King Juan Carlos of Spain to abdicate Monday June 02,2014

King Juan Carlos of Spain is abdicating, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has announced. 

''His Majesty King Juan Carlos has just informed me of his desire to renounce the throne and begin the process of succession," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a statement

 'This is my decision to abdicate': The letter Juan Carlos handed to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy today which the Spanish Royal Family posted on Twitter

Spanish newspaper El Pais shows King Juan Carlos signing a document in the Zarzuela Palace opening the way for his abdication

Television screens show Spain's King Juan Carlos I as he delivers his speech to explain the reasons of his abdication, at a department store in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

The king's son, Crown Prince Felipe(45) will take over the throne.

King Juan Carlos (far right) will hand the crown to his son, Prince Felipe (centre), pictured with Princess Letizia watching an air display in 2006

Prince Felipe married Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning TV Journalist formerly with CNN, in 2003

 

Princess Letizia is Spain's answer to Britain's Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.

Letizia Ortiz, from Asturias the north west of Spain, married Prince Felipe de Borbon ten years ago at Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena in Madrid.

The couple with their daughters

Spain does not have a precise law regulating abdication and royal succession, and Mr Rajoy said ministers would hold a special meeting to discuss the process by which the prince would take over as Felipe VI

Juan Carlos(76) came to power in 1975, two days after the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco

For much of his reign, King Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popular monarchs, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him.

King Juan Carlos reputation has been tarnished by a long-running corruption investigation into his daughter and her husband.

Support for King Juan Carlos fell further when it was discovered he had been on a lavish elephant hunting trip to Botswana in April 2012, in the middle of Spain's financial crisis.