Editing Juan Carlos I (section)

===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>