The gravity of the situation
It has been a tough year for King Juan Carlos, with corruption scandals involving his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, health issues, and now an unprecedentedly hostile ride from the media over his Botswana hunting accident
King Juan Carlos has apologized following an accident while on a private hunting trip in Botswana. Monarchs seldom give accounts of their private activities, and much less apologize, so while his unprecedented act of contrition may have helped assuage a populace angered by their head of state nipping off to shoot elephants while they have to deal with the toughest austerity cuts in living memory, it has also prompted many politicians and commentators to ask privately whether the time has come for the 74-year-old, who faces health problems, to stand down.
Sources close to the Royal Household say Juan Carlos was shaken by the media and public's response to his accident. After all, the trip was a private affair, and was meant to be kept that way. Recent proposals for legislation to improve transparency in Spanish political life will not include the Royal Household. When told that the king was off to Botswana to kill wild animals at the invitation of an unnamed multi-millionaire, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, like his predecessors before him, raised no objections.
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