Pod Insights Noble Blood A Smoking Gun in the Spanish Royal Family About this episode King Juan Carlos I had an astonishingly eventful life and ruled as King of Spain for nearly four decades. But a tragic event when he was a teenager maybe have been the defining incident of his life.
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0:44 Dana Schwartz? A quick note before our episode begins. This one includes the death of a child, and so please feel free to sit this one out if that's a subject you're particularly sensitive to. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Listener discretion advised.
1:06 Dana Schwartz? The date was March 26, 1956. It was Holy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. A pair of teenage brothers, one 14, one 18, attended evening mass with their family. Once they were back home, the brothers went off on their own. Not long after, a shot was heard throughout the family home. Their father ran to investigate and discovered the younger brother bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head. He died in his father's arms. This tragedy was compounded by the fact that the family at the time was living in exile, since
1:51 Dana Schwartz? their father was the rightful heir to the Spanish throne. The brother who lived would eventually go on to be known as Juan Carlos I. He was the future king of Spain. So what happened between those teenage brothers that night in 1956? And what effect did it have on the almost 40-year reign of one of the most powerful men in the Western world? I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.
2:27 Dana Schwartz? At one point Juan Carlos I, who began his reign as king in 1975, was one of Spain's most popular monarchs, especially beloved for safeguarding his country's, often perilous, relationship to democracy. As recently as 2008, he was considered the best-regarded leader in the Spanish-speaking world. But less than a decade later, he would abdicate in a cloud of controversy. What went wrong? And did what happened decades earlier on that holy day back in 1956 play a part?
3:10 Dana Schwartz? Juan Carlos I was born into the Spanish Bourbon dynasty that descended from the French Bourbon line and had ruled Spain since the 18th century. His birth in January of 1938 came during a tumultuous time in Spain's history. Juan Carlos's grandfather, King Alfonso XIII, had been forced into exile in 1931 with the Second Spanish Republic. This was Spain's attempt at a democratic government, with a majority of citizens voting to reject the monarchy and embrace more progressive policies.
3:53 Dana Schwartz? The country then descended into political chaos with a rotating group of factions vying for control. By the time Juan Carlos was born, the Spanish Civil War was in full swing. Francisco Franco's military coup had been raging for two years, pitting monarchists, fascists, and the Catholic Church against loyalists who supported a democratically-elected republic.
4:25 Dana Schwartz? A year later, the country turned into a full-out fascist dictatorship in 1939. Franco, backed by Hitler and Mussolini, won control of the country to the tune of half a million lives. This was not a great time to be a member of the nobility in Spain. As direct descendants of the Spanish royal family, Juan Carlos and his siblings spent much of their childhoods in exile, first in Italy and later in Portugal. Their father was Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona.
5:05 Dana Schwartz? Infante being the title given at birth to the descendants of current and past Spanish monarchs, taking the place of the Anglophone prince or princess. But though Infante Juan was next in line for the monarchy, the son of Spain's last king would never rise above the rank of count, thanks to the political turmoil in his home country. The Infante's wife was Maria, his third cousin and a princess in her own right. Juan Carlos was the oldest of four children, with two younger sisters and finally a youngest boy, his brother Alfonso.
5:48 Dana Schwartz? The family bounced around, first to Italy, then Switzerland, and eventually settling in Portugal. By 1956, the family's home base was their Villa Giraldo, their sprawling estate on the Portuguese Riviera. It was there that tragedy would strike and forever alter the course of the future king's life. Juan Carlos's younger brother, Alfonso, was born in Rome in 1941, as Europe was being torn apart by World War II. By all accounts, he was a spirited, popular boy,
6:29 Dana Schwartz? who brought lightness to what could have been a dreary existence in exile. The two brothers were each other's lifelines. For Juan Carlos, who was naturally more introspective, Alfonso brought energy and joy to their displaced existence. The future king often struggled with loneliness, and Alfonso's presence was one of the few constants that made their nomadic childhood bearable. When they were old enough, both brothers were sent to study in Spain, with the express permission of General Franco. The boys attended a few different private schools, with Juan Carlos ending up at the prestigious Zaragoza Military Academy.
7:13 Dana Schwartz? He was, by all accounts, a good student with a keen sense of justice, who refused special treatment and was happy to leverage his royal cachet to help his buddies meet girls. While at home, Alfonso was the clear favorite. At school, Juan Carlos found his own ways to shine. In 1956, 14-year-old Alfonso and 18-year-old Juan Carlos were both home at Villa Geralda, visiting family for the Easter holidays. Holy Thursday had started well for Alfonso. The whole family attended morning mass and took communion. Then he participated in the semifinals of a local junior golf tournament.
7:58 Dana Schwartz? Alfonso won, and was excited to compete in the finals that Saturday. The evening concluded with evening mass. Then the family retired home for the evening, where the brothers headed for the house's playroom. That's when tragedy struck.
8:16 Dana Schwartz? The details of what happened next have been debated for decades. Let's start with the official statement issued the next day by the Spanish Embassy in Portugal by the order of General Franco. Quote, "While His Highness the Infante Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired, hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20, 30 hours after the Infante's return from the Monday, Thursday, religious service during which he had received Holy Communion." This version quickly came under scrutiny.
9:00 Dana Schwartz? The brothers had both received enough military training to know how to properly clean a gun. It seemed odd that either young man would be foolish enough to clean a weapon without first checking to make sure it wasn't loaded. Was that really what occurred? Alternate accounts began to emerge almost immediately. The Italian press reported that Juan Carlos, not Alfonso, had been holding the weapon when it fired. It should be noted that at no point has anyone in the royal family disputed that version of the story, the one in which Juan Carlos was holding the gun.
9:44 Dana Schwartz? Josefine Corolo, the family's dressmaker, claimed that the countess later told her "the true version of what happened that night." Although the boy's mother never made an official statement on the tragic events, she allegedly confided in her dressmaker that Juan Carlos was joking around and pointed the gun at his little brother. Thinking the gun was empty, he pulled the trigger. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, reportedly heard a similar confession from Juan Carlos himself. Although in this version, the bullet ricocheted off a wall before striking Alfonso.
10:27 Dana Schwartz? An entirely different account came from the boy's sister Pilar, who told Greek author Helena Mathiopoulos a version that paints the shooting as even more accidental. According to Pilar, Alfonso had left the playroom briefly to get them both some snacks. When he returned with his hands full, he pushed the door open with his shoulder. The door struck Juan Carlos's arm just as he was handling the gun, causing an involuntary trigger pull at the moment Alfonso's head appeared in the doorway.
11:07 Dana Schwartz? More recently, another witness has come forward with his own account. Prince Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, the son of Italy's last king and a childhood friend of Juan Carlos, shared his version of events in a 2023 documentary about his own scandal involving the death of a German teen in 1978. In the documentary, Victor reveals that he was there with the brothers in the playroom when Alfonso died. He insisted the shooting was accidental, but suggested it happened through a closet door rather than in an open room. Given the fact that Victor wasn't mentioned in any other account
11:52 Dana Schwartz? and his own life was riddled with controversies and illegal activities, we'll take his addition to the topic with a grain of salt. What all these accounts share is their agreement on one crucial point. This was a tragic accident, not an intentional act. They also agree on what happened immediately afterward. The boy's father rushed in to find Alfonso bleeding out on the playroom floor. Despite the Count's best efforts to revive his son, the boy died in his arms within minutes. In his grief and rage, the Count reportedly grabbed Juan Carlos
12:37 Dana Schwartz? and shouted at him, "Swear to me that you didn't do it on purpose." The aftermath was swift and decisive. There would be no investigation by Portuguese authorities, no autopsy, and no formal inquiry into these circumstances. Despite, or perhaps because of, the royal status of those involved, this was very much a closed-door family tragedy. Alfonso was buried quietly in a nearby cemetery, and shortly after the funeral, the Count picked up the weapon that had killed his son and hurled it into the ocean. Juan Carlos was ordered to return to Spain at once.
13:22 Dana Schwartz? Less than 48 hours after his little brother's death, he was already on his way back to military school. We can't know exactly what he was thinking as he made his way back to Zaragoza, but it's clear that the silence that surrounded this tragedy shaped the man he would become. Back at school, he was withdrawn and tormented, but he wouldn't be able to stay that way forever. Eventually, General Franco came calling for him.
13:56 Dana Schwartz? The reign of Juan Carlos I was full of highs and lows. For many years, he was a beloved king, responsible for bringing Spain back from the dark ages of fascism. But by the time he abdicated, he was awash in controversy, with many calling for his removal. In 1947, legislation was passed that both cemented Spain's status as a monarchy and allowed General Franco to choose his own successor. In a surprising move, the dictator passed over Juan Carlos's father in favor of the younger prince. The Count was seen as too liberal,
14:40 Dana Schwartz? and perhaps Franco assumed a younger monarch would be easier to control. But Juan Carlos surprised them all.
14:49 Dana Schwartz? Rather than becoming a puppet ruler, he emerged as a champion of Spain's democracy. After Franco's death in 1975, the young king began reforms to move the country away from authoritarianism and back towards a constitutional monarchy. For three decades, he was praised as a transformational figure who brought Spain back into the European mainstream. But as time went on, another side of Juan Carlos began to emerge, and controversy followed. There were whispers about extramarital affairs, as well as an indulgent lifestyle
15:33 Dana Schwartz? that seemed increasingly disconnected from the struggles of ordinary Spaniards. These might have remained palace gossip, except for an incident that just happened to take place during a spectacular lapse in judgment. In April 2012, as Spain struggled with disastrously high unemployment rates, nearly 50% for young workers, photos emerged of Juan Carlos on a luxury safari in Botswana. In them, he stood holding a rifle in front of a dead elephant. His companion on the trip,
16:15 Dana Schwartz? a woman who was most certainly not Queen Sofia, his wife. The trip might have remained secret, except that the king fell and broke his hip, requiring a special aircraft to bring him home for medical treatment. The optics were devastating. The hunting expedition was outrageously expensive, making it incredibly tone deaf of the king. The photos were striking imagery, highlighting the irresponsibility of royal privilege in the face of such nationwide hardship. His approval ratings, once impressively high, began their terminal decline.
17:02 Dana Schwartz? This scandal opened the floodgates that had been held back by decades of respectful media coverage. Suddenly, Spanish journalists were investigating other aspects of the king’s private life. They uncovered an embezzlement scandal involving his daughter and son-in-law. More damaging still were revelations about his relationship with a German businesswoman, as well as allegations that he’d received massive kickbacks from Saudi Arabia’s high-speed rail contracts during the late 2000s. By 2014, Juan Carlos could read the writing on the wall, and chose to abdicate in favor
17:45 Dana Schwartz? of his son Felipe. His life post-monarchy has remained plagued with controversies, but one early event was never far from his mind. According to his former mistress Corinna Larson, Alfonso’s death continued to haunt Juan Carlos well into his old age. Larson explained on a podcast that “Despite his immense power and wealth, the former king never got over that holy Thursday in 1956.” She said, “I think, deep down in his soul and in his head, he feels a lot of guilt. He has nightmares about it.
18:29 Dana Schwartz? He told me that his younger brother was the really bright one, the handsome one, the best golfer, the parents’ favorite son. He felt that his younger brother was really the light that shone in the family.” It didn’t matter that Juan Carlos had commanded a nation for almost four decades, amassing wealth and respect that most people could never even dream of. Part of him apparently always felt like and also ran. The older brother, who should have been his family’s golden child, but instead found himself forever chasing the glory of a dead 14-year-old.
19:09 Dana Schwartz? Right after the accident, when their father made Juan Carlos swear he didn’t do it on purpose, what kind of effect might a question like that have had on a young man during the worst moment of his life? Perhaps tellingly, it took Juan Carlos thirty-six years to bring his brother's remains back to Spain. Alfonso was hastily buried at the time, back in Portugal, less than two days after his death. But he wouldn't be brought back to his home country until 1992, when he was re-interred in the Royal Mausoleum at the monastery El Ascorial outside Madrid.
19:53 Dana Schwartz? Many speculated that the delay reflected the king's ongoing sensitivity about the circumstances of his brother's death. The irony is inescapable. A man who spent decades successfully avoiding legal consequences could never escape the psychological consequences of a teenage tragedy. Critics have called him "the luckiest man alive" for his ability to dodge accountability, comparing his knack for escapism to none other than Donald Trump's. But if Juan Carlos's story has taught us anything, it's that luck will only get you
20:36 Dana Schwartz? so far, and eventually tragedy catches up with you one way or another. That's the story of the tragedy of Juan Carlos and his brother Alfonso. But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about the metaphorical resonance of that event.
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23:47 Dana Schwartz? When you think about it, the story of one Carlos I can be seen as a meditation on the different ways types of weapons can destroy a life. There was the hunting rifle in the safari photographs that marked the beginning of the end of his popular support. There was the metaphorical smoking gun, evidence of financial corruption that drove him into exile. And of course, there's the weapon that cast the longest shadow over his life. The one that killed Alfonso on that chilly March day in 1956. That gun may have disappeared beneath the ocean waves, but its impact rippled through
24:31 Dana Schwartz? the decades, shaping the character of a king, for better or for worse. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sander, Amy Height, and Giulia Malani. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer Reema Ilkayali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick.
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25:56 Dana Schwartz? This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
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