ROME, 4 August 2020, TON: King Juan Carlos born in Italian capital Rome in 1938 and ascended the throne on 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco. He stepped down in favour of his son Felipe on 18 June 2014. Presently, former King Juan Carlos is linked to an inquiry into alleged corruption so he has decided to leave the country.

Statement from the royal palace says, “Juan Carlos made the announcement in a letter to his son, Felipe, to whom he handed power six years ago. He said he would be available if prosecutors needed to interview him.” Spanish press reports also confirmed that he is no longer in the country. The media gave reference to his letter said; the former monarch wrote that he was making the decision in the face of the public repercussions that certain past events in my private life are generating and in the hope of allowing his son to carry out his functions as king with tranquility.

In June, Spain's Supreme Court opened an investigation into the alleged involvement of Juan Carlos in a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia. As per the details Spanish firms won a €6.7bn (£6bn) deal to build a Mecca-Medina rail link. Spanish anti-corruption officials suspect that the former king kept some undeclared funds in Switzerland, and a Swiss investigation is under way. There were investigations involving his daughter's husband and a controversial elephant hunting trip the monarch took during Spain's financial crisis.

There are reports that that Western world was dissatisfied over Spanish monarch involvement in Headquarters of Islamic world and  was taken as tilt of Royal family towards Islam. If we recall, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman was due to attend a banquet with Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia before meeting with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and with Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal on 12 April 2018. Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Oxfam and Spain’s Fundi Pau have criticized a possible contract to build and sell five Navy corvettes, valued at €2 billion that Spain is seeking to sign with Saudi Arabia that could be used by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran.