Editing Juan Carlos I (section)

== Early life ==
Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María was born to [[Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona]], and [[Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies]] in their family home in [[Rome]], where his grandfather King [[Alfonso XIII]] and other members of the [[Spanish royal family]] lived in exile following the proclamation of the [[Second Spanish Republic]] in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope [[Pius XII]].

Juan Carlos's early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and General [[Francisco Franco]]. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow it.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27661983 |title=Profile: Spain's Juan Carlos |publisher=BBC |date=2 June 2014 |access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref> He began his studies in [[San Sebastián]] and finished them in 1954 at the [[Instituto San Isidro]] in Madrid. He then joined the army, doing his officer training from 1955 to 1957 at the [[General Military Academy|Military Academy of Zaragoza]].
According to his sister Pilar, he had difficulty in his studies because of [[dyslexia]].<ref name="Tremending">{{cite news |title=Juan Carlos I desvela en el documental de TVE la última petición que le hizo Franco |url=https://www.publico.es/tremending/2020/08/07/juan-carlos-i-desvela-en-el-documental-de-tve-la-ultima-peticion-que-le-hizo-franco/ |access-date=13 February 2021 |publisher=Público |date=2020-08-07 |language=es |quote="Descubrimos que mi hermano era disléxico. Estudiar le costó mucho, era difícil para él. [...]", relata en el documental su hermana Pilar.
|trans-quote="We discovered that my brother was dyslexic. Studying costed him dearly, it was hard for him. [...]", his sister Pilar tells in the documentary.}}</ref>

[[File:Juan Carlos de Borbón junto a su padre y su hermano Alfonso (1 de 1) - Fondo Marín-Kutxa Fototeka.jpg|thumb|Juan Carlos (left) and Alfonso with their father Juan, Count of Barcelona, in 1950]]
Juan Carlos has two sisters: [[Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz]] (1936–2020); and [[Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria]] (born 1939). He also had a younger brother, [[Infante Alfonso of Spain|Alfonso]] (1941–1956). The rendering of his name as "Juan Carlos" (the first and second particles of his baptismal name) was a modification by choice of Franco.<ref name=orantos>{{Cite book|title=Un papel para la monarquía en la Unión Europea|first=Rodolfo|last=Orantos Martín|year=2015|url=http://dehesa.unex.es/bitstream/10662/3855/4/TDUEX_2015_Orantos_Martin.pdf|publisher=[[University of Extremadura|Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Extremadura]]|page=120}}</ref> He was always known in his familiar circle simply as "Juan" or "Juanito".<ref name=orantos />

Together with his parents and his sister Pilar, he took part in the ship tour organized by [[Frederica of Hanover|Queen Frederica]] and her husband King [[Paul of Greece]] in 1954, which became known as the “[[Cruise of the Kings]]” and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe. On this trip, Juan Carlos met the hosts' 15-year-old daughter, [[Queen Sofía of Spain|Sofia]], his future wife, for the first time.<ref name="ARoyalFamily2">{{cite episode|title=Episode 3: Shaky Thrones|series=A Royal Family|credits=Director: Anna Lerche, Marcus Mandal|airdate=2003}}</ref>

===Brother's death===
On the evening of [[Holy Thursday]], 29 March 1956, [[Infante of Spain|Infante]] Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home Villa Giralda in [[Estoril]], on the [[Portuguese Riviera]]. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal then issued the following official communiqué:<ref>Quoted in [[Paul Preston]], ''Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), 101.</ref>

{{blockquote|Whilst His Highness Prince Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received [[Eucharist|holy communion]].}}

Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier in the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/juan-carlos-lays-to-rest-a-haunting-spanish-tragedy-1557621.html |title=Juan Carlos lays to rest a haunting Spanish tragedy|access-date=5 June 2014|location=London|work=The Independent|author=Phil Davison|date=16 October 1992}}</ref> Both Juan Carlos, age 18, and Alfonso, age 14, had been apparently playing with a .22LR Star Bonifacio Echeverria Automatic pistol owned by Alfonso.<ref name="vanitatis"/> As they were alone in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot, but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that it was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos had told him he had fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded,<ref name="vanitatis"/> and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Alfonso in the face. [[Helena Matheopoulos]], a Greek author who spoke with the infantes' sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm, causing him to fire the pistol.<ref>Preston, 102.</ref><ref>[http://www.snopes.com/history/world/juancarlos.asp A Royal Mystery] at Snopes.com.</ref>

After learning this news, the Count of Barcelona reportedly grabbed Juan Carlos by the neck and shouted at him angrily, "Swear to me that you didn't do it on purpose!"<ref>{{Cite web|work=El Mundo|title=Sesenta años de la misteriosa muerte del hermano del Rey|date=29 March 2016|author=Cote Vilar |url=https://www.elmundo.es/loc/2016/03/28/56f90f9a46163f28058b4613.html}}</ref> Two days later, the Count sent his son back to the military academy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.larazon.es/gente/la-razon-del-sabado/el-peor-dia-de-don-juan-carlos-HA2507191/|work=La Razón|title=El peor día de Don Juan Carlos|author=A.G. Mateache|date=28 March 2016}}</ref> Following a later declaration of Juan Carlos's mother, [[Paul Preston]] argues that the content of the former testimony implies that Juan Carlos had pointed the gun at Alfonso, apparently not knowing that the gun was loaded, and pulled the trigger.<ref name="vanitatis">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanitatis.elconfidencial.com/casas-reales/2019-01-05/juan-carlos-rey-muerte-hermano-alfonso-accidente_1740710/|website=Vanitatis|publisher=El Confidencial|title=29-3-1956: El día más triste en la vida de don Juan Carlos|author=Javier Díaz|date=5 January 2019|language=ES}}</ref>

=== Education ===
In 1957, Juan Carlos spent a year in the [[Spanish Navy|naval]] school at [[Marín, Pontevedra]], and another in the [[Spanish Air Force|Air Force]] school in [[San Javier, Murcia|San Javier]] in [[Murcia]]. In 1960–61, he studied law, [[international political economy]] and [[public finance]] at the [[Complutense University of Madrid]].<ref>[http://www.casareal.es/sm_rey/index-ides-idweb.html Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910103102/http://www.casareal.es/sm_rey/index-ides-idweb.html |date=10 September 2012 }}, Página oficial de la Casa de Su Majestad el Re. Retrieved 16 September 2011 {{in lang|es}}</ref> He then went to live in the [[Palace of Zarzuela]] and began carrying out official engagements.