The publication in the magazine Hello! of a series of photos taken at the party with which King Juan Carlos celebrated, at his home in Abu Dhabi, his 86th birthday have caused surprise in Zarzuela after months in which discretion has marked the last trips of the father of the King to Spain. The proliferation of images, which occupy the cover and ten pages of the issue of the magazine that went on sale this Wednesday, breaks the pact that the King and his father had reached with the objective of both of not creating controversies that affect to the Crown and, at the same time, normalize family relations.
The birthday party, promoted by his closest circle of friends, was held on January 5 and was attended by around one hundred people, most of them Spanish, some Emiratis and relatives of other nationalities. Some of the guests, with the authorization of the King’s father, provided some details of the celebration but it was not until this Wednesday that the images that, according to all sources, have been sent to the magazine at the direction of King Juan were seen. Carlos.
The cover of Hello! It consists of two photographs. In one of them you can see King Juan Carlos surrounded by his daughters, the Infantas Elena and Cristina, and his grandchildren Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar and Pablo and Irene Urdangarin, at the entrance of the house and behind them a Christmas tree and a Spanish flag. In the other image, King Juan Carlos is seen at the moment in which, with a saber, he proceeds to cut the birthday cake that is covered by a reproduction of his banner (in pastry dough) that includes the color blue and the shield that represented him while he was head of state and which he can use for ceremonies.
The appearance of the Spanish flag in the hall of the residence and the use of the script or banner (the banner that represents the dignity of the king) have been the images that have caused the greatest surprise, since with them King Juan Carlos seems claim its institutional figure. The rest of the photographs, which are included inside the magazine, show various moments of the celebration with some of the guests, among them the members of the duo Los del Rio, surrounding King Juan Carlos. The images appear, among others, Álvaro de Orleans, cousin of the King’s father who, through the Zagatka Foundation, financed private plane trips worth eight million euros. This donation meant that, after these payments came to light, King Juan Carlos had to pay the Treasury more than four million euros in a tax regularization.
Also appearing in the photographs is Philip Atkins, Corinna Larsen’s first husband, who, in 2012, accompanied the couple on the controversial trip to Botswana in which Juan Carlos, still the titular king, broke his hip.
Since his first trip to Spain in May 2022, after his departure in the summer of 2020, in which there was media overexposure that caused discomfort both in Zarzuela, in the Government and in broad social sectors, King Juan Carlos made a commitment to his son, the King, to try to maintain a low profile to avoid controversy. The rule has been maintained and subsequent visits, most of them to Sanxenxo, have been carried out with relative privacy. King Juan Carlos has fulfilled his promise and has avoided contact with the media, limiting himself to going from Pedro Campos’ house to the yacht club facilities. The times also passed when King Juan Carlos, through people close to him, lamented his exiled condition. And his presence, only at the family celebration in El Pardo, for Princess Leonor’s coming of age, developed without problems, beyond King Juan Carlos’s refusal not to sleep in Madrid if he could not do so in the Zarzuela.
Even with the institutional distancing in force, the more prudent attitude of the King’s father facilitated a family rapprochement, as could be seen on December 20 on the occasion of the meal with which Infanta Elena celebrated her birthday in Madrid, which was attended by the Kings Felipe and Letizia, Juan Carlos and Sofía, as well as Infanta Cristina and other family members.
A friendly quote that predicted future meetings that now appear unlikely, such as that in the future King Juan Carlos could spend more than a few hours at his former residence in La Zarzuela.