Juan Carlos I has been a thorn in the side. Protocol and video cameras have achieved what was getting on the Spanish Government's nerves. The former king and queen of Spain and the current ones, Felipe VI and Letizia Ortiz, sat together at Elizabeth II's farewell ceremony at Westminster Bay. They appearead together in a photograph for the first time since they coincided at Infanta Pilar de Borbón's —Juan Carlos's sister— funeral. That was on January 29th, 2020, 8 months before the former king of Spain left to live in the United Arab Emirates, besieged by problems with the Spanish judiciary. While they saw each other when the former head of state returned, at the Sanxenxo regattas, in Galicia, no public image transcended.
Protocol and personal invitation
This family photo can also be interpreted as Juan Carlos's return to a certain normality, after the Spanish judiciary closed all cases investigating his foreign fortune in March. And what better place than at the State funeral dedicated to a woman of consensus among monarchies and continental powers. According to the Spanish royal house sources consulted by ElNacional.cat, “all protocol and organizational aspects correspond to the British authorities”. The Spanish Crown washes its hands, while Sánchez's government —which reproached the “not very discreet” attitude of Juan Carlos I in Sanxenxo— hides behind “institutional respect” again, in order to not interfere in the mess caused by the presence of the Spanish king emeritus in London.
Before the ceremony began, José Manuel Albares, Spanish minister of Foreign Affairs, who is part of the Spanish delegation on behalf of the government, recalled that “Spain is represented, obviously, by the head of state, Felipe VI, accompanied by Queen Letizia”. In response to the journalists' questions about Juan Carlos's presence at the British capital on Monday, Albares was categorical and pointed out that “the former king of Spain is in London in response to a personal invitation” and added that “the roles and reasons why he is here are clearly defined”. The Spanish government, once again, put the matter to rest.
Juan Carlos' laughter
The live funeral broadcast showed Juan Carlos had Sofia to his right and Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI to his left. The royal family occupied four chairs in the second row due to their relationship with the British crown. In one of the photographs, the king emeritus is shown laughing, while Letizia Ortiz wears a forced smile. This gesture irritated Podemos which, through Pablo Echenique, assured that “the problem is not that a criminal escapee is going to laugh at all Spaniards”, but that “while Article 56.3 of the Constitution is in force, Felipe VI could do the same as his father did and then laugh with impunity”.
Felipe VI and Sofia will go to another ceremony
On the other hand, The Spanish royal house informed that Felipe VI plans to go to Windsor Castle, where Charles III has invited the royal houses to attend the religious ceremony that will precede the burial of Elizabeth II. The Spanish royal house specified that the Spanish kings accepted the invitation, although Queen Letizia might not go in the end, as she plans to fly to New York on a commercial flight to participate in a series of engagements with the occasion of the UN General Assembly. Queen Sofía also accepted the invitation, and she will travel to Windsor together with Felipe VI, but not Juan Carlos I, who “declined the invitation”, according to Spanish royal house.