In his new memoir, exiled former king Juan Carlos, 87, gives the fullest account yet of the 1956 accident in Estoril in which a .22‑calibre bullet fatally struck his 14‑year‑old brother Alfonso. He says he had removed the magazine and believed the pistol was unloaded when a shot was fired and the bullet struck Alfonso. No judicial inquiry was opened, and accounts of the incident have long differed. Juan Carlos describes the death as a life‑defining "before and after" moment that left him deeply affected.
Juan Carlos Reveals How He Accidentally Shot His Brother in 1956
In his new memoir, exiled former king Juan Carlos, 87, gives the fullest account yet of the 1956 accident in Estoril in which a .22‑calibre bullet fatally struck his 14‑year‑old brother Alfonso. He says he had removed the magazine and believed the pistol was unloaded when a shot was fired and the bullet struck Alfonso. No judicial inquiry was opened, and accounts of the incident have long differed. Juan Carlos describes the death as a life‑defining "before and after" moment that left him deeply affected.
02:39, 06.11.2025Politics
Juan Carlos reveals how a childhood accident left him marked for life
The former Spanish king, Juan Carlos, 87, who lives in exile in Dubai, has for the first time given a detailed account of the 1956 shooting that killed his 14‑year‑old brother Alfonso. The episode appears in his new memoir, published in France under the title Juan Carlos I d'Espagne: Réconciliation, in a short chapter headed The Tragedy.
Juan Carlos writes that on 29 March 1956, while visiting the family home in Estoril on the Portuguese Riviera, he and Alfonso were playing with a .22‑calibre pistol a lieutenant had given him. He says he had removed the magazine and believed the weapon to be safe.
"I will not recover from this tragedy. Its gravity will accompany me forever," he writes, describing the moment a single bullet struck Alfonso in the forehead and killed him.
According to the memoir, the shot was fired into the air, the bullet ricocheted and struck Alfonso. Their mother, Princess María de las Mercedes, later recalled hearing Juan Carlos run down the stairs to tell their father, Don Juan de Borbón. Don Juan covered his son's body with a Spanish flag and, the memoir says, threw the pistol into the sea.
No judicial inquiry was opened at the time. Juan Carlos returned to Spain four days after the accident, amid a period when General Francisco Franco was positioning him as a possible successor. Contemporary accounts have differed: a dressmaker to the family said Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and fired, not knowing it was loaded; others say the bullet ricocheted or that an accidental movement discharged the gun.
In the book, co‑written with journalist and historian Laurence Debray, Juan Carlos calls Alfonso's death a defining "before and after" moment that cast a long shadow over his life: "I miss him; I would like to have him by my side, to be able to talk to him. I lost a friend, a confidant. He left an immense void."
The memoir will not be published in Spanish until December, after events marking the 50th anniversary of Francisco Franco's death and commemorations tied to the restoration of the monarchy. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 amid controversy over extramarital affairs and allegations of financial misconduct. His son and successor, King Felipe VI, has not invited him to the main ceremony planned for 21 November to mark the anniversary.
Context and legacy
Beyond the immediate tragedy, the account sheds light on a pivotal moment in a life that later became embroiled in public scandal and exile. The memoir revisits that childhood event with candour while acknowledging lingering questions about the precise circumstances of Alfonso's death.