Well, this is weird.
On Christmas Day, King Felipe of Spain attacked his father, ex-king Juan Carlos, in his holiday message to the nation.
In the televised speech, Felipe highlighted “ethics is above family ties” and added that citizens demand “principles that apply to everyone, without exception, and that are above any other considerations, including personal or family (bonds)”.
Felipe’s words were taken as a slap in Juan Carlos, who fled to Dubai in August after being involved in a financial scandal.
The fast came just a month after Spanish prosecutors began investigating whether he received millions in bribes from Saudi Arabia during the construction of a high-speed rail by a Spanish consortium.
Juan Carlos was also the subject of a Swiss investigation into whether he received $ 100 million from the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, then transferred $ 65 million to ex-companion Corinna Larsen. Investigators considered the alleged transfer to be a possible attempt to hide money from the authorities. Larsen, a Danish-German businesswoman, called the money “a gift”.
Juan Carlos abdicated the throne in 2014 after public protests over an elephant hunting trip to Botswana that he took during a deep national financial crisis – and revelations that he cheated on his wife, Queen Sophia, allegedly sleeping with more than 5,000 other women .