King Juan Carlos of Spain, who has been walking with a cane, had surgery on his right knee today at the private Sanitas La Moraleja University Clinic this afternoon in Madrid. This was the 15th surgery he had undergone with the first being on his appendix when he was a child.
The hospital said the 90-minute surgery was successful saying it “has been developed with total normality and the result has been fully satisfactory.” A specialist in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology oversaw the procedure.
His Majesty will remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 24 hours as a precaution with the hospital saying it is for “postoperative control.”
The 80-year-old monarch went under the knife for “greater mobility and stability”, and the artificial prosthesis placed in his right knee in 2011 was replaced with “a state-of-the-art prosthesis.”
He was later visited in hospital by his wife, Queen Sofía; son, King Felipe; and daughter-in-law, Queen Letizia. The family was all smiles as they arrived together and posed for the press after this week’s controversy regarding the Easter mass video showing a verbal altercation between Letizia and Sofía. Queen Letizia opened Queen Sofía’s door and walked with her to the door in a show of unity since the video’s release.
© Casa de S.M. el Rey
The King’s last public appearance was at a commemorative mass earlier this week in memory of his father Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona at the Basilica of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
He also made a surprise appearance at Easter mass with his family at the Cathedral-Basilica of Santa María de Palma de Mallorca this past Sunday. King Juan Carlos was reported to be on holiday in Saudi Arabia by Spain’s El País on 28 March. He arrived in the country to spend the Christian Holy Week on Tuesday, 27 March but returned in time to celebrate Easter with his family. This was the first time he had attended with them since his abdication.
