Monarchy in the modern media age

No abdication, no regency, just a seventy five year old man with a bad leg needing an operation.  In this modern media age, reports of the end of the reign of Juan Carlos I proved to be premature.  On Friday 20th September, social media was literally flooded with rumours that the King of Spain was about to bring his reign to an end - either leaving the stage completely or passing power in the form of a regency to his son and heir, Felipe.  When the Royal House announced a special press conference for the Friday afternoon, the rumour mill went into overdrive.  And because those whispers are written down for everyone to see, they took on a life of their own.  A completely incorrect one.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on September 18th 2013.  Less than twenty four hours later, a wave of rumours hit social media pointing to the end of the king's reign.  They were all wrong.

 

The king has an infection in the hip that was replaced in November 2012 and he needs another new one.  But there will be no flight to America (as the rumour mill suggested), just another operation in Madrid where Juan Carlos will remain as head of state throughout.  Prince Felipe will represent him at the IberoAmerican summit but other than that, nothing has changed.  His official spokesperson said there was no need to consider a regency.

 

 

The king and his heir at the dinner given for the Mallorcan authorities in August 2013

 

And this morning, Twitter is back to normal as far as the Spanish royals are concerned with reports of Felipe and Letizia out having a few drinks in Madrid last night.  It's a difficult media outlet for royal families as it relies on constant updating and snippets of information whereas monarchical press offices rely on managing engagements and major events and batting away tricky questions.  While chatter on the street has always narrated the reigns of kings and queens, when it is written down and can be accessed by anyone in the world at any time, it takes on a life of its own.  Whether the Spanish royal household would have issued such a vehement denial of abdication yesterday without the social media wave of Friday 20th September will never be known.  But it got everyone talking for just a few hours. #wholenewroyalworld.