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Date Published: 19/09/2022

ARCHIVED - The Spanish Royal family are creating a scene just by being present at the funeral of the Queen... this is why

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

There was controversy when a father sat next to his son in Westminster Abbey today, but what’s the big deal?

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - The Spanish Royal family are creating a scene just by being present at the funeral of the Queen... this is why

The King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and his wife Letizia, were in attendance at the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in London today, along with around 2,000 other dignitaries and guests.

As well as being part of European royalty, the King and Queen had possibly more reason than most to be at the Queen’s funeral given that they were directly related to her by blood.

But they were also seated next to the King Emeritus Juan Carlos I and his wife Doña Sofía, the parents to the current King and previous head couple of the Spanish royal household.

Los reyes Felipe VI y Letizia y los reyes eméritos, sentados juntos en la Abadía de Westminster durante el funeral de Isabel II. Es la primera imagen pública de los cuatro desde enero de 2020. pic.twitter.com/CG7obDaibn
— David S. Iglesias (@D_S_Iglesias) September 19, 2022

At the funeral at Westminster Abbey, King Felipe VI was seated in a corner next to Queen Letizia, next to whom was Juan Carlos and then Doña Sofía, all in the second row and in an area next to other members of other royal houses. Next to the Queen Emeritus was Queen Sonia of Norway and next to her was King Harald.

This is the first time that father and son have been seen together in public since the former king – who abdicated back in 2014 – moved to the United Arab Emirates in August 2020, in self-imposed exile over allegations of illegal elephant trophy hunting and abuse of his ex-lover, German businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, for which he is being prosecuted by UK courts and other scandals.

Juan Carlos and Sofía are not actually divorced, but are separated and it is said that they do not get along at all. Their meeting at the Queen’s funeral is the first time they have been seen together in public in two years.

It was rumoured that Juan Carlos might not even show up for the funeral of his distant cousin, and the Spanish government reportedly urged him not to go, as, according to one far-left politician, it doesn’t do to have Spain represented abroad by a degenerate “fugitive from the law”.

The four already coincided yesterday afternoon at the reception offered by King Charles III to all the dignitaries who travelled to London for the funeral, but the reunion took place inside the palace with no cameras present, just as there were none present on last May 23 when Juan Carlos visited La Zarzuela, the Spanish royal palace.

Since the abdication and exile of his father, King Felipe VI has disinherited the former monarch, cutting off Juan Carlos’s annual stipend, and has himself refused to accept his father’s inheritance. He has also taken pains to open up his own official income and expenses to public scrutiny in an effort to demonstrate that he is not like his father and doesn’t approve of the King Emeritus’s behaviour. Which is why they have rarely been photographed together in public in the last two years.

Now, having been forced together at the Queen’s funeral, it remains to be seen what (if any) fresh wounds this will open in the psyche of the Spanish people with regards to the monarchy.

You might also like: The one time the Queen went to Spain on a 5-day official visit... and spent 2 days on her yacht in Mallorca

Image: Wikimedia commons

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