For years now, Queen Letizia has been “above” reproach and above the chattering gossip of the Spanish royal court. She got a lot of sh-t before her father-in-law Juan Carlos abdicated, but there’s been a lot of time and energy put into presenting Letizia and Felipe as a modern golden couple now that he’s king and she’s consort. This story has the power to knock Letizia off that pedestal, although it will be interesting to watch this play out in the Spanish and European media. So, Letizia’s former brother-in-law Jaime del Burgo – who was married to her sister – claims that he had an affair with Letizia before and after she married Felipe. Holy sh-t.
Spain’s Queen Letizia had an affair during the early years of her marriage to King Felipe, it has been claimed. Jaime del Burgo, a longtime friend of the queen who went on to marry her sister, has alleged that he was in a romantic relationship with Letizia, before she was married in 2004 and at another point after her wedding.
Mr Del Burgo shared an image of Letizia on social media in which she is visibly pregnant. King Felipe and Queen Letizia’s daughters were born in 2005 and 2007. He claimed that Letizia sent him the photo while they were conducting the affair along with the message: “Love. I am wearing your pashmina. It is like feeling you by my side. It looks after me. Protects me. I am counting the hours until we see each other again, love you, get out of here. Yours.”
Speculation over the Spanish queen’s relationship with Mr Del Burgo emerged after the 53-year-old businessman was interviewed by the author of a new book about his relationship with the royal. In Letizia y yo (Letizia and I), by royal reporter Jaime Peñafiel, Mr Del Burgo claimed Queen Letizia told him that she loved him as they lay in hammocks by the pool at her and Felipe’s royal residence, La Zarzuela. This prompted him to write an unpublished play in English, entitled The Hammock.
He is also quoted as saying that Spain’s CNI secret service placed him under surveillance for five years and even broke into his home in Switzerland. Mr Del Burgo said the alleged operation did not achieve its presumed objectives as he had placed everything to do with his relationship with Letizia – “photographs, videos, mobile phones, text messages” – in a bank vault.
Spain’s royal household declined to comment on Mr Del Burgo’s claims.
Mr Del Burgo claims in the book that he had been poised to propose to Letizia – then an anchor on Spanish state television news shows – and had a ring in his pocket on the night she first told him about her relationship with Felipe. The book does not allege that any affair was conducted during Letizia’s marriage to Felipe. However, he has now claimed that it did.
Mr Del Burgo, who was a witness at the wedding of Felipe and Letizia, claimed that the future queen begged him to “never leave her” the night before she was married. He went on in 2012 to marry the queen’s sister, Telma Ortiz, before the couple divorced two years later.
On his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which was deleted on Monday, Mr Del Burgo said that the book had not told the whole truth, and made the claim that he and Letizia had been lovers during her marriage to King Felipe.
Some social media users posted messages of support for Queen Letizia. Carolina Alonso, spokeswoman of the Left-wing and anti-monarchist Unidas Podemos group in Madrid’s regional parliament, said Mr Del Burgo’s messages were a “sexist attack on her privacy”.
Wow. Even if Jaime’s account is true – and that’s a big if – this is incredibly indiscreet more than anything else. I guess there’s an element of “what were the Spanish taxpayers paying for” when it comes to the question of whether Jaime was really being spied on. The idea that the Spanish intelligence agency was surveilling him in Switzerland? Over an affair?? I don’t know. Like, I’m more likely to believe that Letizia had a sidepiece more than “the Spanish government surveilled Letizia’s former brother-in-law for years.” This is also giving me vibes of Colin Firth, Livia Giuggioli and that Italian guy she was banging. That’s the feeling here – like Jaime got way too attached and Letizia thought it was something a lot less complicated.
