Monarchies are not eternal. It is enough to look at the history books to see that this is evidence. Kings, in contemporary constitutional and democratic monarchies, They have to earn their jobs like all other citizens. The monarch who does not know how to do it, who is not able in difficult moments to identify with his people, to exercise moral leadership before the citizens, to use his strong symbolic power to unite and not to confront, will end up falling. Few contemporary kings have this as clear as Philip VI.
There are numerous and legendary precedents. During the Second World Warthe constant and combative radio addresses of Guillermina de Netherlands They kept their spirit and dignity high national of the Dutch. That indomitable woman, who called hitler “archenemy of humanity”, he earned the nickname “Guillermina Lionheart”.
During the same years, Haakon VII of Norway did the same. He had refused to talk to the Nazis or recognize the puppet government they had imposed on his country. Once he got to safety in Londonbecame the biggest and best beacon of Norwegian resistance.
Christian Denmark He refused to go into exile during the Nazi occupation and, despite his age, since he was over 70 years old, he took a horseback ride through Copenhagen every day, alone, without any escort, which inflamed the national spirit of the Danes. When the Germans asked why no one protected him on those daily walks, they were told: “All of Denmark is his bodyguard.”
George VI absolutely refused to abandon the United Kingdom when the Luftwaffe began bombing London. He didn’t want to escape Canada. Every day he dressed as a Navy officer and together with his wife, Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, they were going to visit the bombed areas and console the victims. At first, people booed them. But when the bombs fell on Buckingham Palace and nearly killed the king, those daily visits to the rubble and the wounded became a delirium of applause, tears and gratitude. Londoners realized that George VI, despite his wavering voice, had an indomitable character and considered him, forever, one of their own, the great moral leader of the nation.
All these kings earned their position. They all returned to their countries or remained in them and maintained the arbitral, constitutional and above all moral prestige of their monarchies. Those who did not know how or did not dare to be brave soon fell.
Natural devastation, no matter how terrible, is not a war, but all these examples have a lot to do with what Don Felipe and Doña Letizia did a few days ago in Valencia. They defied the bitterness, rage and even anger of the victims of the tragedy, and went forward to hug them, to console them, to be with them.
It is not the first time that King Felipe has to earn the position. A little more than ten years ago, when he assumed the Crown, heIt was at a very low valuation moment for personal behavior that is not exemplary Juan Carlos Inothing to do with his decisive role in the consolidation of democracy in Spain. Don Juan Carlos abdicated in June 2014 and Don Felipe did not hesitate to cut ties with his father to save the monarchy. And he achieved it.
Another decisive moment was on October 3, 2017, when the Catalan secessionists sought to separate Catalonia from the common nation. The King appeared on television and gave a tough and definitive speechwhich had two immediate effects: provoking the infinite anger of the separatists, which still lasts, and making it clear to the other Spaniards that that adventure was doomed to failure. To the non-segregationist Catalans, who were the majority, he told them that they were not alone, that they would never be alone, that they had all the support and solidarity of the rest of the Spaniards.
There have been other occasions, perhaps less striking, when King Felipe has more than earned the job granted to him by the Constitution, but Valencia has been simply unforgettable and exemplary. We will never be able to erase from our memory the image of how the King pushed away the umbrellas with which they tried to protect him; how He and the Queen, with their faces and clothes covered in mud, decisively approached those who were screaming and crying, with nerves broken by abandonment, chaos and lack of coordination; how they spoke to everyone, even the most angry: “Would you prefer that I stay in Madrid and not come?” he said to a very excited citizen; how they hugged everyone; how they shared tears and how they demonstrated the obvious: sWe hear you, we are with you, we come to help. The politicians will do what they want, but the King did not hesitate for a second to put the Royal Guard himself at the service of the victims. Quite an example.
In the midst of this citizen situation of despair, desperation and anguish and anger that could cause fear among the authorities present, It was very clear who were the ones who maintained the moral leadership of that tremendous, very difficult and risky encounter at the epicenter of the tragedy.
Like their ancient and brave relatives from different countries, the King and Queen have shown that their job is not just about receiving ambassadors, cutting ribbons, smiling and waving their hands, and undertaking state trips abroad to promote Spain. They have shown that they know how to do their job as moral leaders, as role models for their citizens, in both the hard times and the toughest. They have shown that they are above the tedious, acidic and sterile partisan disputes. They have more than proven that they can look in the face of the people who suffer so much in Valencia. They have won the position again. Thank you Majesties for once again maintaining the framework and dignity of our democracy.