King Juan Carlos, the former king of Spain, is sharing the story behind his controversial exit from royal life in a new memoir, Reconciliation, which will be published in France on November 5. Along with addressing affair rumors surrounding himself and Princess Diana, the self-exiled royal also opens up about his strained relationship with daughter-in-law Queen Letizia.
According to Spanish media outlet El Confidencial, the former king writes that he has a "personal disagreement" with Letizia, who is married to his son, King Felipe. "She did not help to strengthen our family ties," he writes in the memoir. King Juan Carlos—who moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 following a disastrous financial scandal—does not elaborate on the nature of their dispute, but the admission should come as no surprise to royal watchers.
It's long been rumored that Queen Letizia doesn't get along with her in-laws, but this is the first time a member of the Spanish royal family has publicly confirmed the "disagreement."
The 87-year-old former monarch lives in Abu Dhabi, while the rest of his family continues to reside in Madrid.
Despite the fact they live in different countries, King Juan Carlos is still married to Queen Sofia, who Letizia is also rumored to not get on with, as displayed in a tense Easter moment that went viral in 2018. Over the years, reports have indicated that Letizia has disagreed with her mother-in-law about the upbringing of her two daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, with the former queen allegedly pushing for the girls to take more of a public role.
According to El Confidencial, "King Juan Carlos appears in the book as an exiled and isolated man, whose words reveal a nostalgia for a past in which his authority and his family lived under the same roof."
