Without fault or blame:
Felipe VI as the savior of the Spanish monarchy
"A renewed monarchy for a new era" was the motto with which Felipe VI took up a difficult legacy on June 19, 2014. This was mainly due to his father, whom he nevertheless paid great respect to in his inaugural speech to parliament.
Before all Spaniards, I would also like to pay tribute to my father, King Juan Carlos I, with great emotion. An extraordinary reign is now part of our history, with an extraordinary political legacy," said the 46-year-old, who at the time still had no beard and no gray hair. It was not only his father's achievements that were extraordinary, but also his escapades and scandals, as well as those of other members of the royal family. Felipe has been cracking down ever since.
Juan Carlos' reputation suffered badly in 2014 - due to alleged infidelities, favoritism in a major fraud scandal involving his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin and an elephant hunt in Botswana in 2012, while unemployment was rampant in Spain during the financial crisis. The ageing monarch also appeared increasingly frail, mumbling his way through his speeches and getting his tongue out of place during speeches.
Citizen king
With his abdication in 2014, he drew the consequences and cleared the way for his son. In the years that followed, however, the so-called Citizen King Felipe VI, who always strove for decency and transparency, was repeatedly confronted with his father's misconduct and had to make painful decisions.
The relationship between son and father, king and former king, was not exactly improved by further scandals and revelations. When his own name came up in 2020 in connection with a multi-million euro financial scandal, the Bourbon king's collar burst: he pulled the emergency brake and publicly broke with his then 82-year-old father. Felipe announced that he would completely renounce the inheritance to which he would later be entitled. But that wasn't all: he also cut Juan Carlos' salary as former king - at last count, this amounted to around 194,000 euros a year from the Casa Real's budget.
"Dignity of the institution"
"The Crown must guarantee the dignity of the institution, preserve its reputation and behave with integrity, honesty and transparency," the Zarzuela Palace announced at the time as justification. The judicial authorities in Switzerland and Spain investigated. The suspicion was that Juan Carlos had allegedly received millions in bribes from Saudi Arabia in 2008. Was this a "gift" or did it possibly facilitate the construction of a high-speed rail line from Medina to Mecca by a Spanish consortium?
Particularly sensitive: According to a report in the British "Telegraph", both Felipe and Crown Princess Leonor are said to have appeared at the time as beneficiaries of an offshore foundation - apparently without their knowledge. The King was therefore forced to take the high road and clear his good name by making it clear that he would not accept any money from his father's legacy.
Felipe was praised across the country for his courageous move. "In his few years in office, he has demonstrated his firm commitment to the exemplary character of the first state institution", the renowned newspaper "El Mundo" praised the "difficult but unavoidable decision".
Juan Carlos later escaped criminal proceedings by a hair's breadth. The public prosecutor's office dropped the investigation into financial irregularities because Juan Carlos was either protected by his immunity as king until his abdication in 2014, the offences were time-barred or he paid millions in tax debts in a hurry. Not exactly a first-class exoneration. It was the deep fall of the man who was celebrated for years as the savior of Spanish democracy because he brought a group of coup plotters to task with a resolute speech to the nation in 1981.
Safety distance
Felipe has been keeping a safe distance from his father for years. He left his homeland on August 4, 2020, initially with an unknown destination. He later turned up in Abu Dhabi. When he visited his homeland again for the first time two years later, he only had a brief meeting with his son in private.
While calls for an end to the monarchy grew louder in 2014, these calls are now less vehement thanks to Felipe VI's impeccable reign. According to surveys, society is split into two roughly equal camps. One wants to retain the hereditary monarchy, the other a republic. Older people and conservatives are more monarchist, while younger people and left-wingers are more republican.
Leonor as a hope for the future
If the monarchy survives, the Infanta Leonor (18), eldest daughter of Felipe and Queen Letizia, will one day succeed her father. She would then be the first Spanish queen since Isabella II, who reigned until 1868.
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