FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SPAIN’S EX-KING’S EXILE

1 MURKY FINANCES INVESTIGATED

Juan Carlos I is the disgraced former king of Spain. Once respected for ushering in democracy after the death in 1975 of dictator General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos ruled the country for nearly 40 years until his abdication in 2014. Four years later, a Swiss prosecutor opened an investigation into the ex-king’s allegedly murky finances. The investigation, probing possible money laundering relating to a $100 million gift to Juan Carlos from the King of Saudi Arabia in 2008, is still in progress.

2 FAST CARS, YACHTS AND WOMEN

His public downfall started before the criminal probe. In 2012, when he was discovered on a secret elephant hunting safari in Botswana with his former mistress, public opinion began to turn against the bon vivant monarch who was fond of fast cars, women he was not married to and yachts.

3 ‘CERTAIN EPISODES OF MY PRIVATE LIFE’

Juan Carlos told his son, King Felipe VI, he was going into exile because of the “public repercussions of certain episodes of my private life.” In a letter to the king, published on the royal household’s website, he wrote: “Guided by the conviction to best serve the people of Spain, its institutions and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to go into exile outside Spain.” King Felipe wrote back to his father, emphasizing the “historical importance of his (father’s) reign as a legacy and (his) political and institutional work of service to Spain and democracy.”

4 NOTHING RESOLVED, SAYS FAR LEFT

The decision to move abroad is designed to restore the reputation of the monarchy. However, Pablo Echenique, parliamentary spokesman for the far-left Unidas Podemos party, the junior partner in Spain’s coalition government, said that the former king’s exile failed to resolve deep problems with the Spanish monarchy. “What does that solve? What is fixed by that? How does this improve the monarch? How does this improve our democracy? Nothing,” he tweeted.

5 DESTINATION UNKNOWN FOR ‘KING EMERITUS’

It was not clear where the 82-year-old former monarch would move to or when he would leave the Zarzuela palace outside Madrid, where he has lived for 56 years. However, he will keep his title of King Emeritus.