1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaronminki listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: In the hills of Catalonia, the region of Spain, to 4 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: the northeast, close to the border with France, there's a 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 1: small town called La Bisba Demporta. It's not a frequent 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: stop for most tourists. The town is quaint but a 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: little run down. A dry riverbed, grassy and derelict runs 8 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: through the town center, a place where a weekly market appears. 9 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: A few tents and carts people selling mostly crafts and ceramics. 10 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: There's a pub there in town, a restaurant and bar 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: called El Drac with a large outdoor seating area that 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: sprawls onto the sidewalk. According to trip Advisory views, it's 13 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: not a bad place to stop were a quick bite 14 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: or something to drink. Trish gave it five stars. In 15 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: her review, she wrote quote the restaurant itself is very atmospheric, 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: with original stone walls, open fire, and well spaced out tables, 17 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 1: which I like. Another user named beck clev M had 18 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: a slightly less enjoyable experience. His one star review complained quote, 19 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: there was no one behind the bar for five minutes, 20 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: despite we have been sitting there, and staff was walking 21 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: around the bar often. Finally bartender arrived and made us drinks. 22 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: The service staff seemed to be acting without organization, everyone 23 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: doing everything and nothing. I wonder if that clev M 24 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: might have felt differently if he had asked around, if 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: he had maybe turned to a local next to him 26 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: and inquired who exactly Aldrack was employing as servers. If 27 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: he looked closely, he might have seen a few things 28 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: that made Aldrac unique. The walls were peppered with framed 29 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: newspaper articles and a framed book cover. They had a 30 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: sandwich on the menu called the Monarch, and one of 31 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: the servers, a man named Albert Sola, answered to a 32 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: specific nickname from drinkers at the bar. The regulars all 33 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: called him the Little King. Albert looks younger than his 34 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,799 Speaker 1: sixty five years. He has a full head of salt 35 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: and pepper hair, re seating slightly at the sides into 36 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: a deep widow's peak. His eyes are close set, deep 37 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: and intelligent, and his nose is long with a patrician curve. 38 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: It's the nose in particular that I think makes Albert 39 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: Sola most closely resemble the former King of Spain, Juan 40 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: Carlos the First, who abdicated the throne in twenty fourteen 41 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: amidst a flurry of scandals, and for the past few 42 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: years Juan Carlos has been deflecting the possibility of yet 43 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: another scandal. Albert Sola, the waiter at Eldrach, claims to 44 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: be the former king's son, and not just his son. 45 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: According to Albert Sola's birth certificate, he would be the 46 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: king's oldest son, older than Juan Carlos's son Philippe, who 47 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: was sent to the throne in two thousand fourteen as 48 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: Philippe the Sixth. Now on this podcast, I have covered 49 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: more than a few stories of royal pretenders. There was 50 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: the Tickborne claimant, the Australian man who came to England 51 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: claiming to be the long missing Roger Tickborn, heir to 52 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: his family's barancy, presumed dead in a shipwreck. Then there 53 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: was the woman who appeared in Bristol in eighteen seventeen 54 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: who spoke in a made up language and declared that 55 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: she was Princess Cariboo of a far away island. And 56 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: throughout the centuries a number of royal children whom history 57 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: acknowledged to be dead, like Marie Antoinette's son and the 58 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: royal Romanov Princess Anastasia, have been the subject of numerous hoaxes, 59 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: with actors and grifters appearing and proclaiming that they've been 60 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: alive this whole time, living lives of secret poverty, waiting 61 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: for their chance to re emerge. You, the listener, are, 62 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: of course welcome to believe whatever you want, although I 63 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: think I would be remiss in my duties as the 64 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: host of this podcast if I didn't tell you that, 65 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: in my professional opinion, all of the people who pretend 66 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: to be the lost of Fa Louis or Anastasia Romanov 67 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: are just factually, on the evidence lying, and that the 68 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: man who claimed to be Roger Tickborne was actually, by 69 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: all the evidence, a man named Arthur Orton, the son 70 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: of a butcher, and that, of course Princess Cariboo was 71 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: complete nonsense. And so the case of Albert Silla might 72 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: be the first occasion in which I think the evidence 73 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: actually weighs more likely than not that a man who 74 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: was working as a waiter in a restaurant for most 75 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: of his adult life might actually be the previous King 76 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: of Spain's oldest son. He's not necessarily the heir to 77 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: the throne. He was, after all illegitimate, but certainly someone 78 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: with a claim to it. Unlike most episodes of Noble Blood, 79 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: this is a modern story from the twentieth century, and 80 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: a story that's ongoing, continually developing today. But it's a 81 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: story that sheds a light on the problems for modern 82 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: monarchies to day. Back in the sixteen hundreds, it was 83 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: easy enough to shroud a king in majesty, back when 84 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: the people of a kingdom would only be exposed to 85 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: a king through portraitures and glamorous pageantry, and of course 86 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: the words of the trusted Church. But today journalists and 87 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: internet gossip makes easy work of proving that the people 88 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: who are supposed to be God's chosen rulers on earth 89 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: are just as mortal in their failings as the rest 90 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: of us. It's enough to make you wonder who are 91 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: the real pretenders. I'm Danish wartz, and this is Noble Blood. 92 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: Maybe now is as good a time as any to 93 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: go over a little bit of Spanish history. In the 94 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: monarchy of Spain was overthrown in favor of the Second 95 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: Spanish Republic, the former King Alfonso the third teenh went 96 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: peacefully into exile. He and his two oldest sons renounced 97 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: their claims to the throne and went to live in Rome. 98 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: But the Second Spanish Republic was short lived. There was 99 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: an election for a Constitutional Cortes, a group to rewrite 100 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: the constitution of Spain with progressive reforms, and those reforms 101 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: included the separation of church and state, forbidding religious teachings 102 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: in public schools. But Spain was still an incredibly Catholic 103 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: country and the Republican prime minister at the time was 104 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: religious himself. He resigned and another prime minister, the more 105 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: liberal Azagna, was eventually ousted in an election in favor 106 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: of a right winger, Laurel. From that point on, there 107 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: were a number of socialist uprisings throughout the country, and 108 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: the factionalism among the Republicans weakened their hold on the country, 109 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: which gave the military opportunity to attempt a coup. When 110 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: I refer to the Republicans here, I'm not talking about 111 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: a specific political party like Republicans in America. I'm referring 112 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: to the people in favor of the Second Spanish Republic, 113 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: the ostensible, democratic, more progressive government of the country which 114 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: was recognized internationally, but which because it contained people from 115 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: across the political spectrum, failed to be united enough to 116 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: maintain control against the oncoming coup. The war between the 117 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: Republicans and the military, who came to be known as 118 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: the Nationalists, devastated the country with countless atrocities, massacres, and 119 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: brutal attacks, including the bombing of Guernica, now immortalized in 120 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: one of Pablo Picasso's most famous paintings. Eventually, the Nationalists 121 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: the Spanish military, captured Barcelona and then Madrid, and their leader, 122 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: Francisco Front declared victory, setting off the next several decades 123 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: of his far right authoritarian regime. I'm skating through a 124 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: lot of history here very quickly, but to get back 125 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: to the monarchy. Fringo was attracted to the idea of 126 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: the Grand Deur of Spain, historically the pomp and pageantry 127 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: of nationalist Spain, and he hated the idea of a 128 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: democratic republic forming after he was gone, and so he 129 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: decided he would reinstate the monarchy. At this point, the 130 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: grandson of Alfonso was living in Rome, a man named 131 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: Juan Carlos, and so Franco brought the Prince Juan Carlos 132 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: back to Spain and named him his heir. Franco imagined 133 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: that Juan Carlos would be something of his protege and 134 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: would continue on his authoritarian regime after his death. Well, 135 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,599 Speaker 1: Franco died, but then Juan Carlos did something un expected. 136 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: Rather than carry on the dictatorship, to the surprise of 137 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: Spain and the rest of the world, King Juan Carlos 138 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: the first ushered democracy into Spain, spearheading the first democratic 139 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: election in the country since the nineteen thirties and facing 140 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: down the ensuing right wing military coup that was attempted 141 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: in the aftermath. It's almost difficult to overstate what an 142 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: incredible thing Juan Carlos did, how he peacefully unraveled decades 143 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: of authoritarianism and ushered in a new era of Spain 144 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: in which the nation would be democratic and participatory in 145 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: the economy of the rest of the world. He was 146 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: a hero beloved by two generations of grateful Spaniards still 147 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: reckoning with the trauma of Franco's authoritarian regime. Juan Carlos 148 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: was a king who could have become an autocrat, but 149 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: instead gave a country back to its people. Later, King 150 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: Juan Carlos would have another admittedly smaller scale hero moment 151 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,839 Speaker 1: when he went viral in two thousand seven at a 152 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: summit in Chile when he told the then President of Venezuela, Hugoshavez, 153 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:21,199 Speaker 1: why don't you shut up? But the goodwill towards the 154 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: King of Spain would soon run out. In twent twelve, 155 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: King Juan Carlos went on a secret vacation, a vacation 156 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: that would have remained secret had he not injured himself 157 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: and need to be airlifted out to receive an emergency 158 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: hip replacement. The king was in Botswana hunting elephants. Now, 159 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: that would have been bad enough, but every new detail 160 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: about the story that emerged just made the situation worse 161 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: and worse. Spain was in a massive economic downturn, a 162 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: period of huge unemployment in aftermath of the two thousand 163 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: eight global recession. This little elephant hunting vacation cost over 164 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: forty thousand euros, and it was subsidized by an adviser 165 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: to the Saudi royal family with ced ties to fifteen 166 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: offshore companies named in the Panama papers. And on this 167 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: pretty dodgy vacation, the King wasn't accompanied by the Queen Sophia, 168 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,959 Speaker 1: the mother of his children. He was with a woman 169 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: named Corina Zussain Wittenstein, a German princess by marriage. The 170 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: media in Spain had been historically very generous in their 171 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: coverage of the royal family. A reporter from The New 172 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,359 Speaker 1: Yorker once wrote that he was told by a newspaper 173 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:52,479 Speaker 1: editor that he and his peers quote exercise self censorship 174 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: on the subject of the king. When the New Yorker 175 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: reporter wrote an article alluding to one of the king's 176 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: alleged numerous rumored affairs, one of the journalists with whom 177 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: he had spoken felt so guilty and nervous for the 178 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: future of his own career that he called the chief 179 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 1: of the royal household to apologize. But after the elephant 180 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: hunting incident, it seemed like the royal family was stuck 181 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: on a treadmill with a speed that kept increasing. When 182 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: the King tried to downsize by giving up his eighteen 183 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,960 Speaker 1: million euro yacht, it just brought more attention to the 184 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: fact that he had an eighteen million euro yacht. To 185 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: begin with, and that it cost twenty thousand euros just 186 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: to staff it, and that it had been a gift 187 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: by an assortment of twenty five random businessmen and the 188 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: Blair government. For all of the king's relatively progressive politics, 189 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: je Carlos had a bad habit of accepting exorbitant gifts 190 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: and swaddling himself with the luxe jury that maybe he 191 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: felt he had been denied as a child in exile. 192 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 1: Royal biographer Lawrence Debray wrote that one Carlos quote had 193 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: known as a young man the humiliation of having to 194 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: economically depend on rich Spanish aristocrats who were voluntarily ensuring 195 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: the lifestyle of the royal family in exile. That stress 196 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: or anxiety, no doubt shaped his magpie like tendency to 197 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: hoard wealth, but it didn't make it any less palatable 198 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: to a modern and struggling Spanish population. In the twenty 199 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: one century, the snowball of scandals were just too much 200 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: for the monarchy to bear. In the Prime Minister announced 201 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: that the king had told him that he intended to abdicate, 202 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: and later in that year, Juan Carlos the First did 203 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: just that, becoming the fourth European monarch to app decay 204 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: in just over a year after Pope Benedict sixteenth, Queen 205 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: Beatrix of the Netherlands and King Albert the Second of Belgium. 206 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: It was a reckoning for the monarchies of Europe, a 207 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: global moment of modernism colliding with an inherently regressive institution. 208 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: To survive, monarchies needed to adapt, to become likable, likable 209 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: multi multimillionaires to whom people need to bow when they 210 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: enter a room. It's a tricky order. Youth and good 211 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: looks help more progressive politics due too, although not too 212 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: progressive as to not alienate the traditional base who make 213 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: up the support for having a monarchy at all in 214 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: the first place. It seems, in my estimation at least, 215 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: that many of the present day European monarchies recognized the 216 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: utility in a shift towards what I consider a sort 217 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: of kitch, the sale of tea towels and china plates 218 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: with their faces painted on them, the monarch becoming less 219 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: a political power and more a mascot, someone that the 220 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: country can unite behind, much in the same way a 221 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: crowd at a football game can get excited about a 222 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: guy dancing in a tiger costume for the crowns of Europe. 223 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: It was a moment of adapt or die. The new 224 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: King of Spain, Phillip the six, was handsome and comparatively 225 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: unadorned by scandal, and the country was further indeared to 226 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: him by his marriage to a beautiful non royal woman 227 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: who had worked as a news reporter. Now our story 228 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: requires us to go back in time once again, to 229 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: nine fifty six in Barcelona, where a baby was born 230 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: and given the name Alberto Fernando Augusto back Roman. Alberto, 231 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: who would eventually begin going by Albert, was one of 232 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: the hundred thousand children orphaned during the Franco regime, not 233 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: all infants whose parents had died, but also children whose 234 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: parents were political enemies or unwed mothers in the deeply 235 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: Catholic country, mothers who smuggled their children out of their 236 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: homes to be raised by different families. As an infant, 237 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: Albert was sent to the island of Babitha to be 238 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: cared for it by a poor farming family. The daughter 239 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,400 Speaker 1: of that family is still alive. Her name is Yulalia, 240 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: and she's ninety years old now. She recounted how her 241 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: family had frequently fostered children from the mainland, illegitimate children 242 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: of powerful families usually, but Albert's case was peculiar from 243 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: the start. According to Yulalia, they were paid almost twice 244 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 1: their usual rate to care for him, given almost three 245 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: hundred pas a month. As a young boy, Albert was 246 00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: taken from Abatha and brought to live in a mansion 247 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: in Barcelona. Although the force behind these movements and machinations 248 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: weren't clear then and still aren't clear to Albert today, 249 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: all he has to go on are his hazy half 250 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: memories in Barcelona. He remembers the manner he lived at 251 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: had a garden and high walls, and that an older 252 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: woman would come and visit him, bringing him toys. He 253 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: believes now the woman might have been his grandmother. A 254 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: tutor would come to the house to teach him, and 255 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: he lived in the mansion in Barcelona until age eight, 256 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: when he was sent to the home of a farmer 257 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: named Salva Torsola in the province of Hurona. A whisper 258 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: followed him there, a whisper that he was noble, born 259 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: a child of an important family. It was that whisper 260 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 1: that Albert clung to as his life became even stranger, 261 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: more inexplicably charmed. After Albert got his driver license, a 262 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: mysterious gift appeared, an expensive motorcycle and a car. When 263 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,239 Speaker 1: Albert served his mandatory military service in his twenties, he 264 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: was given cushy preferential treatment. He was even given a 265 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: chartered helicopter to take home to visit family after one 266 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: of his relatives was injured in an accident. Eventually, Albert 267 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: would begin working as a waiter at the job he 268 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 1: would keep for his entire life. But he remained curious 269 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,719 Speaker 1: about his childhood, his origins, the way good things just 270 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: tended to follow him, and why he had faint memories 271 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,439 Speaker 1: of a woman in a garden who looked like the 272 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: by then deceased mother of the King. In two Albert 273 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: took his curiosity to a local office in Barcelona that 274 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: specialized in finding adoption records. Albert waited while several of 275 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: their employees were called over to look at his files. 276 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: There was speaking behind lifted hands, a visit to the 277 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: manager in the back of the office. Finally, the manager 278 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: emerged to tell Albert that they couldn't help him, but 279 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,680 Speaker 1: the manager did give Albert one cryptic piece of information 280 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: that this was the most complicated adoption case that they 281 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: had ever seen. Albert has decades of stories of gossip 282 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: following him, of powerful people telling him that he came 283 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: from a powerful family. He made a claim in court 284 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 1: to see his birth records, a claim that got no 285 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: official response. Finally, off the record, Albert was given the 286 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: answer that he had waited for his entire life. The 287 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: judge on his case called him privately after hours and 288 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: told him that he was the son of King Juan Carlos, 289 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: the first an illegitimate child. That the king had it 290 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: eighteen before he married Queen Sophia several years later. Later, 291 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: that judge would deny making the phone call at all, 292 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 1: but in Albert's mind the case was solved. He was 293 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 1: the king's son and the king's oldest son. In two 294 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: thousand and seven, Albert sent a handwritten letter by facts 295 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:30,199 Speaker 1: to Zezuela Palace. It began, dear Father. Someone in the 296 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: palace responded and told Albert that his letter would be 297 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 1: forwarded along to the king. But Albert waited and waited, 298 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: and no response came, And so Albert continued to write letters. 299 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,199 Speaker 1: Give me some answers, and I will not bother you again. 300 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: One of the letters read my patients has run out. 301 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: Albert wasn't asking for money or to claim the throne. 302 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: He just wanted answers and maybe a chance to get 303 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,679 Speaker 1: to the father that he had been missing his entire life. 304 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: Albert requested DNA and a paternity lawsuit, both of which 305 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: were denied. When Juan Carlos the First was king, he 306 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: had full protection under sovereign immunity from both civil and 307 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: criminal lawsuits, but the question became a little trickier after 308 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: Juan Carlos abdicated and Albert Sola isn't the only person 309 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: claiming to be an illegitimate child of the former king. 310 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: A Belgian woman named Ingrid Sartua born in nineteen sixty six, 311 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 1: claims that she's the King's daughter, born from an affair 312 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: that the king had in France with her mother Lilian. Allegedly, 313 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: Lilian turned down royal offers to get an illegal abortion, 314 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: and because bearing a child out of wedlock would have 315 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: been dangerous and Franco Spain, Lilian smuggled her infant daughter 316 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: to Belgium. Lilian had told young Ingrid for her entire 317 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: life that her father had died in a plane crash, 318 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: until finally she believed that her child was old enough 319 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: to hear the truth. As with Albert's, all of Ingrid's 320 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: legal avenues to try to get an answer as to 321 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: our paternity hit dead ends. But then the parent decided 322 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: to test their DNA against one another's. An independent agency 323 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: in Belgium verified the results. The two Ingrid and Albert 324 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: are most likely have siblings. It makes a certain kind 325 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: of sense. I mean, for centuries, kings had been having 326 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: affairs and having illegitimate children. If you're a fan of 327 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: this podcast, you're probably well aware that that's just sort 328 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: of what kings do. But that type of behavior looks 329 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: a little different in the twenty first century, and the 330 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: incredibly self serious question of the quote unquote legitimacy of 331 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,479 Speaker 1: claims to the thrones of Europe seem almost even a 332 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: little silly in a world of Wikipedia and books being 333 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: delivered to our front doors via drone. Personally, I would 334 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: welcome someone who had spent a lifetime in the service 335 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: industry becoming the king of a nation. It seems to 336 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: me that a server would have the best ability to 337 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: actually well serve the people, and not just provide lip 338 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: service to that effect while smiling for the cameras. Albert 339 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: Solo may never become the King of Spain, but he'll 340 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: always be the little King to the patrons at his bar. 341 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: That's the still unfolding story of the possible illegitimate son 342 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: of the former King of Spain. But keep listening after 343 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: a brief sponsor break to hear yet another scandal Juan 344 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: Carlos got himself into. And just on a personal note, 345 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone so much for all the 346 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: support they throw to the show. Everyone over on the 347 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 1: Patreon Just a reminder, we're on patreon dot com slash 348 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales, where you can get episode scripts and 349 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: bonus episodes like where I go through episodes of The 350 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: Tutors on Showtime and the television show Rain about Mary, 351 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: Queen of Scott's on the CW. We also have merch 352 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,880 Speaker 1: at d F TB a dot com. I'm linking that 353 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 1: in the episode description. And also I'm leading a pilgrimage 354 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: to Sussex this spring in April. I think there might 355 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: still be a few spots left if you sign up soon. 356 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: It's a pilgrimage to discuss the works of Mary Shelley, 357 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: particularly Frankenstein, to walk to talk to read. I think 358 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 1: it's going to be a really great experience. Now I 359 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: would be so excited to meet any listeners in person, 360 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: so that's very exciting. And also, oh gosh, Anatomy the 361 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: book that I've been yammering on about forever. It's a 362 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: novel about the dawn of surgery in nineteenth century Scotland. 363 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: It finally comes out January, and thank you so much 364 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: to anyone who has already pre ordered it. If it 365 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: interests you at all, it would mean the world to me. 366 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 1: If you take a look, if you like this podcast, 367 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: I think you'll really like it. Even after Juan Carlos 368 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: abdicated from the throne, he still managed to find trouble. 369 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: The Supreme Court in Spain was forced to open a 370 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: preliminary investigation about the former king's involvement in the building 371 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: of a high speed rail in Saudi Arabia after a 372 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: Swiss newspaper reported that when Juan Carlos was king, he 373 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: had received a hundred million dollars in kickbacks from the 374 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: Saudi king. While this was coming to light, the former 375 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: Spanish king literally disappeared from the country for three weeks, 376 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: no one in the world knew who he was. The 377 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 1: media speculator did that he was in the Dominican Republic 378 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 1: or maybe Portugal. The only clue was an enigmatic goodbye 379 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: letter that he wrote to his son, the current King, 380 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: Philippe the sixth. Three weeks later, after the former king 381 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,399 Speaker 1: of Spain was missing for three weeks, the Palace confirmed 382 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: his whereabouts. He was in the United Arab Emirates, where 383 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: he remains today under self imposed exile. Noble Blood is 384 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild 385 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 1: from Aaron Minky. The show was written and hosted by 386 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz. Executive producers include Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and 387 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. The show is produced by rima Ill Kali 388 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social media at 389 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more about the 390 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,400 Speaker 1: show over at Noble Blood Tales dot com. For more 391 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 392 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 393 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: H