King Felipe’s actions in Valencia show the point of a monarchy

King Felipe’s actions in Valencia have shown the point of a monarchy after he stayed to comfort victims while politicians left.

While the Spanish monarchy has been on shaky ground over the past few years, the King has garnered praise for how he handled the situation when he visited the flood-ravaged areas of Valencia.

The King and Queen Letizia travelled to Valencia to see the damage, speak to locals, and show support for emergency services, but the visit did not go as planned. Upon arrival, angry citizens pelted the King and Queen with mud and rocks. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ran for cover and left the area.

Spanish journalist, Andre Andrea Morioken to Royal News about what the actKing Felipe’s actionso Spaniards and how it compthey comparenish politicians’ reactions.

Mori stressed that the people were not angry at the King and Queen but rather other Spanish authorities like the Prime Minister: “The reaction of the people was not against the Monarchy or the King and the Queen, but against other authorities, especially the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.”

The people are frustrated with how things have been handled and “they are angry about the way the authorities are dealing with this crisis.”

According to the journalist, “Most people have praised the way the King and Queen behaved.”

“Most of the people here are happy with what Letizia and Felipe did because they stayed even though the circumstances were very difficult,” she added.

King Felipe stayed behind to comfort his people and cancelled his plans to speak to them and hear their stories. His wife, Queen Letizia, was seen crying as a local told her there were “so many dead” and that they weren’t warned about the flooding. Letizia, with mud on her face, pulled the woman into her arms and said several times, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

There has been plenty of praise on social media as well with people complementing the way Their Majesties handled the situation. The King was even seen asking his security to let him get to a group of people to speak to them. Like his wife, he embraced many of the Spaniards he spoke to.

With actions like these, it is easy to see the point of a monarchy. While politicians may run for cover and not represent the entire country at times, the monarchy is a constant that represents all Spaniards all the time – in good times and bad.

As Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria once said about the role of the monarchy, “It is my duty to protect my people from their politicians!”

And Felipe and Letizia did just that.