The Royal Club Náutico, in the resort of Sanxenxo, a curving strip of white sand beach on Spain's Galician coast, is a major stop on the international sailboat racing circuit. But the hundreds of journalists who mobbed the port on May 20 hadn't come to admire the yachts competing in the 2022 Spanish Cup. The object of their attention was an octogenarian sailor sporting salmon-colored chinos and a pink baseball cap: Spain's former king, Juan Carlos I. Having abdicated the throne in 2014, then gone into exile under pressure from his son, King Felipe VI, in 2020, he had chosen this moment for his first trip home from his current residence, an islet off the coast of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
The Casa Real, as the Spanish royal house is known, hadn't wanted Juan Carlos to come home at all. "He's seen as a burden," says José María Irujo, an investigative reporter for El País, Spain's largest newspaper, who exposed a series of suspicious gifts to Juan Carlos from billionaire benefactors that were funneled over the years into secret bank accounts, including one belonging to his socialite mistress. An investigation into his finances by Swiss prosecutors, launched in 2018, ended in December 2021 with no charges filed. Three months later Spanish prosecutors dropped their own probe, citing "a lack of incriminating evidence, the statute of limitations, [and] the inviolability of the head of state."
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Town & Country US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Town & Country US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE SPY Has to TRAVEL
Freck Vreeland was raised in privilege by a legendary arbiter of taste. He boarded at Groton, studied at Yale, and befriended Jackie Kennedy-then things got interesting. Here, ahead of his upcoming memoir, the high society secret agent tells all.
Game CHANGER
A century ago, Black Americans fell in love with bridge. Excluded from whites-only leagues, they made the game their own, and for a few exhilarating decades it played a starring role in the social and political lives of the burgeoning African-American middle and upper classes. Can its legacy survive in the modern age?
CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE FORETOLD
The signs were everywhere. There was trouble at the San Antonio home of Brad and Suzanne Simpson. But when the mother and real estate agent went missing after a public fight with her husband at the exclusive Argyle club, a tony Texas enclave began to wonder if it had looked the other way for too long. Was discretion the true culprit in the still unsolved case?
What's Luck Got to Do with It?
Longevity in Hollywood can be elusive unless you're Angela Bassett. With a smart new series that puts her in the Oval Office and a summer blockbuster on the horizon, she delivers a master class in both elegance and endurance.
No Shrinking VIOLET
For a certain woman, this iconic scent has become as much an everyday wardrobe staple as her Cartier Tank and her Hermès scarf.
I Pledge Allegiance to THIS HOUSE
How a Charleston visionary came to love the demanding landmark she never wanted in the first place.
The College Counselor Rock Star Diaries
They command enormous fees to insert themselves in your teenager's life, choosing classes, extracurriculars-even summer activities-all in the pursuit of creating the perfect college candidate. Good luck getting one to see you.
The Cult of BACK PAIN
Membership in this highly undesirable club comes with its own lingo, syllabus, and gurus and now its very own antihero.
The Un-Tortured Artist
Robert Rauschenberg's compound on Captiva will once again serve as muse.
Where Is My Bodyguard?
Those four anxious little words are suddenly everywhere, casting a spotlight on the shadowy and booming business of executive protection.
