Because, as Kierkegaard wrote, “in no case is infidelity more ignoble than in love,” Spain was shaken by a disturbing revelation. If everything that is said is true, Leticia Ortiz She would enter the chapter of the unfaithful wives of European kings. In that list stands out, brilliantly, the 18th century tsarina who had countless lovers behind the back of her husband, the pusillanimous Peter III, whom she finally overthrew with a palace coup to become Catherine II. The empress who expanded the map of Russia and through whose bedroom Prince Potemkim, among many others, passed, a military leader who triumphed in the Russo-Turkish War, taking the borders of the empire to the Dnieper River and conquering from Kabardia to Crimea.
Catherine the Great, who broke a record of infidelities during the eight years it took her husband to consummate the marriage, is the most resonant case. But the list is very long and includes less spectacular cases.
In the 19th century they transcended adulteries of Mary of Romania to King Ferdinand. Mariana of the Netherlands regularly deceived King Albert of Prussia, her first cousin and consort in a failed marriage. And there are also more recent cases, such as that of Paola from Belgium, who had the rare sincerity to confess in a documentary broadcast on Dutch television, her infidelity to King Albert II.
Even less discreet were the justified infidelities of Diana Spenser while her husband Carlosthe Prince of Wales, relegated her for her relationship with Camila Parker Bowleshis current wife and queen consort of the British.
The cases that go from the first half of the 20th century back were much less scandalous because they were marriages agreed between royal houses or between states, always for political, geopolitical or economic reasons. But since rationality advanced on that anachronistic institution without logical support, making love must be the main reason for the bond, which opened the doors of the royal houses to commoners, the infidelities had a negative impact on the image of the royalty
The issue that exploded on the front page of the Spanish newspapers, shaking the bourbon monarchy and the political scene, disappeared from the media in a flash. However, the discretion that the press assumed did not make a shocking revelation that damaged the image of the Spanish crown disappear from public knowledge: Queen Leticia would have been unfaithful to King Felipe VI. To make matters worse, the secret relationship would have been with Jaime de Burgo, ex-husband of Telma Ortiz, the sister of the queen consort. The version was spread by the protagonist of this supposedly scandalous relationship. Jaime de Burgo published a selfie of Leticia in front of a bathroom mirror on his social networks, with a loving message for him.
Strictly speaking, the only thing that can be taken for granted is that the queen’s former brother-in-law is a despicable character who, for some obscure reason, started a story with few elements to prove its veracity. At the end of the day, it is enough for him to say “this happened” for suspicion to settle in society. A corrosive suspicion about an institution forced to justify itself with exemplarity and transparency. Especially in these decades in which the map of Spain is torn by anti-Bourbon sentiment and antimonarchical that grows in several autonomous communities.
Whether the version that shook Spain is true or not, the question is why Jaime de Burgo committed this betrayal of his alleged ex-lover. Hurt for some reason? Or for money that someone paid to spread that rumor?
Federico Jiménez Losanto, a journalist with important sources close to the emeritus king, assured that the scandal was precisely a lucubrated move in the circle of Juan Carlos de Borbón with the aim of harming Queen Leticia, whom he never loved and always considered “the internal enemy of the royal family.”
According to those who claim that the rumor came from the environment of the emeritus king, Juan Carlos’s intention would be darker: to damage the image of his son, the current king. Philip VI. The reason for something so abject? He is hurt with him because he forced him to leave the country and settle in the Middle East, in addition to marginalizing him from relevant institutional events, such as the swearing in of the Constitution by his granddaughter.
In that act, held on October 31 in Parliament, Princess Leonor established herself as “full heir to the throne” occupied by her father and previously occupied by her grandfather. The version that was made public could delegitimize the position of Leticia Ortiz and weaken the image of Felipe VI. The impact would be more devastating on the royal institution, hampered by the independence republicanism that threatens the map of Spain.
The reason why it would impact the entire royal house is that it was Juan Carlos himself who launched this bomb, perhaps by bribing Jaime de Burgo, either to reveal a truth or to spread infamy.
If that were the case, the king emeritus He will have added one more stain among the many that muddied the vigorous image that he had at the beginning of his reign. Despite having been imposed by the dictator Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos de Borbón legitimized his throne, opening the way to democracy. That legitimacy was destroyed by a pathetic old age, in which million-dollar charges for international deals were revealed, a hidden and murky fortune, the photo next to an elephant hunted on a safari carried out behind the people’s backs and, finally, the complaints of harassment of a former lover
For the Spanish, who Philip VI kicking his father out of Spain is understandable. But if Leticia’s infidelity and the participation of the emeritus king in the shocking revelation are proven, it will be one more stain on the opaque Bourbon dynasty and one less strength for an institution that is finding it increasingly difficult to justify its existence.
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