The former monarch, who abdicated in 2013, has lived in Abu Dhabi since 2020
Credit: Daniel Perez/Getty
The U.S. and Israel's "massive and ongoing" military operation in Iran has stranded at least one former European royal in the Middle East: the former monarch of Spain, King Juan Carlos.
The disgraced former monarch — who is the father of Spain's current ruler, King Felipe — has been living in the United Arab Emirates since 2020. However, he is now locked down as airspace in the region is closed amid ongoing military strikes in Tehran and retaliatory attacks on neighboring countries.
Sources have told the Spanish publication HOLA that the former King is "calm and safe" but added there is concern that "anything can happen."
King Juan Carlos, 88, is currently living in a hotel in Abu Dhabi amid renovations to his home, which the source said is the best-case scenario. "He is better off there at the moment because he is less isolated," the source added.
Juan Carlos succeeded dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, acceding to the Spanish throne and reestablishing democracy in the country. He ruled until 2013 when multiple scandals — including romantic affairs, financial misappropriation and an infamous elephant hunting trip to Africa —took a major toll on his popularity. He decided to abdicate and pass the throne to his youngest child and only son, King Felipe.
In 2018, Juan Carlos' alleged spurned mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, publicly accused him of corrupt business deals with Saudi Arabia. The case was later dropped, and he also won an appeal in a harassment case brought by zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
In 2020, Juan Carlos decided to move to the UAE so as not to let public attention on him, or his financial scandals, overshadow his son's reign. “To help my son, I looked for a place where journalists from my country couldn’t easily find me,” he said in an October 2025 interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.
His wife, Queen Sofía, remained in Spain and often attends royal events with King Felipe and his family.
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The new Middle Eastern conflict — which was announced in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 28 —came close to affecting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The couple was in Jordan last week, on Feb. 26 and 27, visiting treatment centers, aid organizations and a refugee camp in and around the capital city of Amman. The country has become a "humanitarian hub for the Middle East," Harry said in a candid interview following the trip.
Jordan has taken in refugees from the conflicts in both Gaza and Syria, and the country is also home to an office of World Central Kitchen, which is currently working to get food and aid to needy communities in Gaza.
"The aid corridors need to be opened, and they are currently not," Harry said, adding that there is a need for "full access for humanitarian organizations to be able to deliver that aid to the people that need it the most."
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