The king of scandal: Spain to investigate private jet fund for Juan Carlos

With a reputation in tatters, the former monarch of Spain now faces an investigation into the public funding of his gilded life in exile, reports Graham Keeley in Madrid

In 2020, prosecutors from Spain’s Supreme Court opened three separate investigations into Juan Carlos’s financial affairs (Getty)

A tax investigation into the murky financial affairs of the disgraced former king of Spain has prompted a political row over the public funding of Juan Carlos’s life of luxury in exile.

In what is believed to be the first such inspection carried out on a Spanish monarch, investigators will look into a fund which paid for private jet flights taken around the world by the 83-year-old and, at times, his former mistress.

It casts fresh light on the cloud of scandal which prompted Juan Carlos to flee to Abu Dhabi where he has been living in exile since August.