KING Juan Carlos is back on duty despite having abdicated this spring in favour of his son, who is now crowned Felipe VI.
The former Monarch, who retains his title of King, is due to make an official visit to the Colombian capital of Bogotá on Tuesday (August 5) in time for the swearing-in on Thursday of the country's president Juan Manuel Santos.
Santos was re-elected on June 15 this year and will continue as president until the elections of 2018.
King Juan Carlos will be accompanied by Jesús Gracia, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, representing Spain in a ceremony that 74 other countries will be present at including presidents of several Latin American nations – Perú, Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela, Panamá, Hondurás, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Sources from the Royal household say the former King's trip will not set a precedent for his future official engagement, and that the exact nature of his involvement in public duties for the Crown will not be fully revealed until after the summer.
King Felipe VI, who has attended 69 swearing-in ceremonies of Latin American presidents since January 1996 – but as Prince Felipe of Asturias, never as King – will be partially on his summer holidays in Palma de Mallorca when his father travels to Colombia, although a number of official engagements for the new Monarch will ensue from this coming Tuesday.
His father, Juan Carlos, is said to have been concerned about the inactivity his abdication was likely to result in.
Sources close to the former King have said he is very lonely and dreads weekends and holidays when he does not work and has no public duties to attend to.
He eats alone in his study and he and his wife, Queen Sofía, only communicate via their secretaries unless they appear together in official engagements, something that is unlikely to occur now Juan Carlos is no longer King.
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