Book The lights and shadows of King Juan Carlos seen by the French writer Laurence Debray
Royal House Laurence Debray: the French biographer of Don Juan Carlos who had a photo of the King in his room as a teenager
Laurence Debray
should have been an admiring historian of socialist heroes or parties of the liberal left.
That is what she carries in her genes, since she is the daughter of the anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos and the French politician Régis Debray.
But she was given the antipodes of the left: the monarchy.
Since she was a child, she has studied the figure of King Juan Carlos, to whom she has dedicated a biography, a documentary and her latest book,
My Fallen King
(Debate) where she analyzes the figure of the former Monarch since his exile to Abu Dhabi.
"I come to reiterate that you should be proud of the previous reign," she says.
The Spanish translation of 'My Fallen King' begins with a few notes, as if it had to justify itself to the Spanish reader. Yes, because I understand that the discourse of a foreigner about her internal affairs can disturb.
So I ask the reader for tolerance towards a speech that does not want to clash but that exists about the Spanish and that perhaps they do not know it.
They have to know that outside one does not think the same about the King.
Have you been disappointed by the treatment given to the King in Spain? It is not disappointing because I am not here to judge, it has surprised me.
To expel or push out a head of state after 39 years of reign, with more than 80 years and with health problems... the truth is, I don't understand it.
Going away doesn't make the problem go away, it's just trying not to see it.
The only reproach that I have been able to find in his book towards Don Juan Carlos is that he did not know how to understand the 21st century.
And also that he did not forge the legend of him.
They are both reproaches.
I think he did not understand the 21st century and the generational change.
In the 80s it was known that the King had lovers and that he preferred to hang out with businessmen, but he did not bother him so much.
Today he does bother, society has changed and he did not understand that it changed.
You talk to me about lovers, in the book you say that knowing the private life of the King does not change his opinion of him because in France politics and love affairs go hand in hand.
Do you think Don Juan Carlos had the wrong lover?
I think that lovers have to be discreet and not so opportunistic.
There Don Juan Carlos failed.
I don't know if it's because of old age, because of love or because of everything, but he failed.
It is like that but that also feeds the life of his novel.
Speaking of which, I imagine he is aware of the latest judicial developments in London.
You who know him, do you think the King meets the profile of a stalker?
That makes me laugh.
The King is the opposite of a stalker, of course not.
I have no idea what happened and he wasn't there but I feel sorry for this whole situation, what do you want me to tell you?
He says that he did not know how to forge the legend of him and in the book he insists that his figure is far removed from the Rey stereotype.
His theory matches the adjective "campechano" with which they defined him, do you think that could have harmed him?
Yes. In the end he was not a very monarchical king in his way of being.
Don Juan Carlos was able to seduce all of Spain and got the support he needed for the transition but, at the same time, he did not forge his legend.
He did not want to be the great hero and Spain did not want to give him that role either.
You literally state: "Don Juan Carlos could have been an international political compass." Yes, and he didn't want it.
He was a very good adviser to defuse international crises.
He has that way of understanding and dialogue that is the recipe for success, but he did not take the path that he could have taken.
Is the crown useful? Yes, it represents the State and the unity of the country.
Above all abroad, I don't know if Spaniards realize that a King counts abroad.
Do you think that in Spain it is difficult for us to forgive? I think that in Spain they confuse private and public life, having made mistakes in your personal life cannot sentence you.
On the contrary, Spain owes him a lot.
I think the Spanish have a problem because they prevent the King from accessing the National Heritage and he is a national, European and world heritage.
It is a contradiction: in France there were deaths when the Eiffel Tower was built, do we remove it or is it part of our heritage?
The King is part of History and the 39 years of his reign were fabulous times for Spain.
"I come to reiterate that you should be proud of the previous reign," he says in the book.
I get the feeling that they have too short a view and without a sense of history when judging Don Juan Carlos.
What happens that a French woman is right now the great defender of Don Juan Carlos? That they love to criticize each other.
They are always building their own black legend and the French, however, we self-promote too much.
The Spanish for several centuries have become a black legend.
I think it's a problem between a people and its history, continuing to feed a certain spirit of civil war, hate, criticism...
"Self-denigration is the national sport," he says in the book Es que España is a phenomenal country but I think the Spanish like to flagellate themselves.
Conforms to The Trust Project criteria
Know more
John Charles I
France
Burgos
London
The fight on the road The women (in jars) of the truck and the 'tiktoker' with 15 years behind the wheel and 270,000 followers
CataloniaFoment del Treball demands that Europe seek energy sovereignty through Spain as a response to Russia
Energy The urgent gas pipeline requested by Sánchez would take more than three years to be operational
See links of interest
war ukraine
last minute transportation strike
Last News
time change
Best schools Spain
Translator
Topics
Work calendar 2022
events
How to do
Real Madrid-Urbas Fuenlabrada
Mirandes - Ponferradina
Burgos CF - Tenerife
Alcorcon - Real Valladolid
Malaga - Huesca