Spain’s Juan Carlos I offers cautionary tale for Charles III

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — A playboy past that was once brushed under the carpet, a popular son whose telegenic family threatens to eclipse his own star, and endless leaks about his private life: Spain’s Juan Carlos I can empathize with the lot of Britain’s Charles III. The former Spanish head of state, who abdicated in disgrace in 2014, serves as a warning for any European royal who wants their achievements on the throne, rather than torrid gossip, to be their lasting legacy. Following his second visit to Spain last month since relocating to Abu Dhabi, the ex-king has become an object of open hostility in some quarters of Spanish society. Juan Carlos I was not invited to Charles III’s coronation, and a publicly announced lunch with the British monarch failed to materialize last month.