Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Even by the salacious standards of the Spanish royal family, a veritable gossip earthquake was set off earlier this month when a former boyfriend of Queen Letizia of Spain claimed that he had conducted a long-running affair with her—after she had married King Felipe.
The claim has kicked off a firestorm that now includes a wild conspiracy theory featuring terrorists, left-wing plots, and allegations of false-flag affair accusations.
The unambiguous original claim was made by Letizia’s former boyfriend, Jaime del Burgo. He dated her before she became engaged to King Felipe (then Crown Prince) and was long considered a close friend of the couple, but he has now claimed their romantic relationship continued after her marriage to Felipe, and even while she was pregnant (the royal couple have two children).