| Juan Carlos and Vargas Llosa |
ROYAL FAMILY
A new life for King Juan Carlos
After giving up the throne, Spain’s former monarch seems keen to maintain an informal public role
Juan Carlos arrives in Bogota to attend the inauguration of President Juan Manuel Santos. / JOHN VIZCAINO (REUTERS)
Since abdicating on June 19 in favor of his son Felipe, Juan Carlos de Borbón has spent the summer putting together the details for a foundation that will bear his name. Sources close to the 76-year-old say he has no plans to retire fully from public life, and intends to remain active.
The Zarzuela Palace, the official residence of the Spanish monarchy, has little to say about the former head of state’s activities, pointing out that he no longer has official duties. However, on August 7 Juan Carlos did travel to Colombia for the presidential inauguration of Juan Manuel Santos, standing in for his son, who in recent years had already taken over a growing number of such appearances on behalf of his father.
Juan Carlos’s exit from public view has even prompted speculation over his health, as well as rumors, which started in the Italian press, that he was to divorce his wife Sofía and marry 49-year-old socialite Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, who continues to use her German former husband’s aristocratic title. Her “friendship” with the former king was made public after it was discovered that she had accompanied him on an ill-fated hunting trip to Botswana in 2012, when he broke his hip.