This Monday King Felipe VI. 55 years old. What should actually be a reason for a big, happy family celebration will probably be forced to become a rather small, intimate celebration. Because in recent years, due to various scandals in his immediate family environment, Felipe has increasingly concentrated on his nuclear family with his wife Letizia, their two daughters Leonor and Sofia and his mother, ex-Queen Sofia.

The streamlined monarchy that King Charles aspired to for his British empire has long been a reality in Spain, but it was born more out of necessity than out of a long-term planned modernization strategy.

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