Froilan Marichalar Borbon and to a lesser extent his sister Victoria Federica they cause an erosion that does not stop to the image of the family of the King. While Felipe VI, the queen letizia and their daughters strive to maintain the most neat and exemplary version of the Crown, the sons of Jaime de Marichalar They lead a trickle of headlines that harm the Institution, which is logically subjected to permanent scrutiny in each and every one of its public acts. How far will Froilán go? What’s next?
Although Froilán, Victoria Federica and her mother the Infanta Elena do not belong to the Royal Family, formally, the eldest of the Monarch’s nephews He currently occupies fourth place in the line of succession to the throne behind his blood cousins, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía, and his mother, Doña Elena..
Next on the list is Victoria Federica, who has chosen to turn her life into anything but discretion. Cover star, target of paparazzi, influencer and, after all, taking advantage of her last name, it seems that the money she receives for her performances and the ego fueled by her young vanity compensate her for all the inconveniences of the cloying exposure to which she constantly voluntarily submits.
The princess and her ex-husband do not seem to be able to control the behavior of their two children, both of whom are of legal age. Neither the grandmother, the Queen Sofia, He has been able to get them on track. Educating Froilán, who is now 24 years old, has never been an easy task. But now he is an adult. Her sister, 22, does not seem to have taken a path that helps the Crown or at least does not harm her.
The infanta herself has also starred in embarrassing moments on certain occasions that have transcended the media. The eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos confronted reporters who were following her at the end of November, demanding in a bad way that they address her as Doña Elena, an episode that was recorded and broadcast on television. Let us also not forget the general outrage against the ex-wife of Jaime de Marichalar and her sister, Infanta Cristina, when in March 2021, at the worst of the pandemic, both were vaccinated against Covid long before it was possible in Spain to do somaking use of the so-called vaccine tourism and traveling to the United Arab Emirates to receive the antidote.
This Tuesday has come to light the umpteenth sordid news related to Froilán Marichalar, and it is not nonsense: a fight with knives at so many in the morning in a Madrid nightclub that ended with a friend of Felipe VI’s nephew in the hospital after receiving a 2.5-centimeter stab wound.
Froilán, fourth in the line of succession
The event in which Froilán is involved calls for reflection: should he consider withdrawing Froilán’s succession rights in some way? Beyond the legal complexity of the operation, there is an issue as important as the erosion suffered by Felipe VI and the institution. It is evident that the Kings flee from all these scandals, remain oblivious to all these scandals, but the Crown inevitably suffers from the darts of public opinion. It is not a trivial matter.
Inaction can be a fault. Maybe it’s not enough to ignore cheeky nephews who take advantage of their last names to live a life of excess, look for easy money and repeat when they need it that “you don’t know who you’re talking to.” Isn’t it the government’s business to ensure the good image of the Crown? Shouldn’t Zarzuela protect the institution from these jets who want to take advantage of the privileges of being bourbons without being able to defend the last name with a dignified behavior away from the underworlds that the brat and the brat inhabit?
And the scandals of Don Juan Carlos They led to Philip VI to take the measures against his father that we all know, including the voluntary exile of the previous Monarch in the Persian Gulf, the withdrawal of his salary, and other communications, that of Victoria Federica and especially that of Froilán would at least have to be debated .
We already have enough undesirable protagonists of the story that harms the Monarchy with the Corinnas or the delinquent Urdangarin (another thing is his love story with a woman who is not his) to add the sordid performances of a Froilán who is not capable of staying out of the media or showing anything similar to exemplary behavior. Nor can Victoria Federica be described as an exemplary niece.
Fortunately, the children of the infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin They are located on the opposite side of their Marichalar cousins, and the four of them do show that they have been well educated. Rather, they have been victims of the shameful behavior of their father and sometimes their mother. Perhaps the unfair punishment received by the Urdangarin-Borbón puppies, through no fault of their own, has served as an incentive for them to focus, study, be kind to the press, and seek life projects based on solid training.