MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s King Felipe VI has disclosed that his wealth is worth about 2.6 million euros ($2.8 million) in a move to make the Royal House more transparent and end the opaqueness that prevailed during the reign of his father Juan Carlos.
The king’s assets include just under 2.3 million euros in checking or savings accounts and securities, and he currently owns art, antiques and jewelry with a value of more than 305,000 euros, a statement released by the Royal House showed.
It did not mention any property or real estate.
The king’s wealth mainly comes from the more than 4.3 mln euros he cashed in over the past 25 years, which were taxed, the statement said.
“Today, more than ever, citizens demand with all the reason that the moral and ethical principles inspire and the exemplarity presides over our public life”, King Felipe said.
Felipe came to the throne in 2014 after his father Juan Carlos abdicated amid a tax fraud case involving members of the royal family, as well as a scandal over an elephant-hunting trip at a time when Spain was struggling with a deep recession.
As part of efforts to modernise the monarchy and distance himself from the scandals, King Felipe also removed his older sisters, Elena and Cristina, from royal duties.
A few years later, Felipe renounced his inheritance from his father and stripped the ex-monarch of his palace allowance.
Juan Carlos, who retains the title of King Emeritus, left Spain for the United Arab Emirates in August 2020 under a cloud of scandal and has lived there since.
($1 = 0.9363 euros)
(Reporting by Christina Thykjaer and Emma Pinedo, editing by Inti Landauro and Angus MacSwan)
