Berlin, Oct 29, (dpa/GNA) – Spain’s former king Juan Carlos, has admitted to having “disappointed” many people in a review of his life.
He fell victim to his own “misjudgements out of love and friendship,” the French newspaper Le Monde reported on Wednesday, citing the 87-year-old’s biography.
The 500-page book, which Juan Carlos wrote together with French author Laurence Debray, is due to be published in December under the title “Reconciliation” in the former Spanish king’s (1975-2014) home country.
He has been living in exile in the United Arab Emirates since 2020.
Juan Carlos describes it as a “serious mistake” to have accepted a total of $100 million from the then king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah, in 2008.
Judicial investigations into suspicions that the payment, may have been linked to the construction of a high-speed rail line in Saudi Arabia, by a Spanish company were dropped several years ago.
Madrid is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his accession to the throne on November 22, 1975, without Juan Carlos.
That was just two days after the death of the Spanish dictator General Franco, who had appointed him as his successor as head of state in 1969.
In his book, the former monarch recounts his personal relationship with the fascist leader. “I respected him enormously, I appreciated his intelligence and his political acumen,” Juan Carlos said.
GNA