Nearly 70 years after a tragedy that haunted Spain’s royal family, exiled former King Juan Carlos I has finally revealed what really happened the night his younger brother passed away.
On the evening of March 29, 1956, just before Easter Sunday, young Prince Infante Alfonso lost his life at a royal residence in Portugal.
Juan Carlos has admitted the truth for the first time in his 500-page memoir published earlier this week.
Highlights
- Juan Carlos I admits for the first time in his memoir the truth about the tragic incident involving his younger brother, Prince Infante Alfonso.
- The fatal accident occurred while the two brothers were handling a firearm, and the exact sequence of events has long remained unclear.
- The memoir also sheds light on Juan’s strained family relationships, especially with his now-deceased father, due to the loss of the younger prince.
- “There is a before and an after. It is still difficult for me to speak of it…” the former king wrote.
“A very murky individual. One wonders did he have a resentment against his little brother and his temper got the best of him,” wrote one suspicious user.
The exiled Spanish king has admitted his involvement in an accident that led to his younger brother’s demise
Image credits: Getty/Carlos Alvarez
The memoir, titled Juan Carlos I d’Espagne: Réconciliation, was published in France, revealing many long-hidden secrets of the royal household.
One of the most painful memories recounted was how Juan, who was 18 at the time, was responsible for the fatal injury of his 14-year-old brother.
Image credits: EFE/ Catalina Guerrero
In a two-page chapter titled The Tragedy, he revealed that the two brothers had been “playing” with a firearm.
He began by saying, “I didn’t like to talk about it, and this is the first time I do.”
“I will not recover from this tragedy. Its gravity will accompany me forever. We had taken out the magazine. We had no idea there was a bullet left in the chamber.”
Juan Carlos I was 18 and Infante Alfonso 14 when the tragedy unfolded within the royal household in the 1950s
Image credits: Getty/Keystone
He recalled, “A s**t was fired into the air, the bullet ricocheted and struck my brother squarely in the forehead. He d**d in our father’s arms.”
The two teenagers had been handling a Star Bonifacio Echeverria automatic pistol, which, surprisingly, belonged to the younger brother.
At the time, there was no judicial inquiry into the firearm accident.
Image credits: Wikidata
Since Juan and Alfonso were alone in the room, the exact sequence of events surrounding the young prince’s demise remained unclear.
One of their mother’s dressmakers, then Princess María, claimed that Juan had pointed the pistol toward Alfonso and released the trigger, unaware it was still loaded.
However, the claims were widely disputed, with several other sources offering a completely different version of what transpired that evening.
No judicial action or investigation was taken into the matter since the brothers were “playing” alone in the room
Image credits: Getty/Pablo Blazquez Dominguez
Some alleged that the bullet ricocheted, or that a door struck the former king’s arm, causing the weapon to discharge unintentionally and fatally wound his brother.
Others believed that the 87-year-old former king, who was home for Easter from his strict military school at the time, had been cleaning a revolver when it accidentally went off, leading to the tragedy.
Image credits: Getty/Carlos Alvarez
The mystery was further deepened by their father, the then-Count of Barcelona, who reportedly threw the firearm into the sea and covered Alfonso’s body with a Spanish flag to conceal any implication of his elder son’s involvement.
Juan recalled that Juan de Borbón roughly grabbed him by the neck and shouted, “Swear to me that you didn’t do it on purpose!”
He was then sent back to his military academy, and neither he nor the family ever addressed the truth behind the tragedy, one that also scarred Carlos’ relationship with his father.
The firearm, a Star Bonifacio Echeverria automatic, belonged to the younger prince
Image credits: X/Ignacio Cembrero
He wrote, “There is a before and an after. It is still difficult for me to speak of it, and I think of it every day… I miss him; I wish I could have him by my side and talk with him.”
“I lost a friend, a confidant. He left me with an immense emptiness. Without his d**th, my life would have been less dark, less unhappy.”
However, social media users were skeptical of the disgraced royal’s revelations, with many doubting the tragedy was an accident.
One user wrote, “When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you d**.”
Another added, “A bullet ricochet and hit someone between the eyes. Fired from a g*n handled by someone attending the military academy. Does he think we are stupid?”
“His own father thought it was a deliberate act. Different breed of human to us!”
The book has so far only been published in France and is set to be released in Spanish in December this year
Image credits: Getty/Pool
The book, divided into seven parts, will be published in Spanish next month to mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of Francisco Franco and the restoration of the monarchy in Spain.
Juan was the first ruler after the end of the dictatorship. He was crowned king in 1975 and ruled until his abdication in 2014.
He went into self-imposed exile in 2020 amid financial scandals, a controversial love life, and a reported decline in popularity.
Juan later left Spain and settled in Dubai with his wife to protect his son, King Felipe VI, from further scandal.
In light of this, many believe the memoir may be an attempt to reconcile with his estranged family members, including his son, the reigning monarch.
“An 18 year old playing with a lethal weapon with a youngster? I'm surprised he still made king,” wrote one user
