▲ On August 3, the 82-year-old abdicated King Carlos I of Spain left Spain. Politician website
According to the latest news from CNN on the 3rd, the former king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, who is under investigation into corruption, has left the country and gone to settle abroad.
On the afternoon of the 3rd, the Spanish royal family published a letter from Carlos to his son, the current King felipe VI of Spain, in which Carlos said that "the public reaction to certain past events in my private life" made him decide to leave Spain and settle abroad so that his son Felipe VI could "exercise his duties as king".
Carlos, 82, said: "It was a very emotional decision, but I made up my mind very seriously. I have been King of Spain for almost 40 years, during which time I have always wanted to give the best to Spain and the royal family. However, Carlos did not mention in the letter where he would go to settle.
Felipe expressed "gratitude and respect" for his father's decision, and the Spanish royal family said the current king was eager to emphasize the "historical importance" of his father's reign and his contribution to Spain and democracy.
▲ Photo of King Felipe VI of Spain and his father Carlos I in 2014. Afp
After the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, Carlos I ascended the throne, and under his leadership Spain completed the transition from a monarchy to a parliamentary monarchy. However, due to the repeated revelations of the "black history" of Carlos's private life and financial situation in recent years, the Spanish people's dissatisfaction with the royal family has grown.
In 2014, Carlos announced his abdication amid criticism. The reason is that in 2012, during the severe financial crisis in Spain, Carlos traveled to Botswana to hunt elephants, which caused strong public dissatisfaction. This, combined with the fraud scandal of Carlos's young daughter and son-in-law, forced him to announce his abdication.
Shortly after Carlos's abdication, another paternity lawsuit ensued. In 2015, a woman from Belgium claimed that Carlos was her father. The woman said that in 1965, when the married Carlos was still a prince, she had a relationship with her mother and gave birth to her in 1966. However, the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the Spanish Supreme Court.
Because of the scandal, Carlos officially withdrew from public affairs last June. In March, Felipe VI announced that he would stop paying his father an annual allowance of 194,000 euros and renounce his inheritance. Prior to this, European media had reported that Carlos had received about 65 million euros in "grants" from the King of Saudi Arabia through a Swiss account in 2008. Spanish royal correspondents commented that Felipe VI's move was intended to clear the relationship between the Spanish royal family and Carlos' foreign accounts.
Carlos is now facing two investigations. The Swiss prosecutor's investigation found that Carlos's €65 million from Saudi Arabia in 2008 may have been linked to a contract by a Spanish consortium to build a high-speed rail between Medina and Mecca, which amounted to 6.7 billion euros. In 2012, Carlos transferred about 65 million euros from his Swiss account to his former lover, Corinne Larsen, the Guardian reported. Another investigation, launched by Spain's Supreme Court in June, was aimed at determining whether Carlos had laundered money and evaded taxes after his abdication.
Carlos did not comment further on the allegations, saying only that he had never told his son Felipe VI about the offshore account. The commentary argues that Carlos' "exile" is a protection against scandals for the current king and royal family of Spain. But Carlos's lawyer said in an open letter that Carlos's departure "is not to evade legal proceedings" and that he will "respond at any time to any necessary judicial process by Spanish prosecutors."
Due to years of scandal in the Spanish royal family, Felipe VI has been working to increase the transparency of the royal family since his accession to the throne. According to CNN, the Spanish royal family has maintained a relatively simple image in recent years, but the Spanish people are still dissatisfied with the royal family's expenses.
Of the 10 royal families in Europe, except for the Liechtenstein royal family, the remaining 9 royal families still need to pay the royal expenses of the taxpayer. The Spanish royal family spends only $9 million a year, ranking third from the bottom, which is far less than the British royal family's annual expenditure of $107 million and the Moroccan royal family's annual expenditure of $54 million.
Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez said last month after hearing the "disturbing reports" that "I think there are some things worth mentioning: first, the media is following the course of events; second, the judicial system is acting; and third, I am pleased that the royal family itself has also distanced itself from the scandal." The "Politician" website analysis believes that the attitude of the Spanish coalition government is actually defending the status quo.
Author: Wu Shu
Editor: Shen Qinhan
Editor-in-charge: Song Cheng
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