King Felipe VI of Spain was “crushed and destroyed” by his wife, Queen Letizia, allegedly cheating on him with an old flame — who was once her brother-in-law, according to a new book.
Spanish journalist Jaime Peñafiel claims in “Letizia’s Silences,” which hit local stores Tuesday, that the queen, 51, rekindled her romance with her “lover” Jamie del Burgo during a trip to New York in 2011.
The veteran reporter writes (per the Daily Mail) that Felipe, 56, was “aware that Letizia was cheating on him in real time,” as her bodyguards were obligated to disclose her whereabouts.
Peñafiel reports that the guards were present when Letizia visited New York with her alleged paramour, whom she first dated before meeting Felipe.
“That day she was accompanied by her faithful escorts, who, without a doubt, any, they would pass a report to the Ministry of the Interior or [the Palace of] Zarzuela,” he writes, noting that the news left Felipe “crushed and destroyed.”
Notably, del Burgo was later married to Letizia’s sister Telma Ortiz.
This is not the first time Peñafiel has written about the queen’s reported affair.
In “Letizia and I,” which came out in January, del Burgo opened up about the purported relationship.
He told the author that he met Letizia in 2000 and began a relationship with her years before she met the king.
The businessman said he was going to propose to Letizia in 2002, but then she told him she was dating an unnamed “diplomat.”
He also sensationally claimed that Letizia had met him at a restaurant the night before her splashy 2004 nuptials and requested that he “never leave” her.
“She took hold of my hand and asked me why I had never asked her to marry me,” he recalled. “Obviously I didn’t reply. I encouraged her as best I could.”
Del Burgo claimed that the affair eventually ended in 2011 when Letizia called and told him that they could not “continue seeing each other.”
Letizia was previously married to writer Alonso Guerrero Pérez from 1998 to 1999 following a 10-year courtship.
She was working as a television reporter when she met Felipe but resigned after their engagement was announced in 2003.
The couple share two daughters: Leonor, 18, and Sofía, 17.
