Felipe's heart is broken

All the momentum seemed to be behind Madrid in the race to host the Olympics in 2020 and stoking the engines with his hand on his heart was Prince Felipe. 

 

An impassioned plea from a prince - the heir to the Spanish throne makes his last pitch for Madrid to host the 2020 Olympics

 

But all for nought.  Madrid fell at the first hurdle, eliminated in the preliminary vote leaving Istanbul and Tokyo to fight it out for the honours.  The prince has won high praise for his efforts but he's had a hard summer otherwise with questions over the state of his marriage and continuing problems for the royal family of which he will one day be head.  He's been the darling of several parts of the Spanish press in recent days for his efforts - whether that sparkling of gold sticks beyond the rains of Buenos Aires remains to be seen.