With a serious face and supported by its cane

Complicated days for the king Don Juan Carlos. While Queen Sofia and the Infanta Cristina They attended this Friday afternoon at the wedding of Nicolás de Greece and Chrysi Vardinogiannis in Athens, the former head of state has begun on the weekend in a bittersweet way.

Dressed in a gray jacket suit with diplomatic stripes, supported by its cane and with a serious face, Juan Carlos I has moved this Saturday, February 8 to Lisbon to be present at the private funeral of one of his great friends, Karim aga khanwho died on February 4 at age 88 in his palace in the Portuguese capital.

To the event, as announced on Thursday, you could only enter with personal invitation. “It will be brief, worthy and will not be attended by a large number of people. This is a private event, not a great public event“explained the senior consultant of Imanato Ismaelita Naguib Kerat during a press conference.

The ceremony, which has continued with local traditions, has been held at the Ismaelite Center of Lisbon. Until there, in addition to King Don Juan Carlos, family and friends of the deceased have moved, as well as representatives of the Portuguese government and international dignitaries, such as Justin Trudeau.

The mortal remains of Karim Aga Khan will be transferred this Sunday, February 9 to the town of Asuán, in Egypt, a country where followers of Muslim currents, different from the traditional ones abound. Thus, next Tuesday, February 11, leaders of the Ismaelite community will swear loyalty to Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, the second of the children of Aga Khan IV, in a private event.

The friendship between Karim Aga Khan and the emeritus King Juan Carlos I dates back to his childhood, when both coincided in a boarding school in Friburg, Switzerland, in the mid -twentieth century. Since then, they forged a close link that remained over the years. His relationship transcended the personal sphere, since AGA Khan also supported the monarch’s family in difficult times. An example of this was when, after the Nóos case, the Infanta Cristina left Barcelona and moved to Geneva, where she worked at the La Caixa Foundation and at the Khan Development Network, a network of organizations with thousands of employees in different countries, Thanks to the opportunity provided by Prince Ismaelita.