Tension is once again settling in among the invisible walls that separate King Juan Carlos from the rest of the royal family. According to sources close to him, the monarch is preparing a double editorial release that could trigger a new internal crisis. Two publications bearing his personal stamp will arrive in bookstores before the end of the year.
The decision to make his version of the past public has been interpreted by many as a gesture of rupture. The emeritus king will not take part in any institutional events this fall, but he will set the agenda with his memories. What does he intend to reveal and why now?
A new crisis looms for the royal family after King Juan Carlos's publication
November 12 is marked in red on Zarzuela's calendar. On that day, Reconciliación, the book that collects the memoirs Juan Carlos I dictated to French intellectual Laurence Debray, will be released.
When it became known that Laurence Debray would be in charge of collecting the emeritus king's memories, many saw it as a calculated choice. In 2022, the author had already published Mi rey caído, based on experiences shared in Abu Dhabi. In addition, she was the one who fueled the authorized reports that appeared in ¡Hola!, while other media outlets were excluded from all access.
According to words attributed to Juan Carlos himself by Laurence Debray, Reconciliación seeks "to reclaim a legacy" that he feels has been "stolen" from him. This is not just a memoir: it is an attempt to recover his place in history. It is a way of saying that he still has something to tell, even if that makes his family and the institution uncomfortable.
The current political and social context means that any gesture by the emeritus king has consequences. Although he keeps a low profile in public, this fall he will once again dominate the headlines. He will do so with the pen of others, but with his voice intact.
This strategy of narrative control is not new. Back in the 1990s, the king chose aristocrat José Luis de Vilallonga to reveal confidences he did not share with any journalist. The result was El Rey, a biography that became a media phenomenon and that now, in a gesture of reaffirmation, will be reissued by Plaza y Janés.
Juan Carlos I prepares the return of El Rey for the end of the year
El Rey will be available in bookstores again starting in October, one month before Reconciliación. This move, as revealed by Pilar Eyre in Lecturas, is part of a broader strategy to recover the emeritus king's narrative.
Indeed, El Rey covers key episodes: from February 23 to his relationship with Franco, including his view of Doña Sofía, whom he described as "a professional." This description did not sit well with the queen consort at the time. The impact of those statements still resonates, and now, with the reissue, they could once again cause discomfort.
The rights are controlled by Syliane Stella, Vilallonga's ex-wife, who has admitted she doesn't know what the new work might contribute. "I don't know what he will tell in that new memoir because he already conveyed his time as reigning king to José Luis," she explained.
Behind the choice of Vilallonga was a network of personal and emotional influences. According to Federico Jiménez Losantos, it was Marta Gayá and Prince Tchokotua who mediated so that the aristocrat would have privileged access.
That friendship allowed him to collect unpublished anecdotes, such as the king's first meeting with Franco. "The only thing that interested me was a mouse that appeared under the armchair where the general was sitting," he recalls in the book.
Next fall is shaping up to be one of the most tense for the royal family. With El Rey and Reconciliación, King Juan Carlos once again challenges his own past, something that promises to shake the foundations of the official narrative. Will this be the monarch's last blow or the beginning of a new stage in his public reclamation?