It will be a lightning trip of just twelve hours. King Juan Carlos will arrive next Tuesday, October 31, in Madrid from Abu Dhabi and, at night, after attending the family celebration at the El Pardo palace for the coming of age of Princess Leonor, he will once again catch the plane again, this time bound for London, where he will spend the night and spend a few days before returning to the emirate.
This Friday, La Zarzuela made public the official agenda of the royal family for next week, detailing the institutional events - Congress and Royal Palace - in which the Kings, the Princess and Infanta Sofía will be present, but there is no indication of the family celebration called late in the afternoon at the El Pardo palace, where King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía will be present, considering that it is a private activity. Queen Sofía, who was in Congress at the proclamation of Felipe VI, will not be present, on this occasion, in any of the institutional events called by the oath of Princess Leonor; Leonor's maternal grandparents, Jesús Ortiz and Paloma Rocasolano, will also not be there.
A little over a month ago, Zarzuela made public that in addition to the institutional events that, on the occasion of Princess Leonor's swearing-in of the Constitution before the Cortes, will take place in Congress and in the Royal Palace, "subsequently" there would A family and private celebration took place at the El Pardo palace with the attendance of the royal family, relatives of the King and Queen. From the note it was deduced that King Juan Carlos was invited to that celebration but his presence was excluded from the previous institutional events.
At no time was the possibility of King Juan Carlos attending Leonor's swearing-in in Congress raised, since he was not present at the proclamation of Felipe VI either. On that occasion he did it so as not to take away his prominence and, on this occasion, so that his presence does not alter the normal functioning of the ceremony, with everyone, both Zarzuela and King Juan Carlos himself, aware of the controversy that always accompanies his presence in Spain. .
However, King Juan Carlos accepted the invitation to celebrate the Princess's coming of age with his family, but refusing to spend the night in the Zarzuela caused a new disagreement. It should be noted that, at the time, King Juan Carlos himself announced that during his occasional stays in Spain he would not use any publicly owned residence but, on this occasion, he requested to be able to sleep in what he considers his home, which, for all intents and purposes, It is also the headquarters of the Head of State. Without even considering the possibility of sleeping in a hotel or in a private home, King Juan Carlos has chosen to leave Madrid just after the family celebration in El Pardo, which has been set for 8 pm on the 31st and has scheduled to conclude around 10 p.m. The call will be attended, as guests, by Kings Juan Carlos and Sofia, members of the royal family, and relatives of the King such as the Infantas Elena and Cristina, with some of his children; Infanta Margarita, her husband, children and grandson; the dukes of Calabria; Queen Anne Mary of Greece, with her daughter, Princess Alexia, and Princess Irene, sister of Queen Sofia. The Queen's family, Jesús Ortiz and his wife, Ana Togores, will also attend; Paloma Rocasolano, Telma Ortiz, with her husband and her two daughters and other close relatives.
The establishment of the official program was agreed on September 21 in a meeting called by the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, with the assistance of the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán; the acting Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, representing the Government, and Jaime Alfonsín, head of the King's Household. Two weeks later, on October 11, the Council of Ministers agreed to "request the Cortes Generales to hold a joint session of both legislative chambers – the Congress and the Senate – so that the Princess of Asturias can take an oath of compliance with the Constitution." on October 31, on the occasion of his coming of age, according to the constitutional mandate in its article 61." The Executive also agreed to grant the Collar of the Order of Charles III, the highest decoration of the State, which the Princess will receive from the King in an event to be held at the Royal Palace, where a lunch will subsequently take place attended by the Acting Government and representatives of the high institutions of the State.
