Juan Carlos
New details about his brother’s shooting have emerged
Juan Carlos
© Pablo Cuadra / Getty Images
Juan Carlos accidentally shot and killed his younger brother Alfonso over 65 years ago. A terrible accident that shaped the Spanish royal family. In a new documentary, previously unknown details came to light.
Former king Juan Carlos, 84, has attracted attention in recent years mainly because of the allegations of corruption. The ex-king was accused in 2020 of being involved in a possible financial scandal. The Spanish and Swiss judiciary began investigations into bribery payments that the Spaniard is said to have received in connection with the construction of a high-speed railway line in Saudi Arabia. The investigation has since been dropped, but the former monarch continues to live in exile in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
But the most tragic event of his life happened in his youth. When Juan Carlos was just of legal age, he accidentally shot his little brother Alfonso.
Juan Carlos shot his brother
It happened on Maundy Thursday, March 29, 1956. At the time, Juan Carlos’ parents Juan de Borbón y Battenberg, †79, (also called Don Juan) and María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Orleans, †89, lived with his siblings in the Exile in Portugal, since the dictator Francisco Franco was in power in Spain. Juan Carlos, then 18 years old, was attending the military academy in Zaragoza, Aragon, and was going home to his family for Easter. Together they attended a mass in the morning, ran some errands during the day and finally returned home around 7 p.m., as reported by “Dana Press”.
About an hour later, the deafening noise of a gunshot rang through the Villa Giralda in Estoril, where the royal family resided. Don Juan rushed into the room where Juan Carlos was playing with his 14-year-old brother Alfonso and found the latter with a gunshot wound to the head. Juan Carlos is said to have brought the gun from the academy. “While the Infant Don Alfonso de Borbón was cleaning a revolver with his brother, the pistol went off and hit him in the forehead region, whereupon he died a few minutes later. The accident happened at 8.30 p.m. after returning from the Maundy Thursday service, where he celebrated the Holy had received communion,” read the press release at the time.
New details of the tragedy known
The terrible incident burdened the royal family for decades. Alfonso’s death also left its mark on a close childhood friend of Juan Carlos, Antonio Eraso, who was also at the Villa Giralda at the time of the accident. In the last episode of the three-part HBO documentary “Salvar al Rey” (Eng. “Saving the King”) – which ostensibly deals with how the state apparatus has tried for years to cover up the ex-regent’s scandals – Eraso talks about Easter 66 years ago that turned into a nightmare
“I was there when it happened, but in a different room. We all ran when we heard the shot,” he recalls. Don Juan in particular is said to have been shocked and beside himself when he saw his 14-year-old son, who is said to have died on the spot, lying on the ground. “The boy’s father, don Juan, made Juan Carlos swear that he hadn’t done it on purpose. It wasn’t easy for one […] 18-year-old boys,” he continues.
After the event, neither a police investigation nor an autopsy were conducted, all on don Juan’s orders. The most important thing about the incident was also not mentioned in the newspapers at the time: that it was Juan Carlos who caused his brother’s death. There were rumours, but it was not until several years after Juan Carlos became King of Spain in 1975 that this was confirmed to the public.
Sources used: teda-dk, “Salvar al Rey”