Spain’s King Juan Carlos I has shown before that he’s got a temper. The monarch, for example, once told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to shut up. Yet until now, he had never been seen physically lashing out.
Now Don Juan Carlos is in hot water for hitting his driver. Video footage shows the king sitting in the passenger seat of a car, motioning angrily at his chauffer. Apparently unhappy with the driver's choice of parking spot, the king makes a fist and hits him.
The king then opens the door and with great effort –- he is still recovering from a recent fall -– manages to exit the vehicle. The whole ordeal was caught by the cameras of TV network La Sexta, which aired the recording on its program “Al Rojo Vivo.”
Other Outbursts
This isn’t the first time the king has been caught on tape flipping out. It’s well known among the journalists who follow him. His response to Chavez –- “Why don’t you shut up?” -– is now famous.
And when others ask him to let them speak, he reacts as he did recently with his wife, Queen Sofia, during a conference –- cutting her off and mocking her publicly.
King Juan Carlos slapping his driver is another stain on his already tarnished image. Earlier this year, he apologized for going on a hunt in Botswana while the Spanish economy suffered: “I’m sorry, I was wrong and it will not happen again.”
We’re used to seeing the king stumble, as he did when he fell on August 2nd. Regrettably for him, that was not the last time.