The King, in his green uniform of Capitan-General (post to which he had been raised the previous day), and wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece and the ribbon of the one of Charles III, and Queen, in her outstanding dark-pink dress, also wearing the ribbon of the Order of Charles III, entered through the back of the building and appeared in the “stage”, as Queen Sofia called it later, through the back, welcomed by the standing hemicycle applauding. After the King’s swearing over the Holy Bible, the President of the Cortes proclaimed Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, “who will reign with the name of Juan Carlos I”. A “Viva el Rey! Viva España!”, followed by the National Anthem, preceded the first speech of King Juan Carlos to the nation.

“Today begins a new phase of Spanish History. This phase, which we have to make together, begins in peace, work and prosperity, result of the common effort and communal desire. The Monarchy will be the faithful guardian of that inheritance and will always seek to maintain a tight relation with the people.

“The institution personalized in me integrates all Spaniards and today, in this so outstanding moment, I summon you, as to all equally belongs the duty of serving Spain. May all understand, with generosity and high looks that our future will base itself in a an effective national concord.

“The King is the first Spaniard obliged to accomplish his duty and for it, in this decisive moment of my life, I solemnly state that all the time and all the actions of my life will be directed to accomplish my duty.”

In a cushion in the tribune rested the Crown of Spain, the royal sceptre and the crucifix. Since Isabel I, the Catholic, no monarch has been crowned in Spain. The British “Daily Express” described the ceremony in the following terms: “The enthronement of Juan Carlos I has been held with fewer ceremonial than the Lord Mayor of London’s.” Afterwards, the Royal Family, including the King and Queen’s children, who had been sitting in the tribune at the same level of their parents, left the hemicycle to appear in the main entrance of the Palace of the Cortes, where took place a small military display, before the sovereigns left in an open car, surrounded by the impressive cavalry. Protocol suggested then that the new sovereigns visited the lying in state of Franco, in the Royal Palace of Madrid, during which ceremony the Queen wore a long black coat, covering her pink dress.

After the funeral of the dictator and the end of the mourning, the Enthronement Mass, or Mass of the Holy Spirit, was held on the 27th November. The mood was now different. Franco was really over, the time was of celebration. Some world leaders and royalty gathered to pay tribute to the new King, as the “Daily Express” could reconsider its previous considerations. The King and Queen left from the Zarzuela, their residence, and arrived to the Church of San Jerónimo el Real already escorted by the impressive cavalry. Inside the Church took their places the King and Queen of the Hellenes, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, the President of France and the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the President of Ireland, the Grand-Master of the Order of Malta, the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Liège, the Prince Sidi Mohamed of Morocco, the Prince Bertil of Sweden, the Hereditary Grand-Duke of Luxembourg, the Vice-President of the United States of America, Nelson Rockefeller among representatives of over 80 countries and around 700 guests.

On his arrival, the King passed a battalion in review before entering the Church with the Queen, where the Cardinal-Archbishop of Madrid received them. The King was again in the green uniform of Capitan-General, while the Queen dazzled everyone with her long blue dress and her spectacular mantilla. They were conducted through the church under a canopy and seated under another one, very close to the altar. By Their Majesties’ side were their three children, Felipe, Elena and Cristina. During his homely, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Madrid remarkably said: “I demand from you, Your Majesty, a enormous and passionate love for Spain. I demand that you be the king of all the Spaniards”. On the end of the ceremony, the sovereigns left once more to the cheers of the thousands of people gathered in Madrid for the occasion, and were conducted in an open Rolls-Royce to the Royal Palace, where they appeared several times on the balcony. A banquet offered to the foreign guests and a military parade closed the ceremonies.

There was, however, a feeling, that those cheers on that day weren’t spontaneous and weren’t genuine. They looked exactly the same that had been given to Franco. Those people actually seemed to be there by obligation and not on their will. There was some mistrust on King Juan Carlos, for he was quite unknown in the whole country, and there were great fears that he would continue the dictatorship of Franco. However, the actions of Juan Carlos proved the contrary. Discreet dynastic renunciation by the Count of Barcelona and elections in 1977, new Constitution in 1978. However, the year of the King’s real consecration was 1981, when he courageously resisted an attempted coup, and really became the King of all Spaniards. In 1977 and 1978, the Cortes had applauded him, but some deputies, even if standing, didn’t applaud. In 1981, after the coup, to the mention of the King’s name, the whole chamber rose to its feet and applause: from centrists to communists, going through the socialists, all praised the King’s part in the end of the 23-F coup. The King celebrates, on this 22nd November 2000, his Silver Jubilee. Strangely enough, after the great celebrations of the Infantas’ weddings, there are no celebrations planned to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the beginning of the long walk towards democracy in Spain. The King’s heir, the Prince of the Asturias, is unmarried, but both the King’s daughters Elena and Cristina have children who assure the continuity of the Spanish Royal Family.

The following enthronement would again be in result of an abdication. Early in 1980, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands announced her intention to abdicate in her daughter, Princess Beatrix. The rumours on a possible abdication had been circulation for a number of years and indeed, like her mother had done in 1948, Queen Juliana decided to abdicate. Juliana, married in 1937 to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, had four daughters: Beatrix, Irene, Margriet and Christina. Beatrix, the heir to the throne, had married Claus van Amsberg in 1966, in a glittering ceremony in Amsterdam, darkened by the anti-German protests due to the new Prince of the Netherlands service in Hitler’s forces. Irene had caused her mother some distress by marrying Prince Carlos-Hugo de Borbón-Parma, self-styled “Prince of the Asturias”, without the consent of her mother and the Parliament, what immediately excluded her of the Dutch succession. This wedding took place in Rome and no member of the Dutch or other Royal Family attended (except for D. Duarte of Portugal), for Carlos-Hugo was still pretending to concur with the real Prince of the Asturias on the race to the throne of Spain. Margriet also married Mr. Pieter van Volenhoven in a very solemn ceremony in The Hague, while Christina, also excluded of succession, married discreetly.

Preparations began, after the announcement of Queen Juliana, to make the day of the abdication and the enthronement, 30th April 1980 (birthday of Queen Juliana), a real day of national celebration in the Netherldans, one of the most solemn of all the enthronements since 1964. To much sadness of Queen Beatrix, several incidents marked the enthronement day, in which it was, however, impossible to overshadow the emotion of both Queen Juliana, becoming Princess Juliana, and Princess Beatrix, becoming Queen Beatrix. On the eve, Queen Juliana addressed the nation through radio and television, and later offered a banquet to some of the foreign guests. Among the 3000 who attended the ceremony in the “Nieuwe Kerk” on the 30th April, representatives of almost all the European monarchies: the Prince of Wales represented the United Kingdom, the Prince and Princess of Liége represented Belgium, Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja represented Norway, Hereditary Grand-Duke Henri represented Luxembourg, the Infanta Pilar and the Duke of Badajoz represented Spain, the Princess Benedikte of Denmark and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg represented Queen Margrethe II, the Crown Prince Sidi Mohamed represented Morocco.

Index Page
Part Four