While Spain suffers, King Juan Carlos goes Elephant hunting in Botswana

[Syt]

And no, that's not a euphemism for him chasing fat black chicks.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqfDEBWXfTT797GyfoDkpSdhsOhQ?docId=CNG.348897587f00c0a4cea02eaa13c050ff.781

Spain's king slammed for Botswana hunting trip

(AFP) – 5 hours ago

MADRID — Spain's King Juan Carlos faced fire Monday for a hunting trip in Botswana during which the monarch, patron of a wildlife charity, broke his hip and ended up in hospital.

A petition on the online forum Actuable listed 40,000 signatures urging the king to give up his presidency of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), while an opposition politician raised the question of abdication.

The fund, whose website names the king as an honorary president, said it "will make comments to the royal palace and reiterate its commitment to the conservation of elephants," in a Twitter message.

Juan Carlos, 74, was recovering in a Madrid hospital from an operation to replace his right hip which he broke when he tripped on a step at 2:00 am on Friday in Botswana, doctors said.

The hospital treating him said on Monday that Juan Carlos's condition "has developed very positively" since his operation early Saturday.

But his medical condition was largely overshadowed by criticism of what was reported to be an expensive hunting trip, at a time when ordinary Spaniards are suffering from a recession.

Tomas Gomez, leader of the Madrid branch of the opposition Spanish Socialist party, added his voice to criticism by various minority left-wing political parties.

"The head of state must choose between his obligations and the duty of service of his public responsibilities, or an abdication that would allow him to enjoy a different kind of life," Gomez told reporters on Sunday.

The king has traditionally been widely respected in Spain, credited with helping steer the country to democracy after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

But he has suffered a troublesome few months marked by an embarrassing corruption scandal implicating his son-in-law, the Duke of Palma, Inaki Urdangarin.

Juan Carlos's surgeon Angel Villamor said the king could expect to be discharged from hospital this week.

"He continues with an intensive recovery programme," the Hospital USP San Jose said in a statement. "The physiotherapy is proceeding satisfactorily and currently, as well as walking, he is getting up and sitting down by himself."

Spanish newspapers published photographs taken in previous years of the king, who has a reputation as a keen huntsman, posing with a gun next to elephants and buffalos.

In 2009 a court dropped charges against the three authors of a caricature that depicted Juan Carlos on a hunting trip in Russia where he allegedly shot dead a drunken circus bear.

Also, he has gained the "Wounded" trait.

[Malthus]

My how the concept of monarchy has fallen - now a king's in shit for hunting, and not even for hunting humans. 

[The Larch]

And last week his oldest grandson (13 yo) shot himself in the foot.

Bourbons and guns make for a nasty combination.

[Grinning_Colossus]

My how the concept of monarchy has fallen - now a king's in shit for hunting, and not even for hunting humans. 

The kids in one of my classes recently read a text about a medieval king who hunted pheasants. The F sound doesn't exist in Georgian; the closest they can get is P. They couldn't understand why I kept smiling.

[Fireblade]

Didn't the king "accidentally" pull a Marvin on his brother?

[Darth Wagtaros]

The Habsburgs wouldn't tolerate this kind of nonsense.

[Valmy]

The Habsburgs wouldn't tolerate this kind of nonsense.

As they were too physically deformed for active outdoorsy past times.

[garbon]

Good. If the King can't stay classy while the peasants live in squalor, what's the point?

[Zoupa]

Do you ever bore yourself of this little personna you got going, fruit loops?

[Eddie Teach]

A petition on the online forum Actuable listed 40,000 signatures urging the king to give up his presidency of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF),

That's actually a quite reasonable request.

[Martinus]

What a fucking asshole, shooting an elephant. Piece of shit. Seriously. 

[Josquius]

the kind of person who would pay to shoot an elephant is obviously a dickhead BUT...don't game reserves these days help a lot in conservation?

[The Larch]

Didn't the king "accidentally" pull a Marvin on his brother?

Yup.

In March 1956, Juan Carlos's younger brother Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home Villa Giralda in Estoril, Portugal. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal issued an official communiqué:

    Whilst His Highness Prince Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received holy communion.

Very quickly, however, rumours appeared in newspapers that the gun had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired. Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, said that Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that the pistol was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm causing him to fire the pistol.

[The Larch]

A petition on the online forum Actuable listed 40,000 signatures urging the king to give up his presidency of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF),

That's actually a quite reasonable request.

WWF have already requested an audience to deal with the issue, in which apparently they'll invite him to resign the position.

[The Larch]

It has also surfaced yesterday that he was in that hunting trip, paid by a shadowy businessman of Syrian ancestry with links to the Saudi Royal House, with his current flozzy, a German princess (a Wittenberg or something like that) 30 years or so younger than him. Yesterday all the news stressed that the king was visited in hospital by the queen only for 20 minutes.