King Juan Carlos I has hit the headlines in Spain as he makes his second visit to the country since going into self imposed exile almost three years ago.
His stay in the nation he ruled for almost forty years comes after a high profile couple of days in the UK where he was among the spectators at the Champions’ League quarter final which saw Real Madrid take a useful away lead. But his decision to head to Spain has also led to debate.
King Juan Carlos arrived in London as the weekend came to an end and was photographed leaving Oswald’s, a luxurious members’ only club, late on April 17. He was with a group of friends.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe following day, he arrived at Stamford Bridge, the stadium that is home to Chelsea, for the team’s last eight clash with Real Madrid.
The visit to the stadium was organised as the King Emeritus is a big fan of football, and Real Madrid is the team he has always supported.
The match ended with a victory for the Spanish team, something that King Juan Carlos will have undoubtedly appreciated, along with the cheers of some Real supporters that flocked into the stadium to watch their favourite team play.
But the beginning of the match wasn’t the best for His Majesty, who had to wait in his car for a while, as he arrived at the stadium at the same time the coach carrying the Real players did.
The United Kingdom is the first stop in the former Spanish King’s European trip, with the majority of his time being spent in Spain.
Many had speculated that he traveled to London primarily to meet with King Charles III – the two have always shared a pretty close bond (many refer to it as a bromance), as well as legitimate family ties, in that they are both direct descendants of Queen Victoria.
However, after rumours kept coming out, Buckingham Palace clarified to the Spanish Embassy in London and to newspaper El Mundo that such a meeting did not take place. King Juan Carlos is instead said to be already in Sanxenxo, Galicia, where he will be taking part in the II Volvo Regatta.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis trip comes 11 months after his first return to Spain from Abu Dhabi, where he settled down in August of 2020, and where he was joined by his eldest grandson earlier this year. It was also the second time he was in London in less than 12 months, as both he and Queen Sofía were present at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, neither of the former Monarchs appears in the official guests list for King Charles III’s coronation, in which there are only the names of King Felipe and Queen Letizia representing the Spanish Royal Family.
