RETIRED King Juan Carlos I has just left hospital exactly a week after undergoing a triple bypass operation, and says he feels 'very well' and with no pain.
Now he has been discharged from the Quirónsalud Hospital in the up-market Madrid commuter town of Pozuelo de Alarcón, the Rex Emeritus will spend a few days resting at the Zarzuela Palace before returning to his packed agenda.
Although HRH Juan Carlos I retired from Royal duties on June 2 this year, he continues to follow a full schedule of private engagements, such as charity patronage, as does his wife, Queen Sofía.
The 81-year-old former monarch – who abdicated in favour of his son King Felipe VI in June 2014 – spoke to reporters as he left the hospital.
“I've got brand-new plumbing and downpipes – phenomenal!” he told them.
The ex-head of State had been booked in for the heart bypass on Saturday, August 24 following his routine full health check over June 11 and 12, and ever since he came round from the anaesthetic last weekend, reports from his family visitors have been overwhelmingly positive.
His daughter-in-law Queen Letizia said he had been 'very brave', his wife, Spain's 'Queen mother', said he was 'full of his usual jokes', 'very relaxed' and that 'you wouldn't know he'd had an operation'.
The ex-King's granddaughter and first in line to the throne, Princess Leonor – who will be 14 in exactly two months' time – said on Friday that her granddad 'was getting impatient' and 'wanted to go home'.
She said after visiting him on Sunday that she thought he looked 'very recovered'.
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