It is a book that is already being debated in Spain, even though it has not even been published yet.
May 8 appears
King Corp.
, a journalistic investigation by José María Olmo and David Fernández.
The two journalists divulge the secrets of the king emeritus, now exiled in Abu Dhabi.
Among the revelations from
King Corp.
lies the key to the mystery of the paintings stolen from the Palacio Real.
In August 1989, three paintings hung in an area closed to the public in the Palacio Real disappeared.
The thieves left no trace.
To make matters worse, the summer holidays and the restructuring work at the Palace allow more people from outside the museum to enter.
A few days later, the
ABC
newspaper reports the words of a National Heritage official.
“
At the Palace, everyone is suspect.
No alarm sounded and the detection system recorded nothing,
he testified
.
The thieves would have moved through the Palace as if they were at home.
»
Read alsoThe embarrassing visit of Juan Carlos to Spain
1.6 million euros
The missing works of art are three small paintings.
Two are by Diego de Velázquez,
Portrait of a Lady
and
Hand of Archbishop Fernando Valdés
.
The
bust of a lady from the time of Carlos II
by Juan Carreño de Miranda is also stolen.
Their loss is "
estimated at 275 million pesetas
", according to
El País
, or just over 1.6 million euros.
Being very well known, it is unlikely that these works were resold on the black market.
The Spanish police investigation is still not closed.
But it would seem that the work of the two journalists opens a track, not the most brilliant.
Sabino Fernández Campo was the king's right hand at that time.
On his deathbed, he confided to a relative that he had seen two of these paintings at the home of a former mistress of the monarch.
Contacted by journalist José María Olmo, the lover did not deny the facts.
Watches and jewelry
And this book reveals many other secrets concerning the king's affairs, in particular his generous gifts to his mistresses.
According to David Fernández, co-author of the book, Juan Carlos was very fond of watches.
And he often received them as gifts.
"
The ones they didn't like, he had them taken to a trusted jewelry store and he converted them into cash,"
he said.
He sold them in order, among other things, to be able to buy presents for his mistresses.
“La Sexta specifies that these watches should have entered the catalog of the National Heritage, but that the king was opposed to it.
According to the book, the monarch considered these watches to be part of his retribution for his exercise of royal power.
In 2011, Juan Carlos reportedly gifted Colombian drop-shaped emeralds worth €250,000 to Corinna Larsen.
The Spaniards discovered the affair with this German businesswoman in 2012 during a safari in Botswana.
A trip that created controversy at the time: while Spain was going through a serious economic crisis, the king took part in an elephant hunt worth 30,000 euros.
The relationship between Juan Carlos and Corinna Larsen takes a completely different turn when, in 2020, she files a complaint against the monarch for threats and harassment, claiming to have been pressured to remain silent on state secrets.
Always up against him, she launched a
Corinna and the king
podcast in 2022 ,
Read alsoThe case of the hidden money of Juan Carlos agitates Spain
In 2011, the monarch would have offered these precious stones to his mistress to try to overcome the crisis that the couple is going through.
At Corinna's request, he has them made into earrings.
But the couple separates definitively, and the king claims the jewels.
Having had them made without an invoice, he has no way of justifying his purchase.
In addition to these emeralds, the king emeritus also tried to recover other gifts offered during their relationship, as well as 65 million euros that he would have paid to an account in the Bahamas…
The left-wing Unidas Podemos coalition demanded on April 25 that the “
paintings, photographs and busts of Juan Carlos from the Congress of Deputies be withdrawn.
Parliamentary group spokesman Pablo Echenique called the king a "
delinquent
" during a press conference.
In 2022, 39% of Spaniards said they wanted to replace the monarchy with a republic according to a study by the IMOP Insights institute for
Vanitatis
.
