Everything you will see in the docuseries ‘Sofia and Real Life’

DMAX broadcasts the production about the queen, directed by David Trueba and Jordi Ferrerons, which premiered on HBO Max in June.

Since the private life of the Royal Family has ceased to be taboo and the ban on all types of information has been lifted, docuseries and documentaries focusing on the life of Juan Carlos I and his family have begun to appear on networks and platforms. They stand out among them ‘The Bourbons: a royal family’ (Atresplayer Premium), ‘Save the King’ (HBO Max) and ‘Juan Carlos: the fall of the King’ (SkyShowtime). Now the focus is on the most discreet and sometimes almost invisible person, queen sofia, a character who has always remained in the shadow of kings (she has been the daughter, wife, mother and one day grandmother of monarchs), although perhaps she has had more power than it may seem. To explain the historical role and public perception What we have of this woman who has always been cold and distant and who has had great weight in ensuring the survival of the monarchy and maintaining its popularity is in charge of the docuseries ‘Sofia and Real Life’, directed by David Trueba and Jordi Ferreronswhich premiered on HBO Max in June and now broadcasts DMAX openlythis Tuesday, 10 (10:30 p.m.).

The documentary, which consists of four parts and with the testimonials from 46 experts, begins with the origins of Sofia within a monarchy, the Greek one, which did not find its place. Her family, displaced to South Africa, was forced to change their address 21 times, which, together with an almost military education, marked that tough and introverted character that has distinguished her, very different from that of her mother, Frederick of Hanovera seductive and flirtatious queen who died during a cosmetic surgery procedure.

The princess in love

Sofía knew love in the person of Juan Carlos I, who even then pointed out ways as a great lover of the female gender. She counts Victoria Prego At one point in the documentary, the proposal was “impressive”: “Juan Carlos told her: ‘Sofi, take it.’ And he threw the box with the ring into the air. “Without any type of romanticism.” Juan Carlos was marrying a person who was going to be very useful to him,” adds journalist Màrius Serra.

Another important moment in the couple’s life was the ‘adoption’ by Franco, who saw in Juan Carlos the son he did not have and his clear successor. Although in Madrid the institutions ignored them, they were nobody. “They called her the heretic princess, the poor princess”, laments Begoña Castiella, a journalist close to Sofía. “People said: ‘We don’t want idiotic kings,'” says the former minister. Jose Bono. The documentary also shows the professionalism of the then princess in those difficult moments and in her relationship with Franco. “Sofía played an important role in those dark years,” says Serra.

He also emphasizes two key examples of nonverbal language: when he wore a fuchsia dress at the coronation, skipping mourning for Franco, “to emphasize that a new time was beginning,” according to political scientist Cristina Fominaya, and when this woman, whom Juan Carlos said was “queen 24 hours a day,” as journalist Carmen Gallardo points out, and who never showed his feelings, “he broke down for the first time in the burial of Don Juan”, according to Carmen Enríquez, where she was captured in tears. Perhaps because of her feeling of guilt for having taken her throne away from him.

Embroiled in controversy

The most controversial episode in its history, perhaps the only one, was when some statements by the queen, who had never had public opinion, appeared in Pilar Urbano’s book ‘The Queen Very Close’. In them she exhibited an excessively conservative character, speaking out against the same-sex marriage (at least with the nomenclature like “marriage”) and against abortion. On this point, the experts who appear in the documentary have different opinions. “It’s probably the only time he hasn’t been cautious in his demonstrations,” Bono admits. “Pilar Urbano entangled her and took her to the orchard,” says Carme Rigalt. “She said whatever she wanted,” Urbano herself justifies.

Where he has not shown all the prudence that was assumed, that which he exhibited to the put up with infidelities of her husband (from when she caught him in bed with a woman when she went with the children to surprise him at a family farm to the famous Corinna), has been in her role as a mother. To begin with, she encouraged her children to marry for love. “It made ‘disastrous’ marriages possible,” says Ricardo Mateos. Those of the infantas Elena and Cristina. And then, much to Zarzuela’s chagrin, selling an exclusive to the ‘Hello!’ of the trip she made to Washington to give explicit support to the Undargarin in their difficult times. She was no longer the queen, she was the mother. “Me with my daughter until death,” summarizes José Antonio Zarzalejos. “She lost the institutional perspective,” says Carmen Remírez de Ganuza.

His relationship with Letizia

In her total attachment to her son Felipe, she also wanted to do her best in her role as mother-in-law, helping Letizia, whom Juan Carlos couldn’t stand. Although later with her there were clashes so loud like the one they staged in the cathedral of Palma. Likewise, the experts who participate in the documentary agree on how, after the unfortunate episode of the King’s hunt, Sofia’s perception as “victim” She had made people empathize with her. She to the point of being the best valued in the family.

However, in ‘Sofia and Real Life’ some dark aspects of his figure. Like his populist intentions in some episodes or his budgetary knowledge of where the big capital came from (the documentary recounts the King’s business dealings) that allowed him travel to London with all kinds of luxuries without spending the State allocation. Why she came so much to the London capital (was anyone expecting her?) remains a rumor mill.

But what is undeniable is that she knew how to adapt to the circumstances. “She admitted to being a cuckold, a kept in exchange for leading a very high lifestyle and being a queen,” says journalist Ana Pardo. However, although she has managed not to be buried due to the discredit that the Royal Family has suffered in recent years, her public presence is related with the absence of the other (of the emeritus) which, according to the journalist Mábel Galaz, the becomes a “retiring queen.”