Television protects the Crown
A few days ago we were talking about grotesque video of the emeritus promoting his memoirs. The masterful embarrassment confirms that Juan Carlos I has gone from a decadent exile to a television puppet. The commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Crown and his attempt to write a book have ultimately backfired, because the media clearly understands that they can extract more profit from the old monarch by exploiting his miseries, rather than treating him as an institutional figure.
Very opportunely, on Wednesday night, after Temptation IslandTelecinco broadcast, under cover of darkness and with malice aforethought. The price of... Dedicated to the Crown. A special program that warned of supposed exclusive audio recordings of Juan Carlos speaking on the phone with Bárbara Rey. They claimed they were never released. The recordings, revealed gradually as the program progressed, in no way seemed to be the result of an innocent conversation. It was crystal clear that the elephant trainer wasn't aiming for a candid and seductive dialogue, but rather, on the contrary, was trying to get her friend to talk about Sofía. Juan Carlos I explained, clearly upset, that the queen was angry, that she was aware of his infidelities, that she hoped the couple could reconcile, and that he often threatened to leave the Zarzuela Palace, and even Spain, assuring her that if she separated from him, he wouldn't last long in his position.
The program functioned like a magazine-style show, cultivating an appearance of feigned secrecy. A huge number of journalists specializing in the Crown and some politicians recounted anecdotes and revealed circumstances that confirmed the emeritus king's lack of personal character. The omnipresent Eduardo Inda was also there, wearing a tie in the colors of the Spanish flag that resembled the one in the YouTube video waving behind the king. They also interviewed Miguel Ángel Revilla, former president of Cantabria, whom they preferred to introduce as "the only Spaniard sued by the emeritus kingThey also recovered recordings that a former lover of the king had left for posterity before she died. The tapes, which had already been used in an HBO documentary series, have become a posthumous legacy to be used as the context dictates. A broken record. But this media unanimity is a supposed exercise in transparency that is just as suspicious. It's not the monarchy as an outdated and opaque structure, but the man, Juan Carlos. Although it may seem that television is destroying the monarchy, without a doubt, right now, it remains one of the Crown's best allies.