ARCHIVED - King Felipe VI of Spain removes his father from the Civil List amid financial irregularities allegations

The move is a response to allegations concerning the personal finances of Juan Carlos I

King Felipe VI of Spain has officially announced that he is renouncing any private inheritance which might eventually be left to him by his father and predecessor on the throne, Juan Carlos I, following revelations concerning alleged irregularities in the former monarch’s personal finances from which some allege the current King stands to benefit.

At the same time, Felipe VI has removed his father from the “Civil List” of members of his family who receive emoluments from the State: until now, Juan Carlos has been paid the sum of precisely 194,232 euros per year.

The announcements were contained in a press release issued on Sunday as a response to allegations that Felipe VI is a beneficiary of the Zagatka and Lucum funds, the second of which is currently under investigation by the public prosecutions service concerning revenue reported to be around 100 million dollars from Saudi Arabia. The effect of Felipe VI’s decision is that it officially disassociates him from any benefits which might arise from the alleged financial wrongdoings of his father.

The statement issued on Sunday quotes Felipe VI in the speech he made when being proclaimed King in 2014, to the effect that “the Crown must preserve its prestige and follow an honest and transparent code of conduct”, adding that the King has informed his father of the decision fully.

As for the removal of Juan Carlos from the Civil List, the only precedent for such a move came from Felipe himself in 2015 when he took the same course of action with his sister Cristina, stripping her of the title of Duchess of Palma. On that occasion the decision was made due to the Nóos Case trial, in which Cristina’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarín, was found guilty of misuse of public funds: he is now serving a prison sentence.

The Zagatka fund is owned by Juan Carlos I’s cousin Álvaro de Orleans and it has been revealed that Felipe VI has been taking steps to disassociate himself from it for approximately a year, since details were first published in the UK by The Daily Telegraph. At the same time, though, the communiqué issued on Sunday clearly states that there is “no documented justification” for claims that the current King would be a beneficiary of the Lucum fund in the event of his father passing away.

In the meantime, as Juan Carlos faces a possible court case, Javier Sánchez-Junco Mans has been appointed as his defence lawyer.

Image: Felipe VI speaking in Paris last week (Casa Real)

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