It has been reported that Spain’s Queen Letizia had an affair in the early period of her marriage to King Felipe. The shocking allegation will come as another blow to a Spanish royal family which can’t seem to steer clear of scandal (Juan Carlos I, King Felipe’s father, was forced to abdicate in June 2014).
Jaime del Burgo, the alleged lover in question, is a longtime friend of the queen who went on to marry her sister. So who is this cannonball-figure, blowing a hole in the side of the Spanish ship of state? Well, it seems he is many things. The CV he presents on his website includes such a range of activities, it is hard to decide whether they are impressive, amusing or just plain bizarre. He is a doctor of tax law, an investor, playwright, property developer and industrialist. He clearly has an instinct for fiction, and judging from the recent allegations, it is hard to avoid a sense that he is the main character in his own story.
Del Burgo has alleged that he was in a romantic relationship with Letizia both before she was married in 2004 and at another point afterwards. The pair met some time before 2000, when Letizia – then Letizia Oritz – was still a newsreader, and del Burgo an ambitious politician’s son. They dated for a period, before Letizia met future-King Felipe when covering an oil spill in northern Spain.
Del Burgo has claimed that he was on the cusp of proposing to Letizia when she divulged to him her relationship with Felipe, whom she framed as a mysterious ‘diplomat’, for whom she would have to quit her job. Del Burgo has alleged that he was asked to be a witness at the ceremony, which took place at Almudena Cathedral in 2004 and in one of the more startling allegations, he has claimed that he dined with Letizia the night before the wedding, at which time she asked him: ‘Never leave me’.
In 2005, Letizia and then-Prince Felipe welcomed their first child, Princess Leonor, before Princess Sofia joined them in 2007. Del Burgo’s claims seem to include the notion that he and Letizia were lovers during the period of one of these pregnancies and that their infatuation continued all the way up to 2011, at which time she broke off the relationship. Prior to this point, Del Burgo has claimed, they were even looking at properties together and considering having a child via a surrogate in Los Angeles.
Del Burgo’s story claims that Letizia called him in 2011 to tell him ‘We can’t continue seeing each other’. Following this, Del Burgo’s narrative is that a female friend encouraged him to see Letizia’s sister, Telma, whom he had met when he first started seeing Letizia. The couple dated for two months and then married in 2012, before relocating to New York. They then divorced in 2014. Is Del Burgo impulsive? It seems so. Is he a romantic? Maybe. Is he discreet? Um, in a manner of speaking.
So, how have the revelations emerged? One part of the package was a seismic social media post, on X (formerly Twitter) in which del Burgo shared an image of a pregnant Letizia. According to del Burgo, her accompanying message read, ‘Love. I am wearing your pashmina. It is like feeling you by my side. It looks after me. Protects me. I am counting the hours until we see each other again, love you, get out of here. Yours.’ Del Burgo has since deleted his account on X.
The second part of del Burgo’s payload was delivered via a book – Letizia and I – for which del Burgo was interviewed by author, Jaime Peñafiel Nuñez, 91. One of the further extraordinary claims attributed to del Burgo in the book concerns a word supposedly whispered in his ear by Letizia at his wedding to Telma. Del Burgo claims, ‘When the guests congratulated us, Letizia’s turn came and kissing me on the cheek, she whispered into my ear, “We’ll be together again.”’
The allegations seem a fairly extreme and targeted indiscretion from a man whom one would expect to be very busy with his many occupations. Judging from his track record, Mr Del Burgo has a grandiose and sentimental image of himself: his literary output is an enjoyable testament to this. The Hammock is a play del Burgo was moved to pen after Letizia told him she loved him while lying in a hammock together at La Zarzuela, her royal residence.
Peñafiel Nuñez’s book itself – Letizia y yo – does not actually claim that any affair was conducted during Letizia’s marriage to King Felipe. It is del Burgo’s further allegations that have now sparked a maelstrom of rumour about royal infidelity. On his X account, Mr Del Burgo said that the book had only told part of the truth – and claimed that he and Letizia had also been lovers during her marriage to the King, who has now sat on the Spanish throne for nine years.
The aftermath in Spain has produced mixed emotions. Many have been shocked by what is regarded as a crass attack on the privacy of a married woman in the public eye. Even spokespeople from left-wing, anti-monarchist groups have condemned Mr del Burgo’s allegations. Carolina Alonso, of the anti-monarchist group, Unidas Podemos, said del Burgo’s messages were ‘a sexist attack on her privacy’.
It should be noted that Letizia was subject to much of the same sexist and classist scrutiny as Catherine Middleton was before she became Princess of Wales. Around the period of her marriage to then-Prince Felipe, utterly undue vitriol was poured out over her status as a divorcee and middle class professional. Del Burgo’s allegations may well represent an unsavoury and nauseatingly nostalgic appeal to those sentiments; perhaps calculated at a time when the Spanish monarchy seems to be recovering a forward-momentum.
A major boon to the Spanish monarchy has been the burgeoning popularity of the King and Queen’s eldest daughter, Princess Leonor, a craze dubbed ‘Leonormania’. Leonor is the heiress presumptive to the Spanish throne; educated in Britain at the pioneering UWC Atlantic College in Wales, Leonor is seen as a modern, mature and exciting prospect for the Spanish throne. As she turned 18 in October, she swore allegiance to the Spanish constitution in a ceremony which seemed only to bolster her popularity. Flags were waved throughout Madrid and large crowds gathered in the streets.
A noteworthy exclusion from the celebrations was disgraced-King Juan Carlos, who was kept out of the public eye to allow the focus to remain on the young Princess. Juan Carlos forwent life in Spain to move to Abu Dhabi in 2020 after his pecuniary affairs came under scrutiny from Spanish prosecutors. To the outrage of some, no charges were eventually brought in the end because he benefitted from the immunity he enjoyed while on the throne. Other more recent tax offences were amended by back payments.
Yesterday afternoon, King Felipe and Queen Letizia were pictured together at the Annual Meeting of the Cervantes Institute, handing out prizes at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. The couple managed to produce a composed and professional comportment. No doubt, they will be hoping to sweep all this del Burgo business under the rug faster than you can say Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz, Princess of Asturias.
Source: Tatler
