Queen Letizia of Spain has stepped out solo at an awards ceremony Madrid this evening – amid claims her husband King Felipe was left ‘crushed and destroyed’ by her alleged infidelity.
The mother-of-two, 51, dressed in a chic white blouse and matching trousers combo, appeared to put on a brave face as she attended the Solo de Ciencia Awards in the Spanish capital.
The annual event celebrates scientific excellence and innovation, and honors the achievements of leading scientists and researchers.
But the event – which Letizia also attended last year without her husband – comes after 91-year-old journalist Jaime Peñafiel launched a new attack on the European queen.
In January, the veteran royal reporter was fired from Spanish newspaper El Mundo after 20 years, after making a series of damaging allegations in his first book, “Leticia and Me.”
In his best-seller, he alleged that Queen Letizia had had an affair with her former brother-in-law, Jaime del Burgo. The Spanish royal family declined to comment on the allegations at the time.
In his latest book, Jaime claims that Felipe “was aware in real time that Letizia was cheating” because Felipe’s bodyguards were required to report her whereabouts.
The author claims that the bodyguards accompanied Queen Letizia on a trip to New York in 2011 with her “lover” Jaime del Burgo, who she had been dating before meeting Felipe.
The author writes: “On that day [in New York] she was accompanied by her faithful guards who would undoubtedly report to the Ministry of the Interior or the Zarzuela [Palace].”
Jaime then claims that Felipe was “devastated” by his wife’s alleged infidelity.
The royal correspondent – a reporter from Hola! magazine for 20 years – claims Felipe has been “thrown into hell” by his wife’s alleged “betrayal” and desire to “leave”.
Elsewhere in the book, Jaime calls Queen Letizia “cold, emotionally immature and passive-aggressive” and claims she is “hated” by King Felipe’s family.
Jaime Peñafiel, 91, was fired from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo this year after a 20-year layoff following the publication of his first book about the queen, “Leticia and I”.
The book shocked the Spanish royal family because the author claimed that the queen had been romantically involved with her former brother-in-law, Jaime del Burgo. The Spanish royal family refused to comment on these claims at the time.
Since his release, the experienced journalist has now written another book, entitled “The Silence of Letizia”, but the first deals with her early romance with King Felipe.
In the first chapter, the author sensationally claims that “Letizia’s whole world fell apart” as a result of allegations of “infidelity, infidelity and betrayal”.
The author goes on to say that Queen Letizia exudes an aura of “ruthlessness, indestructibility and determination” and that her silence on the recent allegations is a sign of her “emotional immaturity.”
Jaime claims the royal ‘resorts to silence as a way of controlling and punishing other people’.
He then goes on to claim that Letizia’s ‘passive aggressive’ behaviour towards King Felipe is the reason her ‘mother-in-law [Queen Sofia] and sisters-in-laws [Infanta Cristina and the Duchess of Lugo] hate her so much’.
In the following chapter, Jaime alleges that King Felipe fell in love with his future wife while watching her present the news.
Reports on how the royal couple got together have varied over the years – with some claiming they were introduced at dinner party while others allege they first met when Felipe visited an oil spillage site in Northern Spain.
When they began dating, Jaime claims Letizia would ‘test’ Felipe’s feelings for her by travelling frequently.
In 2002, the future Queen flew to Santo Domingo to report on the annual Ibero-American Summit – which Jaime describes as Letizia putting Felipe’s intentions ‘to the test’.
Weeks later, the author claims Letizia flew to Costa Rica as a ‘strategy’ to secure the future King of Spain.
He explained: ‘It was a strategy, because that absence was a real torment for the very much in love Felipe, who conceived distance as the worst of evils, coming to understand [Spanish poet] Lope de Vega when he said that “the beginning of absence is like the end of life.”‘
Following this, Jaime says Letizia was certain of the strength of Felipe’s ‘total love’ for her and returned to Spain ‘bossy and manipulative’.
What’s more, the author claims that Felipe assured Letizia that he could ‘cut short’ any news outlet reporting on their romance.
During one of Felipe’s visits to Letizia’s Valdebernardo apartment, Jamie alleges that the journalist confided in royal about how she used to work as a cigarette stewardess while living in Mexico.
He also predicted the couple, who have maintained what the mainstream Spanish press have described as a dignified silence in the face of ongoing infidelity claims by Jaime del Burgo, would follow in the footsteps of Felipe’s parents Juan Carlos and Sofia.
Spain’s former king is now living in exile in Abu Dhabi after corruption investigations he was caught up in left his reputation in tatters although he returns to his homeland from time to time.
Letizia said she met “someone who forced her to quit her job,” from which, according to Jaime’s own statement, he concluded that her mystery partner was Felipe.
The queen’s former brother-in-law further made the impossible claim that he “handled” Letizia’s marriage contract and helped advance the costs of the royal family’s wedding outfits.
He was quoted as saying: “When the wedding with Felipe came up, you know, one of the things I took care of was the marriage contract.
“I also had to pay for Letizia’s family, because [the former king] Juan Carlos refused to pay me or even give me half, so I enlisted the help of my friend Felipe Varela to dress her mother, grandmother and sisters. And with the support of Jaime Jason, her father, grandparents and cousins, he also makes the incredible claim that the Queen asked to meet him at the posh Madrid restaurant El Latigaso on the night before her wedding and asked him, to “never leave” her.
He sensationally claimed: “I didn’t answer, of course. I encouraged her as much as I could. The last thing she said to me before saying goodbye in the restaurant was a request: ‘Don’t leave me.'” After their wedding in 2004. He also claims to have kept “photos, videos, cell phones” and text messages as evidence.
In the book, Jaime sensationally claims that after the birth of Princess Leonor, Letizia whispered love to him while lying in a hammock by the pool at their home.