Spanish Royal Family - The King and Queen

The King and Queen

As a young man Juan Carlos completed his four-year military training and then received a rigorous two year liberal education in the European tradition as insisted upon by his father Don Juan, Count of Barcelona, in 1957. Impatient with the pace of democratic political reforms, King Juan Carlos, known for his formidable personality, dismissed Carlos Arias Navarro and appointed the reformer Adolfo Suárez as President of the Government in 1977.

The next year the king signed into law the new liberal democratic Constitution of Spain, which was approved by 88% of voters. Juan Carlos’ "quick wit and steady nerve" cut short the attempted military coup in 1981 when the king used a specially designed command communications center in the Zarzuela Palace to denounce the coup and command the military's eleven captain-generals to stand down.

Following the events of 1981 Juan Carlos has led a less eventful life, according to author John Hooper. The king does not open hospitals and bridges as often as monarchs in other nations; rather he has worked towards establishing reliable political customs when transitioning one government administration to another, emphasizing constitutional law and protocol, representing the Spanish State domestically and internationally, all the while maintaining a professionally non-partisan yet independent monarchy. In 2007 while celebrating his anniversary, the king said he wanted to represent all Spanish people.

Juan Carlos set a modest tone for his kingship as early as 1975 when he declared that he and his family would continue to reside at the modest Palacio de Zarzuela, rather than the Palacio de Oriente in Madrid. Additionally, the king, who can still look awkward at large events, did not resurrect any formal ‘Royal Court’, much to the disappointment of some in the aristocracy. The king's charms are best evident in smaller and less formal events, according to Hooper.

Juan Carlos, publicly perceived as a kind of action man or G.I. Joe, is fond of sports and enjoys skiing in winter and sailing in the summer, and likes to play snooker after dinner. Such is the king's enthusiasm for sailing that he competed in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in the Dragon Class, and each year he and the royal family holiday in Majorca where they are photographed sailing by the media. It is this image of the king enjoying himself that is somewhat instilled in the public mind in recent years, according to Hooper. In his younger years Juan Carlos enjoyed and was reportedly good at squash, tennis, and karate. However, the king has angered environmental activists when he engaged in bear hunting in Romania in 2004.

Queen Sofía, on the other hand, is opposed to the wearing of furs and of bullfighting, and is "something of a vegetarian", according to author John Hooper. Born in 1938 a Princess of Greece and Denmark, Sofía enjoys sailing—a passion she shares with her husband. As a young woman Sofía qualified as a reserve for the Greek sailing team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Initially their shared passion for sailing threatened to stifle their relationship as Sofía later recalled "I once went sailing with him when we were still engaged, and I shall never understand how I was able to marry him after that!" Juan Carlos married Sofía in Athens at the Church of Saint Dennis on 14 May 1962.

Exile is another experience which had bonded Sofía and Juan Carlos, according to Hooper. Sofía and the Greek Royal Family went into exile in South Africa ahead of the Nazi invasion of Greece, and she and her family did not return to Greece until she was eight. Of Juan Carlos and Sofía's shared experiences in exile John Hooper wrote "Both the King and Queen were given a lesson in their early years that no member of the British Royal Family received—that, for a monarch, the penalty for failing to judge correctly the mood of his or her country, can be exile and debilitating irrelevance."

The queen's interests over the years have been more intellectual, and Sofía may be given credit for encouraging Juan Carlos in his transition of Spain from an authoritarian dictatorship to a liberal democracy. According to author John Hooper, it is noteworthy that shortly after Juan Carlos married Sofía he began his secret meetings with ‘politicians and others’ as early as 1963. Sofía demonstrated her empathy and solidarity with Spanish families when she sent her children to secular schools known for their progressive methods. When the parents at Felipe's school boycotted the increase in meal prices, Sofía took the side of the parents, sending Felipe to school with sandwiches in packed lunches.

Sofía is far more religious then her husband or her children, having converted to Catholicism just before her marriage. Queen Sofía sparked controversy in a 2008 autobiography when she commented on gay marriage in Spain. This and other comments by the queen opened the monarchy to rare criticism in 2008, with the Zarzuela palace issuing an apology on behalf of the queen for the "inexact" quotes attributed to her. King Juan Carlos, known to be far more liberal then his wife, was reportedly incensed by the autobiography, with reporters stating the king will fire palace officials who allegedly approved official royal endorsement of the book.