the founding
father of Spanish democracy," noted his-
torian Charles Powell. "That's why people
feel this could have massive political conse-
quences," he added, to the King's
present predicament. "If this goes wrong for
him, it isn't just the head of state who's in
trouble; the whole political system will be
called into question. Some people argue that
it's high time, that the model that was created
in the 1970s is exhausted, that political institu-
tions-including the monarchy itself-need to
be revisited in a fundamental way."
One afternoon in Madrid, I had drinks at
the Ritz with Luis Venegas, the editor of the
hip fashion magazine and his friend
Leo Rydell Jost, a design student. "It 's true
King Juan Carlos did many things to assure
that democracy came to the country," said
Venegas, "but more than 30 years have passed
since then." Rydell Jost added, "With every
thing that has happened recently, you see the
OCTOBER 2013
whole monarchy thing as a joke. Most people
under 30 want a republic."
Detractors of the monarchy were gener-
ally reluctant to talk. One disillusioned baby-
boomer royalist , however, had a lot to say
''This King has had the biggest red carpet in
the world forever. No leader has ever gotten
such an amount of protection, adoration, and
schmoozing. And he took it all the way
with it. You cannot feel sorry for him. He did
it to himself. He's like a spoiled brat who has
had everything, and one day it's taken away."
The King's Lady Friend
the King it's been like a bomb to his
1.' brain," said the Condesa de Toreno, a
prominent Madrid hostess. "Imagine, his ill-
ness and then this thing of-let's call it fa petite
The Condesa was obviously referring
to Princess Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
Virtually everyone I talked to for this arti-
cle seemed to take it for granted that the King
and Sayn-Wittgenstein have had a romantic
relationship, but aim>n>ost no one to
be
very much in one
of s
be, because she's very beautiful." A
jet-setter was less kind: "She's a
bad-news girl. And he's such an old fool. She
knows exactly how to play him."
When Sayn-Wittgenstein learned that I
writing about she offered a mu-
tual friend to give me an interview. "I'm doing
O.K.," she told me at the start of our conversa-
tion in June. "I'm trying to ride out the storm."
In her rapid, straightforward she
hardly sounded like the cunning femme fatale
the has made her out to be. ("She's not
a bimbo," said a Spanish source. "If she was a
bimbo, we wouldn't have such a problem.")
I asked her when she had last been in Spain
Not since December last year, and I'm not
planning on going back, because that would
not be very appropriate smart." Does
she keep in touch with the King? "Yes. We are
close friends. Some people don't understand
that things can happen at a certain point in
time, and then they end, but the friendship
doesn't end. He is now an elderly gentleman
struggling with his health, and I think he needs
all the support he can get. . .. People are ex-
pecting something big to happen,
the other. Nothing is going to happen, minus
he can't go hunting and I won't go to Spain. He
keeps in touch. He caUs my children on a
Iy basis to see how they're doing. He behaves
like you and I would behave with a friend."
When she met the King with the Duke of
Westminster in 2004, she had recently bro
ken with her second husband, Prince Casimir
zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, whom she had
married four years earlier. ("His family was
aghast," said the jet-setter.) Her father, the
Danish-born Finn Bonning Larsen, was
the European director of Varig, the Brazilian
national her mother, Ingrid Sauer, was
Frankfurt, where Corinna was born on
January 28, 1964. She told me that
up between Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro
and attended girls' schools in Germany and
Switzerland. After the Uni-
versity of Geneva, in 1987, she went
for L'Oreal in Paris. That led to a job with
Compagnie Generale des Eaux, the utilities
and-construction giant, she said, where she did
public relations for the opening of La Grande
Arche in La Defense, in Paris, an event attend
3 6 3 A Y N A V
King Juan Carlos
ed by Franyois M Margaret Thatch-
er, and Helmut Kohl. "And that's largely what
I do today. I manage relationships on a long-
term basis between institutions, government
institutions, or large corporate
She met her first husband, Philip Ad
kins, a graduate of Columbia and Harvard,
in Paris in 1989; they married the following
year and set up house in London.
divorced three years later, but they remain
the closest of friends and business partners
In fact , Adkins was on the safari in Botswa-
na, as was Corinna's IO-year-old son from
her marriage to Sayn-Wittgenstein. "I was in
my tent with my son," she told me. "My ex-
husband was in his tent , and the King was in
his tent. There was no hanky-panky."

on a when
he called and asked her to arrange the May
2004 honeymoon trip of Prince Felipe and
Princess Letizia to Jordan, Thailand, and Fiji
She had been working the past four years at
Boss & Co. , the London bespoke gun-makers,
organizing hunts for high-profile clients. Ac
cording to Spanish Vanity Fail; she put to-
gether two safaris in Mozambique for the
King, in 2004 and 2005, and on the first was
"by his side all the time." Since then, a royal
insider said, she has been a regular guest on
the partridge-shooting Juan Carlos
hosts every spring at his country estate, south
of Madrid. that person, "The
King is still in her."
Boris Izaguirre, a popular young TV per-
sonality in Madrid, recalled that the rumors
about the King's girlfriend started four or five
years ago: "Apparently, Corinna took the man-
icurist that all the big Madrid ladies use on
trips with the King, and people started asking,
Who is this German woman who travels with
the King?' Then came the stories about the
house in the El Pardo palace compound. The
King refurbished it, and people said that it was
Corinna's and that he was always there
with her and her kids. It has two pools-one
indoor-and 1
published all of these things, and questions
were asked in parliament about who paid for
the refurbishment. The royal household replied
that the house was used for foreign guests."
More seriously, the press began w ask why
Sayn-Wittgenstein-who left Boss & Co. in
2006 lO start her own consulting firm, Apol-
Ionia the King on
trips to foreign countries,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab
Emirates. Suspicions were raised afler the Ho-
tswana story broke, when 1 Mundo reponed
that Mohamed Eyad Kayali, the King and
Corinna's safari host , was the "right-hand
man" of Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz AI
A Y N A V 4 6 3
Saud, the Saudi defense minister, who had
the $9 billion deal for a consortium
of Spanish companies to build the
railway Mecca and Medina
"In the Corinna affair, there are two as
pects," said Pedro Ramirez. "One is the per-
sonal relationship. I would say in Spain this is
not important, that the King has a lover or a
very close friend. What is embarrassing in the
affair is the financial implications." A few
before I interviewed Ramirez, his newspaper
had linked to the Saudi
Fund, which had been
dedicated at the EI Pardo palace in 2007 by
KmgJuan Carlos and ofSaudi
Arabia. "Spanish companies committed $200
million, but the fund collapsed when the Sau-
dis didn't come through with their $800 mil-
lion," Ramirez explained. "The only money
spent was $15 million, which went to the fund
managers, Cheyne Capital, who were friends
ofCorinna, who got close to $5 million."
When I asked Sayn-Wittgenstein about
the extent ofher involvement in the
ficial business, she responded firmly, "I have
never done business for the King, or collect-
ed any money on his behalf.... Business in
Spain has been conducted for the last 30 or
40 years in a particular manner.... When-
ever there are large deals for Spanish com
panies in the Middle East, Eastern Europe,
or Latin America, the person that politi-
cians and the community call is the
King, and he makes the calls."
She said that she had had "absolutely noth-
ing to do" with the Saudi high-speed train
deal, that Shahpari Khashoggi, the third ex-
wife of Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi,
"was the agent for the Spanish side on that."
She also wid me, "Yes, I was involved in the
Saudi-Spanish Infnt.structure Fund, and I was
paid, because I worked for two years giving
advice to the fund manager." She concluded,
"My message is I don't have an agenda, othel
than huge respect for the King and Prince Fe
lipe." Had she met the Queen? "I bumped into
her once, accidentally."
A Tough Life
interviews
family were being declined, but the King
authorized Pepe Fanjul, the Cuban
Americ.m sugar baron, to speak to me on his
behal f. "The King and I became very good
friends back in the when he was still
Prince," said Fanjul. "He is cenainly one of
the most charismatic individuals I've ever met
He's a people person, like Ronald Reagan
Without a doubt he has been Spain's No. I
ambassador to the world, and he has gotten
huge contracts for Spain."
Fanjul lOld me that he had met Corinna
and Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
shortly after they were married, and that he
had come to know her over the years. "We
have mutual social friends, and she was in
volved in the shooting world. I've shot with
her in different pans ofthe world. She's a bril
!iant , hardworking businesswoman. The King
feels it would be unfair if her business were
as she's really an innocent bystander
He considers her lO be a dear and loyal friend,
who has always been very respectful to the roy-
al family." He added, "People think the King
has had a charmed life. I would say it's one of
the hardest lives of anybody I know."
Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria de
Borban y Horb6n-Dos Sicilias was born on
January 5, 1938, the second of four children,
to Don Juan de Borban and Princess Maria
de las Mercedes de Horban-Dos Sicilias. He
is a direct descendant of King Louis XIV of
France from both of his parents, and of En-
gland's Queen Victoria through his father. The
living in exile in Rome during
the Spanish Civil War, but they left
Italy for neutral Switzerland in 1942. When
Juan Carlos his parents settled in Es-
toril, Portugal, leaving at a board
ing school for boys run by Marian fathers. "I
was really very miserable," he later said
In November 1948, according lO Paul Pres-
ton's biography Juan Steering Spain
from Dictatorship to a "tearful
ten-year-old Juan Carlos offby his
tight-lipped parents" as he boarded an over
night train from Portugal to Spain, where, for
the next 27 every aspect ofhis existence
would be overseen by Franco. For Don Juan,
delivering his son to the dictator was the only
way to keep alive the hopes of a Horban resto-
nttion, but for Juan Carlos it meant becoming
something between a pawn and a hostage. He
was sequestered at a country estate near Ma
drid, where a private school was set up for him
and eight boys from the aristocracy and rich
right-wing families. In 1950 the school
located to a former royal palace in San Sebas
where Juan Carlos's brother, Alfonso, and
eight boys of his age joined the student body
In 1955, Juan Carlos, then 17, was moved to
Madrid to prepare for the Military Academy
of Zantgoza. He lived in the Duke de Montel-
lano's mansion, under the watchful eyes of a
general , a a priest from the Opus
Dei, the conservative Catholic movement
"He was not allowed to go out to any-
thing, not even to the theater," said Dona
Blanca Martinez de Irujo, adding that oc-
casionally his riding instructor "would help
him escape" for half an hour to see a girl
Her Dona Victoria, volunteered, "He
always loved our King, and he loved
dancing, especially
On Holy Thursday 1956, while on Easter
va
2013
the Infante Alfonso was cleaning a revolver
with his brOl her, a shot fired hilling his
forehead and killing him in a few minutes."
Subsequent comments, however, from the
boys' mother, Dona Maria, her dressmaker,
and a family friend, suggested that Juan
Carlos had been holding the gun, which he
thought was not loaded. The King has never
denied his responsibility or an expla-
nation, but as Reinaldo Herrera, a Vanity Fail
contributing editor and a longtime acquain
tance ofhis, said, "It marked him for life."
TheMowmgsummerJuanMS
Zaragoza, and then spent a year
each at the national naval and air-force acad
emies. In 1960 he entered the Complutense
University of Madrid, where he studied law,
economics, and taxation. Franco's wife, Dona
Carmen Polo, personally decorated his new
residence, the Palacio de la Zarzuela, a hunt-
ing lodge built in the 17th century for King
Philip IV palace in name only," noted
Pepe of the 20-room villa, where
Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia live to this day.
They were married on May 14, 1962, in
Athens, first in a Catholic cathedral, then
in a Greek Orthodox ceremony (she would
later convert to Catholicism). The wedding
was attended by more than 150 members of
27 royal houses. "It was a marriage of con
venience, and it was largely Queen Frederi-
ca's doing," one friend of the royals told me,
referring to Sofia's mother. But Paul Preston,
among believes the couple were in
love, at least initially. Their three children,
Infanta Cristina, and Prince
Felipe, were born over the next six years
Most importantly, Franco gave his stamp of
approval to the prim and Sofia
On July 22, 1969, Franco officially designated
Juan Carlos as his successor, and the Prince
swore fealty to the Fundamental Principles
of the National Movement, the sole political
party under the dictatorship
The Enlightened Monarch
KM arl
the possible. There
no aborate mass. He
and La Zarzuela r
than into the 2,800-room Royal Palace
And they eschewed the traditional trappings of
a court. In all ofthis Juan Carlos had the sup-
port and encouragement of his had
seen her brother, King Constantine, driven
into exile in 1967
"I think one of the cleverest things Juan
Carlos did avoid the old aristocracy,"
said Charles Powell. ''They thought, Oh, great,
our time is back. But Juan Carlos realized
these people were the kiss of death. They had
been largely responsible for the crash of the
monarchy in 1931. They had isolated Alfonso
XIII from public opinion, from the political
elite, and from the intellectual world."
OCTOBER 2013
In any event, nobody thought Juan would
reign for very long. To everyone's amazement,
however, the Ki ng took charge. Within months
of his coronation he appointed Adolfo Smirez,
one of the few moderate officials of the Na-
tional Movement, as prime minister. In 1977,
Juan Carlos outraged Francoist loyalists by
supporting the ofthe Socialist and
Communist parties
Most significantly, he was instrumental in
the writing ofa new constitution to replace the
one left by Fnmco, which
sion of the authoritarian system in the guise of
an absolute monarchy. Generally referred to
as Spain's Magna Carta, the 1978 constitution
was overwhelmingly approved by the Span-
ish people in a referendum. King Simeon II
recalled visiting Juan Carlos while the new
document being written. "In his room
he had a whole lot of pages strewn on the table
and even on the bed. I said,What on earth is
this?' He told me,This is the draft of the con
stitution.' I noticed there a lot of cross-
outs-litemlly paragraphs. He
the prerogatives I have.' And I said, 'But you
are striking all these prerogatives And
he I don't see why I should have so
many powers.'"
On February 23, 1981 , 200 armed officers
of the Guardia Civil, or fedeml police, led by
Li eutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, seized
control of the lower house of the Spanish par-
liament. Almost at the same time, Lieutenant
General Jaime Milan del Bosch, a
Francoist, sent tanks into the of Va-
lencia. The rebels announced that
acting in support of the Ki ng, but early the
next morning he went on national TV and de-
nounced them, crown, symbol
ofthe permanence and unity ofthe fatherland,
cannot tolerate actions or attitudes by those
to interrupt by force the democratic
process." Three days later, three million peo
pie marched through Spain's cities in support
of democracy and the King
The following year, Spain elected 40-year-
old Felipe Gonzalez, the son of a livestock
handler from Seville, as its first Socialist head
since the Civil War. He would
be re-elected twice, and over the next 14 years
he and Juan Carlos would form what Charles
Powell called "the most fruitful political part-
nership in 20th-century Spain." By 1986 the
country had joined both the European Eco
nomic Community and The Gonz{lIez
government gave the country free
ucation, a social-security system, and new in-
economy took terro
ist attacks by the Basque-sepamtist
wer
wrote in an e-mail statement. "I have frequent
even having republican I believe
the role of the monarchy to be vital for Spain."

the people seem to
love. "Wh> she people stand p
and applaud said Charles
Powell. It wasn't always that way. Indeed, un-
til Corinna became a household name, the
consensus was that Sofia was cold, distant,
too Germani like her Queen Fred-
erica, the granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II
of Prussia. "She hates she hates
soccer, she hates Aamenco," complained one
Madrid socialite
People admire her for stoically enduring
her husband's some allegedly having
lasted for years. For all intents and purposes,
the King and Queen lead lives. Sofia
is said to spend weeks at a time in London,
visiting King Constantine and Anne
Marie, and she frequently flies to Paris to see
her favorite cousin, Princess Tatiana Radziwill
Close friends said that the King grew tired of
playing host to the former Greek royals for
two months in Majorca.
spinster sister, Princess has at La
Zarzuela since the death of their mother, in
1981. "He fled to get his in-laws,"
said one male friend
Few can find fault with the Queen's tire
of worthy causes, from fight-
ing drug addiction at horne to combating
sex traflicking in Cambodia. She shows up
at almost every opening of her namesake
Reina Sofia art museum and, according to
Charles Powell , "she has an ongoing seminar
program. She will invite academics to serious
debate, at Zarzuela, about the Arab Spring,
for example. She loves classical music. The
King is tone-deaf." Powell added, "I think
she's incredibly brave and resilient, and very
lonely, I would imagine."
Many among the old aristocracy never
the Queen for not
riages between her children and theirs. One
friend said, "She's been
with the children. None of them married cor-
rectly. There's a law in Spain called the Edict
of Carlos III, which forbids the royal family
from marrying outside of royal families. If they
do, they lose their succession rights. For some
reason, it seems to have been forgotten."
The Infantas and Their Spouses
I: de a of the
nobility Soria, who thereupon
became the Duke of Marichalar had
studied economics, but his real interest was
fashion. "He started dressing her up, to the
point where she was competing with Caroline
ofMonaco as the most elegant princess in Eu
rope," said Boris Jaime
quite the dandy with his slicked-back hair, fur
6 3 A Y N A V
King Juan Carlos
coats, and slacks of bracelets.
Antonio CamufJ.as, a Madrid corpomte con
sultam who JulOWS the rOydl "The
guy would ride his Segway down Avenida Ser-
rano, where all the fancy shops are, with his
bodyguards running afler him, which people
sawas Yet the couple seemed
happy and produced a boy and girl, in 1998
and 2000, respectively. But
the same after Jaime suffered a stroke. In
2009 the couple ended their marriage, rnak-
ing Elena child of a reigning Spanish
monarch to divorce. Marichalar lost his royal
title. "He became a black sheep," said Izu-
guirre. However,15 scandal enveloped his for-
mer brother-ill-law, lfiaki Urdangarin, Jaime
came to be seen in a more light
lnfimta
in Atlanta, where he
competing as a member of the Spanish
handball team. They married in 1997 and had
four children over the next eight years. The
son of a wealthy Basque businessman and a
Belgian mother, Urdangarin grew up in Barce-
lona, where he and Cristina settled after their
marriage. The Queen was said LO be very fond
sportsman. "We allloved LJiaki,"
said Antonio he seemed
so perfect and very normal. [naki always made
Infanta happy. He's a great fa-
ther. He cooks. He takes care ofall the help."
Urdangarin retired from professional hand-
ball after the 2000 Summer Olympics, having
earned a degree from Barcelona's elite Escuela
Superior de Administraci6n y Direcci6n de
Empresas was where he met
Diego Torres, an associate professor in the
school's department of policy and business. In
1999, Torres founded a consulting firm, the In
of Applied which Urdan-
garin joined in 2003, whereupon it was recon-
nonprofit foundation and renamed
the Noos Institute (nous Greek word
for "mind"). was president and
vice president , and they were joined
on the five-member board by Cristina, her
royal secretary, Carlos Garcia Revenga, and
Miguel Tejeiro, a relative of Torres's wife,
Ana Maria Tejeiro, who was
her brother, Marco Antonio
The foundation quickly eSlablished
lucrative relationships with the provincial gov-
ernments ofthe Balearic Islands and
which between 2004 and 2006 Noos
no-bid contracts
$7 million, to produce annual sports and tour-
ism "summjts."
Provincial politicians may have been eager
to do busin
A Y N A V 6 6 3
his son-in-law, had secured what she thought
was the perfect position: president of the new
Spanish branch of the multi-national Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation, which provides
outreach programs for needy children and
annual awards to prominent athletes
"They are like the Oscars for sports," Sayn-
Wingenstein told me, explaining that
is supported by the Richemont luxury-goods
group and Mercedes-Benz. Urdangarin's sal-
ary for the part-time job would have started
at $66,000, but he could have earned up to
$260,000 as additional corporate sponsors
came aboard, according to e-mails leaked to
the press. "I was turned
it down," Sayn-Wittgenstein said
whole thing started going wrong in
.I. 2005," said Boris Izaguirre. "Iii.aki and
bought a best part of
Barcelona, Pedralbes, for $8 million, and
people started how they could afford
it." They left the Noos board in 2006, along
with Carlos Garcia That same year
El its first investigative piece about
transactions at the founda-
tion. In 2009 the couple moved to Wash
ington, D.C., where Urdangarin worked for
the international subsidiary ofTelefonica, the
Spanish telecommunications monopoly
They returned to Spain after the scandal
broke, when-as a friend put were
molested by a TV crew in the Whole Foods
Market in Georgetown."
According to the official announcement
from Spain's Anticorruption Bureau, Urdan-
gadn and were under investigation for
suspected misappropriation of public funds,
of official documents, breach of
fiduciary duty, and Documents were
leaked suggesting that Noos grossly over-
billed the Valencia and Balearic Islands
ernments and the excess sums it col-
lected to tax havens in Belize, Luxembourg,
and Andorra. According to The
of this public
to have gone to "a real estate firm jointly op-
erated by Mr. Urdangarin and his wife." This
past February, Diego Torres, embittered by
the royal family's attempts to place most
of the blame on him, testified that, even
ter leaving the board, Urdangarin continued
to make the majority of decisions at Noos. In
the same hearings, Revenga, the foundation's
former treasurer, testified that his role and
Cristina's were largely symbolic. But some of
the that Torres had released seemed
to indicate that Revenga had helped organize
business meetings for Noos. an
nounced that he had dozens more e-mails,
he alleged, showed that the King tried
to help Urdangarin land big contracts. Both
and Torres have denied wrongdo
ing. In July, Urdangarin filed suit against Tor-
res concerning the authenticity ofthe
Infanta due to appear in Judge
Castro's court in late April, but Pedro Hor-
rach, the anti-corruption prosecutor, argued
that there was insufficient evidence to link
her directly to the alleged fraud at N60s, and her
appearance In Maya higher
court suspended the subpoena. Judge Castro
then announced that he investigate
whether Cristina had in tax evasion or
money-laundering
This spring Urdangarin thought he had
a job in Qatar as assistant coach to its new
handball team, but it fell through amid specu-
lation that the King had personally arranged
it with the Emir of Qatar to get his son-in-law
out of the country for a while. The Palace
denied that , saying phone conversations be-
the two monarchs at the time had been
about trade relations. "It 's too bad, because
my cousin Cristina and Iii.aki barely have
an income, as he can't get a job in Spain,"
said Prince Pavlos of Greece. "They're
ing in the middle oftotal chaos in Barcelona,
hounded by journalists and photographers
And it isn't even a an mves-
tigation to create a case. I think if Iii.aki has
done someth he was misguided."
In August, Infanta Cristina and the cou-
pie's four children moved to Geneva,
her longtime employer, Caixa Foundation,
transferred her to coordinate
program with United Nations agencies based
there. Urdangarin will make visits to Switzer-
land while remaining in Barcelona to sell their
house and deal with his problems. Ac-
to
may be indicted in September, which will no
doubt bring about another barrage of daunt-
ing headlines for the royal family
The Crown Prince and His
AH emare mwonwmld crown
Prince Felipe and the he fell in
love with while watching her recite the news
on TV, his wife, Princess Letizia. His Royal
Highness and Ms. Ortiz Rocasolano were
married on May 22, royal
wedding since that of Prince Charles and
Diana, in 1981. the first com
moner in Spanish history to be in line to be
Queen, and the first in that position to have
been divorced. The King, apparently, was not
with his According to
a member of another European royal family,
to his father to ask permission
to with a letter renouncing his
right to the throne in his pocket. And when
his father suggested that he wait a year or so
to make sure that she really was the right girl,
he handed him the letter. Juan Carlos asked
Sofia what they should do. She told him, 'You
have no choice. (fyou don't acquiesce, it will
be the end of the monarchy.'''
Lelizia Oniz Rocasolano was born in
Oviedo, in northern Spain, on September 15,
1972, and raised in a liberal, secular, middle-
class environment. Her father is a journalist
2013
Her mother is a registered nurse and hospital
union organizer whose father was a taxi
er and whose mother is halfFilipino. Letizia's
parents divorced in 1999
When Letizia was 25, she married Alon
so Guerrero, a professor and author. After
earning a journalism degree from the
plutense University ofMadrid and a master's
from the Institute for Audiovisual Journalism
she went to work at a newspaper in
Mexico. Upon returning to Spain, she rapidly
rose to the position of anchorwoman at TVE,
the nel\vork. She covered the
2000 presidential election from Washington,
broadcast live from Ground Zero following
9f ll , and reported from Iraq in the wake of
the American invasion
"Some aristocrats were outraged when
Felipe married Letizia," said a royal observ
er. "They make fun of her behind her back,
but they won't say it publicly, because they're
monarchisls. Letizia it, and she can't
stand them. I think she's in a difficult situa
tion. She is a nervous person, worried, up-
tense and intense."
The crown couple's first child, Infanta Le-
onor, born in 2005, is second in line to the
throne. Their second daughter, Infanta Sofia,
followed in 2007. The family lives in a large
house next door to La Zarzuela that was built
for Felipe before his marriage. According to a
royal insider,
She to
that she is a person her right. For ex
they up She IIl
later, and they willleave
it's a bit But the
look on his face when she behaves like that is
ofdeep affection. He is very protective ofher."
'Tpersonally believed that it would have
.I. been better if Prince Felipe had married
a royal princess," said Ramon
the assistant editor of ABC, the monarchist
daily. "Having said that , and having seen
Princess Letizia act the last nine years, I
think she's done a fantastic job. She's helped
Prince Felipe meet groups of society he
wasn't familiar with, such as people in the
media. And Ilike the fact that when they got
married they started their honeymoon trip
around Spain in a car, which nobody knew
they were going to do. That was something
that came out of her. And thaL's brilliant."
Perez-Maura observed of Felipe, "He's
more like his mother than his father. He
doesn't have the warmth, the charm, that his
father has. He never tries to be the center ofat-
which the King, in does."
"Prince Felipe is perhaps the best-pre-
pared man of his generation in Spain," said
Antonio Camuiias, citing an education that
took him from boarding school in Canada,
through the Aut6noma University of Madrid,
Spain's three military academies, and George
town University's School of Foreign Service
OCTOBER 2013
Carlos
and society editor, is equally high on Princess
Letizia, although he thought it was a joke
when a friend told him that Felipe was mar-
rying an anchorwoman. "Well, he did what
all the other crown princes in Europe are do-
ing-marrying commoners. I now think he
did the right thing. I think she's great. She's
witty and very endearing."
The controversial Letizia has made some
enemies. A book by her cousin David
solano made headlines in April with its claim
that she had had a secret abortion before
she met Felipe. (Her supporters vehemently
disputed this account, viewing act of
treason.) According to another book published
earlier this year, a Hustler in the
COlirt 01the King, Letizia's embattled
blames his troubles on her. "She wanted
to shine and leaked documents to the
reveal Urdangarin's bad moves," wrote
ardo Inda and Esteban who also
alleged that hiaki and Cristina "resented that
they were treated differently at the palace in
comparison" with Felipe and Letizia
"The most important thing about Felipe
and Letizia is that they are not linked in any
to any kind of corruption," said Laurence
Debmy. "They were ambitious enough to stay
away from it all. They cut off any relationship
they had with liiaki and Cristina. Felipe's a
good family man. He doesn't have
He doesn't go hunting. modern. The
younger doesn't care about Franco,
or the Civil War, or the coup. For them, most
of the royal family seems corrupt. They don't
work, and they of money. SO Felipe
is looking better every so is Letizia."
The Royal Road Ahead
King, the
is that Queen Sofia would prefer (0 see
Prince Felipe take the throne sooner rather
than later. According to the Co-
a conservative "She
geLS along very with Letizia. And I think
Letizia is very close to the Queen." Others say
the Princess to he Queen. "She is
pecting it every day," said an
January, support for the monar-
chy had fallen to a historic low of 54
Ln February a Palace compelled to
tell the press that Juan Carlos had no plans
to abdicate, and that no plan existed to fast
track the succession of Felipe. The following
month a new poll showed that an astounding
85.9 percent of Spaniards felt Prince Felipe
prepared to assume the throne.
Even when Juan Carlos tried to do
thing right, it seemed to turn out wrong. [n
May the royal household announced that the
King, "for austerity reasons," was going to
turn over to the government his $27 million,
yacht , Fortuna (each refueling of
which reportedly costs more than $30,000)
"The National Heritage board must now
prove the transfer to the government," an-
nounced a spokesman for that institution,
"which could decide to keep it or sell it." There
was only one problem: the group of Majorca
Tourism and
Cultural Foundation of the Balearic Islands
who had given the King the boat 13 years ago
to replace a previous yacht given to him by
the late Saudi King Fahd, wanted it back. The
matter not been resolved
For the most part, Spain's political and me
dia establishments would prefer that the King
stay, fearing a shock to the to
leave while the nation is in such dire straits
"We are very clear against abdication," said
Pedro Ramirez. for the resignation of
the minister ofhealth or foreign ifhe has
done something wrong. But you don't ask for
the abdication ofthe Ki ng, just because he has
been out of the country on a weekend in
tswana with a blonde woman. 1 j1Jundo is
ing the only scenarios in which we would
ask for abdication would be, first , ifhe has a
rious health problem-mai nJy mental incapac-
ity. And, second, if not
tial evidence but real proof of wrongdoing."
Pepe told me, "Abdication is not
ing to happen. Felipe is a wonderful and very
well-prepared man, but everYlhing has
its time and place And I think it's still King
Juan Carlos's time." Fanjul said the
days were now "half work, half rehabilita
tion. He's off pain medication. He's putting
the past behind him and looking forward
to the future." In mid-July, Juan Carlos made
his first trip outside Spain since his hip opera
tion, to Morocco for a three-day state visit to
King Mohammed VI. He arrived in Rabat
walking with two canes
As Vanity Fair went to press, friends of
the King stepped forward with declarations
of support. The Russian conductor Valery
Gergiev, who meets up Wilh Juan Carlos at
international soccer matches, called to pass
along Vladimir Putin's high regard for the
to praise "a very special human
quality he has-he gives you his unconditional
attention and consideration. I can tell you, not
every head of state does thaL" Bill Clin-
ton, in an weighed in on whether Juan
Carlos should stay: "This is the King's
decision. We have been friends for more than
two decades. I believe that he will do what
he lhinks is best for the people of Spain and
that, whatever he does, he will find to
be of public service. I also know that his son
is able, patriotic, and has been well prepared
by his
FROM THE ARCHIVE

Juan on fop
(T.
ConSlantine II tries to take back
Grcecc r"la<:eUo. .fll(r '995)
6 3 A Y N A V
El Rey en su laberinto
Considerado el padre de la democracia en su pas, Juan Carlos de
Espaa ha sido durante dcadas uno de los soberanos ms poderosos y
populares de Europa. Hoy se enfrenta a una crisis: su hija menor y su
yerno estn envueltos en un escndalo de corrupcin; su matrimonio
con la Reina Sofa vive horas bajas; los ojos del pblico se han vuelto
hacia su relacin con una glamurosa empresaria alemana. Podra
abdicar el monarca de 75 aos en favor de su hijo el Prncipe Felipe,
que ha conmocionado a los tradicionalistas casndose con una
presentadora de televisin? Bob Colacello nos trae las ltimas
primicias del crculo ntimo en Madrid, y escucha adems a la dama en
cuestin. Traduccin de Juan Tafur.
Por Bob Colacello

COMMENTS

3

READKING AND CONTROVERSY IN ENGLISH

A LA IZQUIERDA, POR JAIME REINA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; A LA DERECHA, DAFYDD JONES.
BUENOS AMIGOS El Rey Juan Carlos al timn de su yate Bribn durante la Copa
del Rey de 2004 en Palma de Mallorca. En la pgina opuesta, la princesa Corinna
zu Sayn-Wittgenstein en el hipdromo de Ascot en 2004.
En la madrugada del viernes 13 de abril de 2012, el Rey Juan Carlos de Espaa sufri una
cada mientras cazaba elefantes en Botsuana y fue trasladado de inmediato a Madrid, donde
lo operaron al da siguiente para reemplazarle la cadera. De no ser por la lesin, la aventura
africana de Su Majestad habra permanecido en secreto, como casi todo lo relativo a su vida
privada desde que ascendi al trono en 1975, tras la muerte del Generalsimo Francisco
Franco, el longevo dictador que decret la restauracin de la monarqua. Por contraste, el
Rey, acostumbrado a sus 75 aos a ratings de popularidad estratosfricos y al trato deferente
de los medios, se vio ante una avalancha de crticas corrosivas. El espectculo de un
monarca cazando elefantes en frica cuando la crisis econmica en nuestro pas provoca
tantos problemas a los espaoles transmite una imagen de indiferencia y frivolidad, tron
El Mundo, el principal peridico conservador espaol. El Pas, el diario de mayor tirada,
calcul que un safari de lujo como el del Rey poda costar unos 45.000 euros (60.000
dlares), incluidos ms de 10.000 por los permisos y la licencia para matar elefantes: la
cifra duplican el sueldo medio anual en un pas castigado por la peor depresin en Europa
despus de la de Grecia.
La fotografa tristemente clebre de Juan Carlos posando delante de un elefante abatido en
otra cacera indita cop los titulares de los diarios, los canales televisivos y las webs de
noticias espaoles. Para completar el bochorno, cuatro das antes su nieto de trece aos, hijo
de su hija mayor, se dispar en el pie practicando tiro y la polica se vio obligada a
investigar, pues la ley espaola prohbe a los menores de 14 aos manejar armas de fuego.
La prensa aprovech la ocasin para evocar la tragedia que asol a la Familia Real hace 56
aos, cuando Juan Carlos, que entonces tena 18, le dispar por accidente a su hermano
Alfonso, que tena 14, y le quit la vida.
Pronto sali a la luz que en la partida de caza figuraba la princesa Corinna Sayn-
Wittgenstein, una glamourosa ejecutiva alemana de 46 aos, divorciada dos veces y con
residencia en Mnaco. Haba viajado con l a Botsuana a bordo del avin privado de
Mohamed Eyad Kayali, un empresario saud nacido en Siria que sufrag la expedicin. Pese
a que Sayn-Wittgenstein niega haber mantenido relaciones inapropiadas con el Rey, se
supo que la Reina Sofa, que haba viajado ese viernes a Atenas para celebrar la pascua
ortodoxa griega con su hermano, el depuesto rey Constantino, fue informada al llegar del
accidente de su marido pero decidi ceirse a su plan y volver el lunes a Madrid.
Las primeras voces pidiendo la abdicacin del Rey en favor de su hijo Felipe se oyeron en
el fin de semana, cuando Toms Gmez, lder del Partido Socialista en Madrid, declar a la
prensa: Ha llegado el momento de que el Jefe del Estado se plantee que tiene que elegir
entre las obligaciones y servidumbres de las responsabilidades pblicas y una abdicacin
que le permita disfrutar de una vida diferente. La sugerencia, impensable una semana
antes, conmocion a la mayora de los espaoles. Tres das ms tarde, se quedaron otra vez
perplejos. A la salida del hospital, apoyndose en sus muletas, Juan Carlos se dirigi a los
periodistas y las cmaras de televisin que lo esperaban y se refiri al inoportuno safari.
Lo siento mucho, dijo. Me he equivocado y no volver a ocurrir.
De mal en peor
Por desgracia para el Rey, el fiasco de Botsuana vena precedido de otro complicado
escndalo real. En noviembre de 2011, los espaoles se enteraron de que Iaki Urdangarn,
el marido de la Infanta Cristina, hija menor del Rey, estaba siendo investigado bajo
sospecha de haber malversado millones de euros del Instituto Nos, la fundacin deportiva
que presida. El ex campen olmpico de balonmano, Duque de Palma de Mallorca desde su
matrimonio con Cristina en 1997, neg todos los cargos. Sin embargo, la Casa Real anunci
que, hasta que finalizara la investigacin, Urdangarn no tomara parte en actos oficiales de
la Familia Real. En su tradicional discurso de Navidad, el Rey se cuid de enfatizar: La
justicia es igual para todos.
El 28 de diciembre, la Casa Real hizo pblicas sus cuentas por primera vez. En 2011, el Rey
Juan Carlos haba percibido cerca de 300.000 euros (400.000 dlares), repartidos casi por
partes iguales entre su sueldo y sus gastos, y haba tributado un 40% en impuestos. El
Prncipe Felipe cobr cerca de 150.000 euros (200.000 dlares), y las mujeres de la Familia
Real la Reina Sofa, las Infantas Elena y Cristina, y la Princesa Letizia, la esposa de
Felipe se repartieron cerca de 400.000 euros ms (unos 500.000 dlares). El presupuesto
total de la Casa, que emplea a cerca de 500 personas, era de 8.58 millones de euros (11.34
millones de dlares), una suma relativamente modesta en comparacin con otras
monarquas europeas.
Sin embargo, la pregunta de cmo haba amasado Juan Carlos una fortuna personal
estimada en ms de un billn y medio de euros (cerca de dos billones de dlares) segua sin
respuesta. El ejercicio de transparencia result an ms intil cuando las ramificaciones del
embrollo de Nos amenazaron con enredar al Rey y la prensa indag ms hondo en sus
asuntos personales. En febrero de 2012, Urdangarn testific por primera vez ante el juez de
Mallorca Jos Castro, a cargo del caso Nos. Bajo interrogatorio, el Duque de Palma
admiti que haba desobedecido una orden de su suegro, que en 2006 le orden
desvincularse por completo del instituto. Pese a renunciar como presidente de la entidad,
haba seguido involucrado en sus actividades durante dos aos. El testimonio alent nuevos
interrogantes en torno al Rey: si estaba al corriente de los negocios opacos de Nos, por
qu no haba alertado a las autoridades?
Entre tanto, en su libro La soledad de la Reina, la escritora espaola Pilar Eyre describa al
Rey como un mujeriego que haba intentado insinuarse a la princesa Diana durante unas
vacaciones que ella y el Prncipe Carlos compartieron con las familias reales de Espaa y
Grecia a bordo del yate del rey Constantino. Pocas semanas despus de la disculpa por el
safari de Botsuana, la edicin espaola de Vanity Fair le dedic la portada de junio de 2012
a Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein, La misteriosa amiga del Rey, y caus sensacin. Todo el
mundo ms o menos saba de la existencia de esta mujer, pero era imposible encontrar nada
escrito sobre ella, me coment Lourdes Garzn, la directora de la revista. Porque escribir
acerca de la monarqua es el mayor tab de nuestra sociedad.
Las cosas siguieron empeorando. En palacio se anunci que el Rey y la Reina no
celebraran sus bodas de oro. En febrero de este ao, Diego Torres, antiguo socio de
Urdangarn, testific que el yerno del Rey no haca ningn movimiento sin la aprobacin de
palacio, y que su esposa, Cristina, como miembro de la junta directiva del Instituto Nos,
estaba involucrada en su funcionamiento. Para respaldar sus acusaciones, Torres present
ante el juzgado ms de 200 correos electrnicos que revelaban que, ya en junio de 2004, el
Rey haba pedido ayuda a Sayn-Wittgenstein para buscarle otro empleo a Urdangarn, lo
cual sugera que su papel en los asuntos reales era ms relevante de lo imaginado. Cuando
Urdangarn compareci en los juzgados de Palma de Mallorca, un grupo de manifestantes lo
recibi con abucheos: Abajo la monarqua! Abajo la corrupcin! Bajo juramento, el
Duque insisti en que la Familia Real no opin, asesor, autoriz o aval las actividades
de Nos. Sin embargo, al cabo de pocas semanas, el juez Castro cit a declarar a la Infanta
Cristina: era la primera vez en la historia que un miembro de la Familia Real tena que
comparecer en un juzgado.
Continued (page 2 of 7)
El 3 de marzo, Juan Carlos fue ingresado una vez ms para una ciruga de la espalda, la
cuarta operacin en menos de un ao. La semana anterior, Sayn-Wittgenstein haba
concedido una entrevista en El Mundo a la periodista de investigacin Ana Romero. Le
cont que haba conocido al Rey nueve aos antes durante una cacera en la finca del Duque
de Westminster y que se haban hecho buenos amigos. An ms, le confi que haba
adelantado gestiones delicadas y confidenciales para el gobierno espaol y aadi que se
trataba de asuntos clasificados especficos que [haba] ayudado a solucionar por el bien del
pas. El 19 de marzo, la agencia Reuters report que un comit parlamentario haba
interrogado a Flix Sanz Roldn, el director del Centro Nacional de Inteligencia espaol,
para averiguar si Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein haba recibido pagos del Estado o
proteccin de los servicios de seguridad por su trabajo como lobbista de empresas
espaolas en el exterior. A comienzos de abril, El Mundo public que Don Juan Carlos
tena cuentas secretas en Suiza y conservaba en ellas millones de dlares heredados de su
padre, Don Juan de Borbn, exilado durante todo el rgimen de Franco (y que habra
ascendido al trono si el Generalsimo no hubiera elegido a Juan Carlos como sucesor).
Mientras todo esto ocurra, el gobierno conservador del Presidente Mariano Rajoy impona
medidas de austeridad cada vez ms duras y una epidemia de escndalos de corrupcin
crispaba los nimos de los espaoles. En enero la reina Beatriz de Holanda abdic en favor
de su hijo, y en febrero, el anciano Papa Benedicto XVI renunci: la idea de que Juan
Carlos, enfermo y acosado, renunciara tambin ya no pareca tan imposible. A mediados de
abril, cuando viaj por primera vez a Madrid para sondear la situacin para Vanity Fair, el
Rey no haba aparecido en pblico en seis semanas, su rating de aprobacin se haba
despeado a menos del 50 por ciento (tanto la Reina como el Prncipe Felipe sacaban mejor
nota) y los rumores de una abdicacin haban alcanzado un clmax febril en toda Europa.
JUAN CARLOS ENVUELTO EN EL ESCNDALO, titul The Guardian en Londres. Der
Spiegel, en Alemania, iba un paso ms all: HA LLEGADO LA HORA DE QUE
ESPAA DISUELVA LA MONARQUA?
El equipo de la defensa
Si el Rey se marcha sera un desastre. l es el centro de todo. No slo le queremos, lo
necesitamos, me dijo Doa Blanca Martnez de Irujo, grande de Espaa, mientras me
pasaba un plato de sndwiches diminutos en su piso de Madrid. Ella y su hermana, doa
Victoria, la Marquesa de Tamarit, accedieron a regaadientes a hablar de Juan Carlos, su
amigo y pariente. Lo conocemos desde que llevaba pantaln corto, evocaba la marquesa.
Por encima de la chimenea colgaba un leo de cuerpo entero de la Reina Isabel II, la
tataratatarabuela de Juan Carlos y de las hermanas. La madre de Doa Blanca y Doa
Victoria fue una princesa de la dinasta Borbn, cuna de los monarcas espaoles desde 1700
y de los reyes franceses entre el siglo XVI y el XIX. Su abuelo, el conde de Romanones, fue
primer ministro del rey Alfonso XIII, el ltimo gobernante Borbn antes de que la Segunda
Repblica Espaola pusiera fin a la monarqua en 1931. Franco disolvi a su vez la
Repblica con la Guerra Civil de 1936-1939.
Lo mejor que tiene Espaa es el Rey, prosigui la Marquesa de Tamarit. No debemos
criticarlo. Nosotros, todos los que no somos comunistas, tenemos que ayudarlo. Ha hecho
cosas que la gente puede pensar que no son buenas. Pero es un ser humano.
El antiguo rey de Bulgaria, Simen II, exilado desde nio tras la llegada del comunismo a
su pas en 1946, se crio prcticamente con Juan Carlos despus de que Espaa le concedi
asilo a su familia en 1951. Abdicar, segn me dijo, se haba convertido en una palabra de
moda, y no le agradaba en absoluto. Hay que poner la vida del Rey en contexto, en vez de
centrarse en cosas que son accidentales o incidentales, y finalmente triviales, seal. En
el conjunto de lo que la monarqua y el Rey personalmente han hecho por Espaa en la
historia contempornea, sera absurdo sobredimensionar estas situaciones. La monarqua es
un empleo de toda la vida. Es una vocacin. Y ahora resulta que al Rey le han hecho
cuatro operaciones y tiene que abdicar? Por favor.
Incluso uno de los crticos ms implacables de Juan Carlos, Pedro J. Ramrez, director de El
Mundo, el diario ms agresivo frente a los escndalos reales, tiene buenas palabras acerca
del monarca. Me relat un encuentro que tuvieron en 1990, despus de que a Ramrez lo
despidieran de su trabajo anterior como editor de Diario 16 porque al Rey no le haban
gustado unos artculos suyos. El Rey me dijo, S que sabes que le dije a tu jefe que te
despidieran. Pero no pens que iba a ser tan tonto como para hacerme caso, record
Ramrez. Y yo pens: vale, este es Juan Carlos, un to que siempre trata de ser amable con
todo el mundo. Yo no dira que es inteligente. Pero es astuto como un zorro. Ahora es
tambin un hombre mayor, con problemas personales y de salud. Pero pienso que en
retrospectiva ha sido un gran rey.
Dentro de los crculos sociales, polticos y periodsticos, esta es la opinin de consenso.
Laurence Debray, autor de la biografa no autorizada Juan Carlos dEspagne, considera al
Rey un autntico animal poltico, que merece un crdito enorme por haber renunciado a
ser el monarca absoluto que Franco pretenda dejar en su lugar y por no apoyar el golpe de
Estado que intent orquestar en su nombre la derecha militar en 1981. Ese fue el momento
en el que se gan la corona, coment. En mi opinin, es uno de los grandes lderes del
siglo XX.
El Rey Juan Carlos es el verdadero padre fundador de la democracia espaola, seal a su
vez el historiador Charles Powell. Por eso la gente siente que esta situacin podra tener
enormes repercusiones polticas, aade, aludiendo al dilema actual del Rey. Si las cosas le
salen mal, no slo el Jefe de Estado estar en apuros; todo el sistema poltico puede verse
cuestionado. Algunos piensan que ya es hora, que el modelo creado en los aos setenta est
agotado, que las instituciones polticas, incluida la monarqua, necesitan una revisin
fundamental.
Una tarde tom una copa en el Ritz de Madrid con Luis Venegas, editor de la popular
revista de moda Candy, y con su amigo Leo Rydell Jost, estudiante de diseo. Es verdad
que el Rey Juan Carlos hizo muchas cosas por la democracia del pas, me dijo Venegas,
pero han pasado ms de 30 aos. Rydell Jost aadi: Con todo lo que ha ocurrido
ltimamente, la monarqua parece una broma. La mayora de los menores de treinta quiere
una repblica.
Los detractores del Rey suelen ser parcos en declaraciones. Sin embargo, un monrquico
decepcionado de la generacin del baby boom no escatimaba palabras: Este Rey ha tenido
la alfombra roja ms grande del mundo. Ningn otro lder ha recibido tanta proteccin, ni
tanta veneracin ni tantos mimos. l se lo qued todo, y se dej llevar. No hay por qu
compadecerlo porque se lo ha buscado l mismo. Es como un nio consentido que lo ha
tenido todo, y un buen da lo pierde.
La amiga del Rey
Para el Rey, ha sido una bomba en la cabeza, me asegur la condesa de Toreno, una
prominente dama de Madrid. Imagneselo con su enfermedad, y ahora encima con esta
historia de la petite fiance. La condesa, por supuesto, se refera a Corinna zu Sayn-
Wittgenstein. Prcticamente todos los entrevistados para este artculo parecan dar por
hecho que ella y el Rey haban tenido un romance, pero ninguno quera aparecer citado
dicindolo. Parece que el Rey est muy enamorado, me confi uno de sus amigos
americanos. Creo que tiene motivos, porque es muy guapa. Un acomodado miembro del
jet set se mostraba menos benvolo: Esa chica va a traer problemas. Y l est
comportndose como un viejo tonto. Ella sabe muy bien cmo utilizarlo.
Continued (page 3 of 7)
Cuando Sayn-Wittgenstein se enter por un amigo comn de que escriba sobre ella, me
ofreci una entrevista. Yo estoy bien, me dijo al comenzar la conversacin en junio.
Estoy saliendo adelante. Con su ingls rpido y directo, no pareca en absoluto la
astuta femme fatale que sugeran los medios. (No es una mujer florero, me dijo una fuente
espaola. Si lo fuera no tendramos un problema tan grande.) Le pregunt cundo haba
estado por ltima vez en Espaa. No he ido desde diciembre pasado y no tengo planes de
volver. No sera ni apropiado ni inteligente. Permaneca en contacto con el Rey? S.
Somos buenos amigos. Algunas personas no entienden que ciertas cosas pueden pasar y
luego se acaban pero que la amistad no termina. l es ahora un seor mayor, que est
luchando por su salud, y pienso que necesita todo el apoyo La gente espera que pase algo
grande, para bien o para mal. Pero no va a pasar nada, aparte de que l ya no va a irse de
caza y yo no voy a volver a Espaa. Seguimos en contacto. Llama a mis hijos una vez por
semana para ver cmo estn. Se porta como cualquiera se portara con una amiga.
Cuando conoci al Rey y al Duque de Westminster en 2004, Corinna haba roto haca poco
con su segundo marido, el prncipe Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, con quien estuvo
casada cuatro aos. (La familia estaba espantada, me asegur mi fuente del jet set.) Su
padre, Bonning Larsen, un fins nacido en Dinamarca, era el director de la aerolnea
brasilea Varig para Europa; su madre, Ingrid Sauer, era de Frankfurt, donde Corinna naci
el 28 de enero de 1964. Me cont que creci entre Frankfurt y Ro de Janeiro y la enviaron
a colegios para nias en Alemania y en Suiza. En 1987 se gradu de la Universidad de
Ginebra, y luego entr a trabajar en LOral en Pars. Despus pas a la Compagnie
Gnrale des Eaux, el conocido gigante de la construccin y los servicios, donde, segn su
relato, gestion las relaciones pblicas en la inauguracin del Gran Arco de La Dfense en
Pars, a la que acudieron Franois Miterrand, Margaret Thatcher y Helmut Kohl. Eso es lo
que hago principalmente hoy. Me ocupo de las relaciones a largo plazo entre instituciones,
instituciones gubernamentales o grandes empresas.
A su primer marido, Philip Adkins, egresado de Columbia y de Harvard, lo conoci en Pars
en 1989; al ao siguiente se casaron y se instalaron en Londres. Se divorciaron tres aos
despus, pero siguen siendo amigos cercanos y hacen negocios juntos. De hecho, Adkins
particip en el safari de Botsuana, al igual que un hijo de Corinna, de diez aos, fruto de su
matrimonio con Sayn-Wittgenstein. Yo dorm en mi tienda de campaa con mi hijo,
precis. Mi ex esposo durmi en su tienda, y el Rey en la suya. No hubo ningn rollo.
Al parecer, Corinna empez a relacionarse con el Rey por motivos profesionales, cuando l
le pidi que concertara el viaje de luna de miel del Prncipe Felipe y la Princesa Letizia a
Jordania, Tailandia e Islas Fiji en mayo de 2004. Por entonces, ella llevaba cuatro aos
trabajando en Boss & Co., fabricantes londinenses de armas a medida, organizando caceras
con clientes de alto standing. La edicin espaola de Vanity Fair relata que mont dos
safaris para el Rey en Mozambique, en 2004 y 2005, y en el primero estuvo a su lado todo
el tiempo. Desde entonces, segn cuenta un ntimo de la realeza, l la invita sin falta a los
fines de semana que celebra en primavera para cazar perdices en su finca al sur de Madrid.
Segn esa misma persona, el Rey sigue enamorado de ella.
Boris Izaguirre, una conocida personalidad de la farndula madrilea, me record que los
rumores acerca de la novia del rey comenzaron hace cuatro o cinco aos. Por lo visto, en
sus viajes con el Rey Corinna empez a llevar a la manicurista que atiende a las grandes
damas de Madrid y la gente empez a preguntarse: quin es esta alemana que viaja con el
Rey? Ms tarde surgieron historias acerca de una casa en el palacio de El Pardo. Decan que
el Rey haba mandado renovar la casa y que ahora era la casa de Corinna, y que l se lo
pasaba all con ella y con sus hijos. Tiene dos piscinas (una cubierta) y un parking
subterrneo. El Mundo public todas estas cosas y en el Congreso se aire la pregunta de
quin haba costeado la renovacin. La Casa Real respondi que era una residencia para
invitados extranjeros.
La prensa empez a indagar quin era esa tal Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein, que haba
abandonado Boss & Co. en 2006 para fundar su propia consultora, Apollonia Associates, y
acompaaba al Rey en sus viajes a pases como Alemania, Arabia Saudita, Kuwait y
Emiratos rabes Unidos. Las sospechas afloraron despus que sali a la luz la historia de
Botsuana, cuando El Mundo inform que Mohamed Eyad Kayali, el anfitrin del safari real,
era la mano derecha del prncipe Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, ministro de defensa de
Arabia Saudita, que haba mediado en favor de las empresas espaolas que obtuvieron el
contrato para construir el tren de alta velocidad entre La Meca y Medina, valorado en 6.8
billones de euros (9 billones de dlares).
La historia de Corinna tiene dos aspectos, seal Pedro J. Ramrez. Uno es la relacin
personal. Yo dira que, en Espaa, no interesa demasiado si el Rey tiene una amante o una
amiga ntima. Lo bochornoso del asunto son las implicaciones financieras. Unos das antes
de nuestra entrevista, El Mundo haba vinculado a Sayn-Wittgenstein con el Fondo de
Infraestructuras Hispano-Saud, inaugurado en el palacio de El Pardo en 2007 por el Rey
Juan Carlos y el rey Abdal de Arabia Saudita. Las empresas espaolas comprometieron
200 millones de dlares, pero el fondo se hundi porque los sauditas no aportaron los otros
800 millones, me explic Ramrez. Slo llegaron a gastarse 15 millones, que fueron a
parar a manos de Cheyne Capital, los administradores del fondo, que eran amigos de
Corinna, y ella recibi cerca de 5 millones.
Cuando le pregunt hasta dnde se haba involucrado en los asuntos oficiales del Rey,
Sayn-Wittgenstein respondi con firmeza: Nunca he hecho negocios para el Rey, ni he
cobrado dinero en su nombre. Durante los ltimos treinta o cuarenta aos, los negocios en
Espaa se han hecho de una manera un poco especial Cuando las empresas espaolas
buscan un contrato grande en el Medio Oriente, en Europa del Este, o en Latinoamrica, los
polticos y los empresarios recurren al Rey, y l es el que hace las llamadas.
Corinna precis que no haba tenido absolutamente nada que ver con el proyecto del tren
de alta velocidad y que la agente de los espaoles haba sido Shahpari Khashoggi, la
tercera ex esposa del comerciante de armas saudita Adnan Khashoggi. S, estuve
involucrada en el Fondo de Infraestructuras Hispano-Saud, me confirm, y me pagaron,
porque trabaj durante dos aos como asesora del administrador del fondo. Mi mensaje,
concluy, es que no me mueve nada distinto del inmenso respeto que siento por el Rey y
por el Prncipe Felipe. Le pregunt si haba conocido a la Reina. Nos hemos cruzado
alguna vez por accidente.
Una vida difcil
La Familia Real declin todas mis solicitudes de entrevistas, pero el Rey autoriz a hablar
conmigo a su amigo Pepe Fanjul, el magnate cubano-americano del azcar. El Rey y yo
nos hicimos muy amigos en los 60, cuando todava era prncipe, me cont Fanjul. Es uno
de los individuos ms carismticos que he conocido. Sabe llegarle a la gente, como Ronald
Reagan. Sin lugar a dudas, ha sido el embajador nmero uno de Espaa en el mundo, y ha
conseguido negocios enormes para el pas.
Fanjul me explic que conoci a Corinna y a Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein poco despus
de que se casaran y que con el paso de los aos tuvo trato con ella. Tenemos amigos en
comn, y coincidamos en el mundo de la caza. He ido de caza con ella en distintas partes
del mundo. Es una empresaria trabajadora, brillante. Al Rey le parece una injusticia que sus
negocios se perjudiquen, porque no ha sido ms que una testigo inocente. La considera una
amiga cercana y leal, que siempre se ha mostrado muy respetuosa con la Familia Real.
Luego aadi: La gente piensa que el Rey ha tenido una vida afortunada. Yo dira que ha
sido una de las vidas ms difciles que conozco.
Continued (page 4 of 7)
Juan Carlos Alfonso Vctor Mara de Borbn y Borbn Dos Sicilias el segundo de cuatro
hermanos, naci el 5 de enero de 1938 en el hogar de Don Juan de Borbn y la Princesa
Mara de las Mercedes de Borbn Dos Sicilias. Es descendiente directo del rey Luis XIV de
Francia, tanto por parte de padre como de madre, y por va paterna de la reina Victoria de
Inglaterra. La Familia Real estaba exilada entonces en Roma a causa de la Guerra Civil
Espaola, pero en 1942 abandonaron la Italia de Mussolini y se instalaron en Suiza, que era
territorio neutral. Cuando Juan Carlos tena ocho aos, sus padres se establecieron en
Estoril, Portugal, y lo dejaron en un internado regentado por los hermanos maristas. El Rey
habra de decir ms tarde: era realmente muy infeliz.
Segn la biografa de Paul Preston, Juan Carlos: el Rey de un pueblo, en noviembre de
1948 un Juan Carlos lloroso se despidi con diez aos de sus reservados padres y abord
un tren nocturno que lo llev de Portugal a Espaa, donde, durante los siguientes 27 aos,
Franco se encargara de supervisar todos los mbitos de su existencia. Para Don Juan,
entregarle el nio al dictador era la nica esperanza de restaurar la monarqua, pero para
Juan Carlos implic convertirse en un rehn y un pen de ajedrez. Fue recluido en una finca
a las afueras de Madrid, donde le organizaron un colegio privado con otros ocho nios de la
aristocracia y las familias adineradas de derecha. En 1950, el colegio se traslad a un
antiguo palacio real en San Sebastin, donde se unieron al alumnado su hermano Alfonso y
otros ocho nios de su edad. En 1955, el futuro Rey, que entonces tena 17 aos, fue
enviado a Madrid a prepararse para la Academia Militar de Zaragoza. Se hosped en la
mansin del Duque de Montellano, bajo la atenta mirada de un general, un mayor y un cura
del Opus Dei.
No le dejaban salir, ni siquiera al teatro, me cont Doa Blanca Martnez de Irujo, y
aadi que de cuando en cuando su profesor de equitacin lo ayudaba a escaparse para
que se viera media hora con una chica. A nuestro Rey siempre le gustaron las chicas,
aport Doa Victoria, y tambin le encantaba bailar, sobre todo el vals.
El Jueves Santo de 1956, mientras pasaban las vacaciones de Pascua en Estoril, Juan Carlos
y Alfonso se pusieron a jugar con un arma en el cuarto de juegos de la villa de sus padres.
Alfonso perdi la vida, en circunstancias que nunca se han aclarado. Por indicacin de
Franco, la embajada espaola en Lisboa public al da siguiente un comunicado ambiguo:
Mientras su Alteza el Infante Alfonso se hallaba limpiando un revolver con su hermano, se
efectu un disparo que le alcanz en la frente y muri al cabo de unos minutos. Sin
embargo, los comentarios posteriores de doa Mara, la madre de los nios, una costurera y
una amiga de la familia sugieren que Juan Carlos empu el arma sin saber que estaba
cargada. El Rey nunca neg su responsabilidad y tampoco ofreci nunca explicaciones.
Pero como seala el editor adjunto de Vanity Fair Reinaldo Herrera, que ha tratado al
monarca durante aos, lo marc para toda la vida.
Juan Carlos se gradu en Zaragoza el verano siguiente y pas un ao en la escuela militar
de la Armada Espaola y otro en la academia del Ejrcito del Aire. En 1960 se matricul en
la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, donde estudi derecho, economa y hacienda
pblica. La esposa de Franco, Doa Carmen Polo, se ocup personalmente de decorar su
nuevo hogar, el Palacio de la Zarzuela, un antiguo pabelln de caza edificado en el siglo
XVII para el rey Felipe IV. Lo nico que tiene de palacio es el nombre, coment Pepe
Fanjul acerca de la residencia de 20 habitaciones donde el Rey Juan Carlos y la Reina Sofa
viven hasta la fecha.
El 14 de mayo de 1962, los dos se casaron en Atenas, primero en una catedral catlica y
luego en una ceremonia ortodoxa griega (Doa Sofa se convirti ms tarde al catolicismo).
150 miembros de 27 casas reales asistieron a la boda. Fue un matrimonio de conveniencia,
y fue obra sobre todo de la reina Federica, me indic un amigo de la familia, refirindose a
la madre de Doa Sofa. Sin embargo, Paul Preston, entre otros, opina que la pareja estuvo
enamorada, cuando menos en un comienzo. La Infanta Elena, la Infanta Cristina y el
Prncipe Felipe, sus tres hijos, nacieron en el curso de los siguientes seis aos. An ms
relevante, Franco le dio el visto bueno a la recatada y deferente Doa Sofa. El 22 de julio
de 1969, el dictador design oficialmente a Juan Carlos como su sucesor y el Prncipe jur
lealtad a los Principios Fundamentales del Movimiento Nacional, el nico partido poltico
permitido bajo su rgimen.
El monarca ilustrado
Juan Carlos emprendi su reinado con absoluta modestia en 1975. No hubo ceremonia de
coronacin, apenas una misa mayor. Permaneci con su familia en La Zarzuela, en vez de
mudarse al Palacio Real, de 2.800 habitaciones, y evit el tradicional boato de una corte.
Doa Sofa, que haba visto derrocar a su hermano en 1967, anim y respald a Don Juan
Carlos en todas estas decisiones.
Una de las cosas ms inteligentes que hizo Juan Carlos fue evitar a la vieja aristocracia,
seala Charles Powell. Todos ellos pensaban, Genial, estamos de regreso! Pero l se
percat de que representaban su sentencia de muerte. La cada de la monarqua en 1931
haba sido en buena parte responsabilidad de los aristcratas. Fueron ellos quienes aislaron
a Alfonso XIII de la opinin pblica, de la lite poltica y del mundo intelectual.
En cualquier caso, nadie crea que Juan Carlos fuera a reinar durante mucho tiempo. Para
sorpresa de todos, el Rey se puso al mando. Pasados unos meses de su coronacin nombr
primer ministro a Adolfo Surez, uno de los pocos miembros moderados del Movimiento
Nacional. En 1977, enfureci a los leales a Franco al apoyar la legalizacin del Partido
Socialista y el Partido Comunista.
En su acto ms significativo, Juan Carlos promovi una nueva constitucin que sustituyera
la que Franco haba dejado, que prolongaba su rgimen dictatorial bajo la fachada de una
monarqua absoluta. Conocida como la Carta Magna, la Constitucin de 1978 fue aprobada
en referndum por una mayora clamorosa. El rey Simen II recuerda haber visitado a Juan
Carlos mientras el documento estaba en ciernes. Haba un montn de pginas tiradas
encima de la mesa, e incluso sobre la cama. Le pregunt: Y esto qu demonios es? Es el
borrador de la constitucin, me dijo. Not que haba muchas frases tachadas, prrafos
enteros. Estas son mis prerrogativas, me dijo. Y t ests tachndolas?, le pregunt. S,
me respondi, no veo por qu tengo que tener tantos poderes.
El 23 de febrero de 1981, 200 oficiales armados de la Guardia Civil al mando del teniente
coronel Antonio Tejero se apoderaron de la Cmara de Diputados en Madrid. Casi
simultneamente, el teniente general Jaime Milns del Bosch, un franquista irredento, sac
tanques a las calles de Valencia. Los rebeldes decan actuar en nombre del Rey, pero al da
siguiente, a primera hora, Juan Carlos apareci en televisin y declar que la Corona,
smbolo de la permanencia y unidad de la patria, no puede tolerar en forma alguna acciones
o actitudes de personas que pretendan interrumpir por la fuerza el proceso democrtico.
Tres das ms tarde, tres millones de personas marcharon por las calles de las ciudades
espaolas, en apoyo de la democracia y del Rey.
El ao siguiente, Felipe Gonzlez, hijo de un tratante de ganado de Sevilla, se convirti con
cuarenta aos en el primer jefe de gobierno socialista desde la Guerra Civil. Los espaoles
lo reeligieron dos veces y, en el curso de los siguientes 14 aos, conform con Juan Carlos,
en palabras de Charles Powell, la asociacin poltica ms fructfera del siglo xx espaol.
Para 1986, el pas era miembro de la Comunidad Econmica Europea y de la OTAN. Los
gobiernos de Gonzlez instituyeron la educacin gratuita universal, la Seguridad Social y
construyeron una nueva red de infraestructuras. La economa despeg y los ataques
terroristas de los separatistas vascos de ETA se redujeron durante un tiempo. Todo esto
repercuti en la popularidad de Juan Carlos, percibido como un monarca ilustrado en
contacto con el pueblo. Hasta hoy, Gonzlez sigue siendo uno de sus ms fervientes
admiradores. [El Rey Juan Carlos] ha representado y protegido con decisin los intereses
de Espaa durante ya casi cuatro dcadas, declar por email para este artculo. Como digo
con frecuencia, aunque tengo races republicanas, creo que el rol de la monarqua es vital
para Espaa.
Continued (page 5 of 7)
Para sorpresa de muchos, hoy es la Reina Sofa quien est en el corazn de los espaoles.
Cuando llega a algn sitio, la gente se pone de pie y la cubre de aplausos, coment
Charles Powell. Las cosas no fueron siempre as. De hecho, hasta que Corinna estuvo en
boca de todos, Sofa era considerada una persona fra, distante, demasiado germnica:
parecida a su madre, la reina Federica, nieta del kiser Guillermo II de Prusia. Odia las
corridas de toros, odia el ftbol, odia el flamenco, se lamentaba un miembro de la alta
sociedad madrilea.
La gente admira el estoicismo con que ha sobrellevado los affaires de su marido, que en
algunos casos se presume que han durado aos. Para todos los propsitos, ella y el Rey
llevan vidas separadas. Cuentan que doa Sofa pasa semanas enteras en Londres con el rey
Constantino y la reina Ana Mara y que viaja a menudo a Pars a visitar a la princesa
Tatiana Radzwill, su prima preferida. Algunos allegados dicen que el Rey se cans de
acoger todos los veranos a sus parientes reales griegos durante dos meses en Mallorca. La
princesa Irene, hermana soltera de Sofa, ha vivido en La Zarzuela desde la muerte de su
madre en 1981. Juan Carlos huy para librarse de la familia poltica, me confi uno de
sus amigos.
Pocos pueden reprocharle a la Reina su labor infatigable en favor de las causas nobles,
desde la prevencin de la drogadiccin hasta la lucha contra el trfico sexual en Camboya.
Suele asistir a casi todas las inauguraciones del Museo Reina Sofa, bautizado en su honor,
y segn Charles Powell mantiene abierto un programa de seminarios. Invita acadmicos a
debatir en profundidad en La Zarzuela, por ejemplo sobre la Primavera rabe. Le encanta la
msica clsica. El Rey en cambio no tiene odo. Pienso que es una mujer muy fuerte y
muy valiente, resumi Powell, y supongo que tambin debe estar muy sola.
Entre la aristocracia ms rancia, pocos perdonan a la Reina por no haber animado a sus
hijos a casarse con los suyos. Ha sido muy permisiva con los nios, me dijo una amiga de
la Familia Real. Ninguno se cas como debe ser. En Espaa existe una ley, el Edicto de
Carlos III, que prohbe a los miembros de la Familia Real casarse con alguien que no sea de
otra familia real. Si lo hacen, pierden sus derechos de sucesin. Pero eso parece haber cado
en el olvido.
Las Infantas y sus maridos
En 1995, la Infanta Elena contrajo matrimonio con Jaime de Marichalar, un miembro de la
nobleza menor que se convirti en adelante en el Duque de Lugo. Marichalar estudi
economa, pero su verdadero inters era la moda. Empez a vestirla l, hasta el punto de
que Elena rivalizaba con Carolina de Mnaco como la princesa ms elegante de Europa,
asegur Boris Izaguirre. El propio Jaime vesta como todo un dandy, con el pelo
engominado, abrigos de piel y montones de brazaletes. Segn cuenta Antonio Camuas, un
consultor de empresa madrileo que conoce bien a la Familia Real, [Marichalar] recorra
las tiendas de lujo de la calle Serrano montado en un Segway, con los guardaespaldas
corriendo detrs, y a la gente le pareca una extravagancia. La pareja pareca feliz y
tuvieron un nio y una nia, nacidos respectivamente en 1998 y en 2000. Pero las cosas no
volvieron a ser las mismas despus de que Jaime tuvo un ictus. En 2009, pusieron fin al
matrimonio, y Elena pas a ser la primera hija divorciada de un monarca espaol en
ejercicio. Marichalar perdi su ttulo nobiliario. Se convirti en la oveja negra, me
coment Izaguirre. Sin embargo, a medida que el escndalo estallaba en torno a su ex
concuado Iaki Urdangarn, el pblico empez a ver a Jaime bajo una luz ms favorable.
La Infanta Cristina y Urdangarn se conocieron en los Olmpicos de Verano de 1996 en
Atlanta, donde l competa como integrante del equipo espaol de balonmano. Se casaron
en 1997 y tuvieron cuatro hijos en el curso de los siguientes ocho aos. Hijo de un
adinerado empresario vasco y una madre belga, Urdangarn creci en Barcelona, donde l y
Cristina se instalaron tras la boda. Cuentan que la Reina le tena especial cario al joven
deportista. Todos adorbamos a Iaki, cuenta Antonio Camuas, porque pareca tan
perfecto y tan normal. Siempre ha hecho muy feliz a la Infanta Cristina. Es un padre
estupendo. l es el que se ocupa de los empleados domsticos.
Urdangarn se retir del balonmano profesional despus de los Olmpicos de Verano de
2000, tras graduarse de la prestigiosa Escuela Superior de Administracin y Direccin de
Empresas (ESADE) de Barcelona. Fue all donde conoci a Diego Torres, que era profesor
asociado del departamento de Poltica de Empresa de la escuela. En 1999, Torres fund una
consultora, la Asociacin Instituto de Investigaciones Aplicadas. En 2003, Urdangarn se
uni a la entidad, reconstituida entonces como fundacin sin nimo de lucro bajo el nombre
de Instituto Nos de Investigacin Aplicada, en alusin al vocablo griego nous, que
significa mente. Urdangarn era el presidente y Torres el vicepresidente, y en la junta
directiva de cinco miembros figuraban con ellos la Infanta Cristina, su secretario real Carlos
Garca Revenga y Miguel Tejeiro, un familiar de la esposa de Torres, Ana Mara Tejeiro,
que fue contratada como ejecutiva, al igual que su hermano Marco Antonio Tejeiro. La
fundacin estableci pronto lucrativas relaciones con los gobiernos autonmicos de
Baleares y Valencia, que, entre 2004 y 2006, adjudicaron sin concurso pblico a Nos
contratos por un valor estimado en ms de 5.2 millones de euros (unos 7 millones de
dlares), para que organizara cumbres anuales en promocin del deporte y el turismo.
Los polticos de provincia parecan deseosos de hacer negocios con un miembro de la
Familia Real, pero el sbito xito de la fundacin pareci causar inquietud en palacio. Para
finales de 2004, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, que por peticin del Rey buscaba otro
empleo para su yerno, le consigui un puesto que pareca perfecto: presidente de la nueva
rama espaola de la multinacional Laureus Sport For Good Foundation, que ofrece
programas comunitarios para nios necesitados y otorga premios anuales a deportistas
prominentes. Son como los Oscar del deporte, me dijo Sayn- Wittgenstein, y explic que
Laureus est patrocinada por Mercedes-Benz y el conglomerado de productos de lujo
Richemont. Segn los correos electrnicos filtrados a la prensa, Urdangarn habra
comenzado cobrando unos 50.000 euros (66.000 dlares) por media jornada, pero poda
llegar a ganar hasta 200.000 (260.000 dlares) a medida que se incorporaran nuevos
patrocinadores. Me sorprendi que Iaki lo rechazara, coment Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Todo comenz a ir mal en 2005, rememoraba Boris Izaguirre. Iaki y Cristina se
compraron una casa en Pedralbes, el mejor barrio de Barcelona, por 8 millones de dlares, y
la gente empez a preguntarse cmo podan permitrsela. Los dos renunciaron a la junta
directiva de Nos en 2006, junto con Carlos Garca Revenga. Ese mismo ao, El
Mundo public su primer artculo de investigacin sobre las dudosas transacciones
financieras de la fundacin. En 2009, la pareja se mud a Washington, D.C., donde
Urdangarn trabaj para la sucursal internacional de Telefnica, el gigante espaol de las
telecomunicaciones. Regresaron a Espaa una vez que estall el escndalo, cuando, segn
cuenta un amigo, un equipo de televisin los acos en el supermercado Whole Foods de
Georgetown.
De acuerdo con las investigaciones de la Fiscala Anticorrupcin espaola, Urdangarn y
Torres eran sospechosos de malversacin de fondos pblicos, falsedad documental,
prevaricacin y fraude fiscal. Algunos documentos filtrados sugeran que Nos habra
sobrefacturado burdamente sus servicios a los gobiernos de Valencia y Baleares y habra
desviado las sumas cobradas en exceso a parasos fiscales como Belice, Luxemburgo y
Andorra. Segn el New York Times, una parte de estos fondos pblicos fue a parar a una
empresa inmobiliaria manejada conjuntamente por el seor Urdangarn y su esposa. En
febrero pasado, Diego Torres, ante los intentos de la Familia Real de atribuirle buena parte
de la culpa, testific que, an despus de abandonar la junta directiva, Urdangarn haba
seguido tomando la mayora de las decisiones en Nos. En la misma comparecencia,
Revenga, antiguo tesorero de Nos, testific que su papel y el de Cristina en la fundacin
eran fundamentalmente simblicos. Sin embargo, algunos correos electrnicos entregados
por Torres parecan indicar que Revenga habra ayudado a concertar citas de negocios para
Nos. Torres anunci que tena docenas de correos electrnicos adicionales, que, segn su
versin, demostraban que el Rey habra ayudado a Urdangarn a obtener grandes contratos.
Tanto Urdangarn como Torres niegan haber actuado al margen de la ley. En julio,
Urdangarn interpuso una demanda contra Torres en relacin con la autenticidad de los
correos electrnicos.
Continued (page 6 of 7)
La Infanta Cristina deba comparecer ante el juez Castro a finales de abril, pero el fiscal
anticorrupcin Pedro Horrach argument que no haba suficiente evidencia que la vinculara
directamente al presunto fraude cometido en Nos, y la diligencia se pospuso. En mayo, un
juzgado de segunda instancia suspendi la citacin. El juez Castro anunci entonces que
investigara si la Infanta haba incurrido en un delito fiscal o de blanqueo de capitales.
En la primavera de este ao, Urdangarn crey haber encontrado empleo en Catar como
segundo entrenador del nuevo equipo nacional de balonmano, pero la oferta se evapor en
medio de rumores de que el Rey en persona haba hablado con el emir de Catar para sacar
del pas a su yerno por una temporada. La Casa Real lo neg y explic que por esa poca
los dos monarcas haban mantenido conversaciones telefnicas sobre temas comerciales.
Fue una pena, porque mi prima Cristina e Iaki casi no tienen ingresos, dado que l no
encuentra trabajo en Espaa, me dijo el prncipe Pavlos de Grecia. Estn viviendo en
medio de un caos total en Barcelona, acosados por los periodistas y los fotgrafos. Y ni
siquiera se trata de un juicio en propiedad, sino de una investigacin para documentar un
caso. Pienso que si Iaki hizo algo ilegal, estuvo mal aconsejado.
En agosto, la Infanta Cristina y sus cuatro hijos se mudaron a Ginebra. La fundacin La
Caixa, sus empleadores desde hace aos, la trasladaron all para que coordine su programa
de servicios sociales con las agencias de Naciones Unidas con sede en la ciudad.
Urdangarn ir a visitarlos pero permanecer en Barcelona para vender la casa y atender sus
problemas legales. Segn fuentes fidedignas, Urdangarn podra ser juzgado este mes, lo
cual desatara sin duda una nueva avalancha de temibles titulares para la Familia Real.
El Prncipe heredero y su esposa
Las miradas estn puestas en el Prncipe Felipe y en la mujer de la que se enamor vindola
presentar el telediario, su esposa, la Princesa Letizia. Su Alteza Real y la seorita Ortiz
Rocasolano se casaron el 22 de mayo de 2004, en la boda real ms multitudinaria desde la
del prncipe Carlos y Diana en 1981. En la historia de Espaa, Letizia es la primera plebeya
que puede ser coronada Reina, y tambin la primera divorciada. Al parecer, el Rey no
estaba demasiado complacido con la eleccin de su hijo. Un miembro de otra familia real
europea cuenta que, cuando fue a ver a su padre para pedirle permiso de casarse con
Letizia, Felipe traa en el bolsillo una carta en la que renunciaba a sus derechos al trono.
Cuando el Rey le sugiri que esperase un ao o algo ms para asegurarse de que era la
mujer indicada, Felipe le entreg la carta. Juan Carlos consult con Sofa qu deban hacer.
No tienes alternativa, le dijo la Reina. Si no das tu aprobacin, ser el fin de la
monarqua.
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano naci en Oviedo, en el norte de Espaa, el 15 de septiembre de
1972. Creci en un hogar de clase media, liberal y secular. Su padre es periodista. Su madre
es enfermera y representante sindical, su abuelo materno era taxista y su abuela mitad
filipina. Los padres de Letizia se divorciaron en 1999.
Con 25 aos, Letizia se cas con el profesor y escritor Alonso Guerrero. Tras graduarse
como periodista de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, curs un mster en el Instituto
de Estudios de Periodismo Audiovisual y se march a Mxico a trabajar en un peridico. Al
volver a Espaa ascendi rpidamente hasta convertirse en presentadora de TVE, la
televisin estatal espaola. Cubri las elecciones presidenciales estadounidenses desde
Washington en 2000, inform en directo desde la Zona Cero despus del 11 de septiembre
de 2001 y desde Iraq en la estela de la invasin americana.
Algunos aristcratas estaban enfurecidos cuando Felipe se cas con Letizia, manifest un
observador de los asuntos reales. Se burlan de ella a sus espaldas, pero nunca en pblico,
porque son monrquicos. Letizia lo sabe, y no los soporta. Pienso que est en una situacin
difcil. Es una persona nerviosa, dada a preocuparse, muy tensa e intensa.
La primognita de la pareja real, la Infanta Leonor, nacida en 2005, es segunda en la lnea
de sucesin al trono. Su hermana, la Infanta Sofa, naci en 2007. La familia vive en una
espaciosa casa al lado de La Zarzuela, construida para Felipe antes de su matrimonio. Segn
un ntimo de la realeza, es obvio que su relacin no es fcil. Ella est desesperada por
demostrar que vale como persona. Por ejemplo, rara vez aparecen juntos en pblico. Por lo
general, ella llega ms tarde, y cada uno se marcha por su lado. A veces resulta un poco
incmodo. Pero la mirada en los ojos de Felipe cuando ella se va es de un afecto profundo.
La protege mucho.
Personalmente, yo pensaba que era mejor que Felipe se casara con una princesa real, me
explic Ramn Prez-Maura, adjunto al director de ABC, el diario monrquico. Dicho
esto, y despus de ver cmo se ha comportado la Princesa Letizia durante los ltimos nueve
aos, creo que ha hecho un trabajo fantstico. Ha ayudado al Prncipe a conocer grupos de
la sociedad que l no conoca, como por ejemplo la gente de los medios. Tambin me gusta
el hecho de que despus de la boda comenzaron la luna de miel viajando en coche por
Espaa, que es algo que nadie se imaginaba que iban a hacer. Eso fue idea de Letizia. Y fue
genial.
En opinin de Prez-Maura, Felipe se parece ms a su madre que a su padre. No tiene la
calidez, el carisma de su padre. Nunca trata de ser el centro de atencin, como s lo hace el
Rey a su manera.
El Prncipe Felipe tal vez sea el espaol mejor preparado de su generacin, me coment
Antonio Camuas, antes de recitar una educacin que llev al Prncipe de un internado en
Canad a la Universidad Autnoma de Madrid, ms tarde a las tres academias militares
espaolas y, finalmente, a la Escuela para Asuntos Exteriores de la Universidad de
Georgetown.
Carlos Garca-Calvo, editor de moda y sociedad de El Mundo, es tambin un gran fan de la
Princesa, pese a que cuando un amigo le cont que el Prncipe iba a casarse con una
presentadora pens que era una broma. En realidad, hizo lo que han estado haciendo los
dems prncipes herederos de Europa: casarse con una plebeya. Yo creo que tom la
decisin correcta. Creo que es genial. Es muy aguda y se hace querer.
La controvertida Letizia se ha granjeado algunos enemigos. En abril, un primo suyo, David
Rocasolano, sali en primera plana tras afirmar en un libro de su autora que ella tuvo un
aborto en secreto antes de conocer a Felipe. (Los partidarios de Letizia desmintieron la
historia con vehemencia, considerndola un acto de traicin.) En otro volumen publicado
poco antes, Urdangarn: un conseguidor en la corte del rey Juan Carlos, el acosado cuado
de Letizia la culpa de sus problemas. Ella quera brillar a toda costa y ayud a filtrar
documentos para revelar los malos pasos de Urdangarn, escriben Eduardo Inda y Esteban
Urreiztieta, y sostienen tambin que Iaki y Cristina se sentan dolidos por el trato que
reciban en palacio, en comparacin con Felipe y Letizia.
Lo ms importante de Felipe y Letizia es que no estn ligados a ninguna clase de
corrupcin, me hizo notar Laurence Debray. Han tenido la suficiente ambicin para
mantenerse completamente al margen. Rompieron todas sus relaciones con Iaki y con
Cristina. Felipe es un buen padre de familia. No tiene amantes. No sale de cacera. Es muy
moderno. Las nuevas generaciones no estn interesadas en Franco, ni en la Guerra Civil, ni
en el golpe. A sus ojos, casi toda la realeza es corrupta. No trabajan, y tienen mucho dinero.
As que Felipe es cada vez mejor visto, y tambin Letizia.
Un Camino Real por delante
Para el Rey, el rumor ms pernicioso es que la Reina Sofa preferira que Felipe ascienda al
trono ms pronto que tarde. De acuerdo con Covadonga OShea, una escritora conservadora
amiga de la Reina, Sofa se entiende muy bien con Letizia. Creo que son muy cercanas.
Otros sostienen que la Princesa no ve la hora de ser Reina. Est contando los das, me
coment un editor bien informado.
Continued (page 7 of 7)
En enero pasado, el respaldo a la monarqua haba descendido a una cota histrica del 54
por ciento. En febrero, un oficial de la Casa Real se vio obligado a explicar a la prensa que
Juan Carlos no tena en mente abdicar y que no existe ningn plan para acelerar la sucesin
de Felipe. Al mes siguiente, una nueva encuesta revel que un sorprendente 85.9 por ciento
de los espaoles piensan que el Prncipe Felipe est preparado para reinar.
Incluso cuando Juan Carlos procura hacer lo correcto, parece que le sale mal. En mayo, la
Casa Real anunci que, por austeridad, el Rey iba a entregar al gobierno su yate Fortuna,
de ms de 40 metros de eslora y valorado en 20 millones de euros (27 millones de dlares);
se calcula que llenar el tanque cuesta ms de 23.000 euros (30.000 dlares). La Gerencia
de Patrimonio Nacional debe aprobar la entrega del yate al gobierno, anunci un portavoz
de la institucin, que debe decidir si conservarlo o venderlo. Sin embargo, surgi un
inconveniente: el yate fue una donacin de un grupo de empresarios mallorquines que, a
travs de la Fundacin para la Cultura y el Turismo en las Islas Baleares, se lo regalaron al
Rey hace 13 aos para reemplazar un yate anterior que le haba obsequiado el Rey Fahd de
Arabia Saudita, y ahora lo quieren de vuelta. El asunto est todava por resolverse.
En general, la clase poltica y los medios preferiran que el Rey se quede, por miedo al
impacto que tendra su partida en una nacin en graves aprietos. Estamos claramente en
contra de la abdicacin, me explic Pedro J. Ramrez. Uno puede pedir la renuncia de un
ministro de salud o de exteriores si ha hecho algo mal. Pero no puede pedir la abdicacin
del Rey slo porque se fue de fin de semana a Botsuana con una rubia. Para El Mundo, slo
existen dos escenarios que exigiran la abdicacin: primero, si el Rey tiene un problema de
salud serio, una incapacidad mental. Y segundo, si existen pruebas, no evidencias
circunstanciales, de que ha violado la ley.
El Rey no va a abdicar, corrobor Pepe Fanjul. Felipe es una maravilla y un joven muy
bien preparado, pero todo tiene su momento y su lugar. Y pienso que este es todava el
tiempo de Juan Carlos. Segn cuenta, el Rey reparte ahora sus das entre el trabajo y la
rehabilitacin. Le han quitado los analgsicos. Ha dejado el pasado en el pasado, y ahora
mira hacia el futuro. A mediados de Julio, Juan Carlos viaj a Marruecos, su primera
salida de Espaa desde la operacin, para visitar al rey Mohammed VI. Desembarc en
Rabat apoyndose en dos bastones.
Cuando Vanity Fair iba rumbo a la imprenta, varios amigos del Rey dieron un paso al frente
para manifestarle su respaldo. El director de orquesta ruso Valery Gergiev, con el que asiste
a partidos de futbol internacional, llam para transmitir la alta estima en la que Vladimir
Putin tiene al monarca y elogiar su cualidad ms especial como ser humano: te brinda su
atencin y consideracin incondicional. No todos los jefes de Estado hacen lo mismo, se los
puedo asegurar. Incluso Bill Clinton, en un correo electrnico, abord la cuestin de si
Juan Carlos debe marcharse o no: Esa decisin le corresponde al Rey. Hemos sido amigos
durante ms de dos dcadas. Pienso que har lo que considere mejor para el pueblo espaol
y que, haga lo que haga, encontrar la manera de seguir al servicio del pblico. S tambin
que su hijo es un hombre capaz, y un patriota, y que sus padres lo han preparado bien.
PHOTOSVANITY FAIRS PORTRAITS OF ROYALTY