The Spanish royal family has been rocked by Queen Letizia’s former brother-in-law’s outlandish claims that he had a relationship with the king before marrying her sister Telma – sharing a never-before-seen picture as “proof” of their romance.
Jaime Del Burgo, 53, who currently lives in the UK, recently contributed to a tell-all book about the Spanish royal family, in which he made the far-fetched claim that they were still romantic after Letizia’s marriage to King Felipe in 2004 would have had a relationship.
The entrepreneur, who claims he was with Letizia when she met King Felipe, most recently shared on relationship had started night.
In the selfie, the royal can be seen wearing a black pashmina – which Jaime claims was his – and he also typed out a message that was allegedly sent to him by the Spanish queen.
It read: “Love.” I wear your pashmina. It’s like I feel you by my side. It takes care of me.
Last night, businessman Jaime Del Burgo shared this invisible selfie of Queen Letizia with his X followers. He claimed the king was wearing his pashmina and said he had “taken care of her”.
“It protects me. I’m counting the hours until we see each other again. Love you. Get out. Your,’
After sharing the image, other X users questioned the validity of Jaime’s claims – as there is no evidence that Letizia sent him the photo or accompanying message. The businessman has since deleted his X account.
A spokesman for the Spanish royal family told FEMAIL: “We have no comment.”
It comes just weeks after Jaime – who was married to Letizia’s sister Telma from 2012 to 2014 – made a series of shocking allegations about his relationship with the queen in journalist Jaime Peñafiel’s new book Letizia & I.
Speaking to El Cierre Digitial, the 91-year-old author said Letizia was Jaime del Burgo’s “great love” and the couple’s relationship became a “great friendship” after she entered into a romantic relationship with King Felipe.
The businessman told the author that he met Letizia before 2000 and their relationship began on a romantic trip to Venice, years before she met King Felipe.
Jaime – the son of former politician Jaime Ignacio del Burgo – claims he planned to propose to Letizia when she announced she was dating a mysterious “diplomat” at a dinner at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid in 2002.
The author described the statement as “serious and significant” and made the unlikely claim that Jaime was “carrying an engagement ring in his pocket” that evening.
Letizia reportedly told him that she had “met someone who would force her to give up her profession,” which led him to conclude that her mystery partner was Felipe, Jaime said.
Pictured: Jaime Del Burgo and his ex-wife Telma Oritz in 2012 before their wedding. The couple divorced in 2014
King Felipe and Queen Letizia expressed unity today as they attended the annual meeting of the Cervantes Institute at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez
The couple (pictured in Madrid today) married in 2004. Jaime Del Burgo claims he wanted to propose to Letizia when she first told him about meeting King Felipe
Pictured: King Felipe and Queen Letizia in Madrid last month. The Queen’s ex-brother-in-law claims in a new book that the King suggested they have a baby together via a surrogate mother in the US
After the couple reportedly decided to just be friends, Jaime reportedly advised Letizia: “Don’t announce the romance, just the wedding.”
After announcing their engagement in 2003, Letizia, who divorced her first husband in 1999, asked Jaime to act as maid of honor at her wedding.
In addition, the King’s former brother-in-law also made the outlandish claim that he “bargained” Letizia’s marriage contract and helped cover the cost of the Queen’s family’s wedding outfits.
He is quoted as saying: “When the wedding with Felipe took place, as you know, one of the things I dealt with was the prenuptial agreement.”
“I also had to cover Letizia’s family’s expenses because Juan Carlos refused to pay for me or even take half of it.” So, with the help of my friend Felipe Varela, I dressed her mother, grandmother and sisters. And with the help of Jaime Jason, her father, grandparents and a cousin.”
Jaime also claims the Queen asked him to meet him at the exclusive El Latigazo restaurant in Madrid the night before the wedding – where she asked him to “never leave her”.
He spectacularly claimed: “When we met, she took my hand and asked me why I never asked her to marry me.” Apparently I didn’t answer. I encouraged her as best I could. The last thing she said to me before we said goodbye in that restaurant was a request: “Never leave me.”
In the new book Letizia and I, her former brother-in-law makes the outlandish claim that he contributed to the Queen’s family’s wedding outfits
In the book, Letizia’s alleged ex-lover describes Felipe as a “kind-hearted man” and even says that he had a “great friendship” with the royal family.
He told the author, “I told him my problems and he told.” [me] be.’
However, Jaime claims that he was still in a romantic relationship with Letizia even after their wedding in 2004 and that he kept “photos, videos, cell phones” and text messages as evidence.
The businessman claimed that “love has always been there” in their relationship since they traveled to Venice together in 2002.
The photo, which Jaime shared on Twitter last night, was taken during one of Letizia’s pregnancies between 2005 and 2007.
In the book, Jaime claims that Letizia whispered that she loved him in 2010 as they lay in a hammock by the pool at their home.
Jaime – who joked that Letizia’s alleged ex-lover was his co-author – is quoted in the book as saying: “Lying opposite each other in the same hammock under the pool porch, Letizia said to me, ‘I love you.’ and I replied, “I love you.”
Jaime Penafiel further writes that Jaime del Burgo subsequently wrote and edited a piece called “La Hamaca,” which means “The Hammock” in English, but never distributed it.
Jaime then claims they “took steps with the aim of being free” – including seeking legal advice and looking for property in the US.
Queen Letizia’s sister Telma Oritz with her second husband Robert Gavin at the Princess of Asturias Awards 2019
Pictured: King Felipe and Queen Letizia on their wedding day in Madrid in May 2004. Jaime Del Burgo claims he was planning to propose to the news anchor until she announced she had met King Felipe
One of the most damaging claims Jaime reportedly made is that Queen Letizia suggested they have a child together using a surrogate mother in Los Angeles.
Around this time, Jaime claims he confronted Letizia after photos of her kissing Felipe appeared on the covers of Spanish magazines.
He claims the queen told him: “I had to do it to protect us.”
However, in August 2011, Jaime claimed Letizia abruptly ended their relationship when she called him and said: “We can’t keep seeing each other.”
The following year, after only two months of dating, he became engaged to Letizia’s younger sister Telma Oritz, who used to work in the Barcelona city council. The Queen’s sister already had daughter Amanda from her relationship with ex-partner Enrique Martin Llop.
Pictured: Telma Oritz and Jaime del Burgo in December 2014, before their separation was announced
The couple (pictured with Telma’s daughter Amanda) moved to New York after their wedding in 2012, before returning to Spain
At this point, Jaime claims that he was still close to Letizia and Felipe.
Author Jaime Peñafiel wrote: “When [Jaime del Burgo] “I’m going to marry Telma, it’s Felipe who advises him on the marriage contracts and over the years they’ve had a great friendship.”
In 2012, the couple moved to New York to begin their married life – but Telma returned to Barcelona that same year before announcing their final split in 2014.
The couple’s first attempts at a divorce had been scuttled by the groom’s father, Jaime Ignacio del Burgo, who told the court that his son and Telma had repented and wanted to give their marriage another try.
Telma has since married Irish lawyer Gavin Bonnar and the couple welcomed their first child together in October 2021. Gavin has two children with his first wife, musician Sharon Corr.
Telma Ortiz is seen leaving the EDP Gran Via Theater after attending the “We Choose Earth Tour” on June 22, 2023 in Madrid
Pictured: Queen Letizia during her time as a news anchor for Television Espanola before her wedding to King Felipe
For her latest album, The Fool & The Scorpion, Sharon wrote lyrics that included “The Queen’s twisted sister” – fans speculated that the lyrics were inspired by her children’s new stepmother.
Meanwhile, Jaime remarried to Swedish lawyer Lucía Díaz Liljestrom.
Letizia and Telma tragically lost their younger sister Erika in February 2007 when she died as a result of an intentional drug overdose.
Queen Letizia’s younger sister was only 31 years old and left behind her six-year-old daughter Carla.
At the time, the Spanish queen was six months pregnant with her second daughter, Princess Sofia.
TIMELINE OF JAIME’S CLAIMS ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SPANISH ROYAL FAMILY
- Before 2000 – Letizia Oritz, who was a news anchor at the time, meets Jaime del Burgo – the son of a politician – and the two begin dating
- 2001 – Letizia and King Felipe meet at the site of an oil spill. Jaime claims he was planning on proposing when she told him about her new royal romance
- 2003 – Letizia and Felipe announce their engagement.
- 2004 – the couple gets married in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. Jaime claims he was asked to act as a witness during the ceremony
- 2005 – the couple welcomes Princess Leonor
- February 2007 – Letizia’s sister Erika dies suddenly
- April 2007 – Princess Sofia is born. Jaime claims that Letizia sent him a selfie confessing her love during one of her pregnancies.
- 2010 – The couple reportedly confesses their love for each other and reportedly meets with lawyers. Jaime claims they were looking for properties in the US to move to. He also claims Letizia suggested hiring a surrogate in LA to have a baby
- 2011 – Jaime claims Letizia ended their relationship over the phone
- 2012 – Jaime marries Letizia’s sister Telma. The couple moves to New York
- 2014 – Telma and Jaime announce their separation
This afternoon King Felipe and Queen Letizia put on a united front as they were pictured at the annual meeting of the Cervantes Institute at the Royal Palace in Aranjuez for the first time since Jaime’s bombshell claims.
Letizia was born on September 15, 1972 in Oviedo, northern Spain. She grew up in a middle-class family and attended a public school.
While her mother, Maria Rodriguez, was a nurse, Letizia took care of her father, Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, and her stepmother Ana Togores, both journalists, and studied communications at the University of Madrid.
She then earned her master’s degree in broadcast journalism and, after a stint at the Asturian daily La Nueva España, worked for ABC, a popular national newspaper with the third largest circulation in Spain.
She then worked at the Spanish news agency EFE before moving to Guadalajara, Mexico, where she took on a role at the local newspaper Siglo 21.
A year later, she returned to Spain and worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specializing in economics, before moving to CNN+.
Before she met Felipe from Spain, Letizia was married to the literature teacher Alonso Guerrero Perez, who was nine years her senior.
Pictured: King Felipe and Queen Letizia with their eldest daughter Princess Leonor of Spain last month
The couple married in 1998 after a ten-year romance, with the pair meeting when the future Queen of Spain was just 16 years old.
They tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the town of Almendralejo, Badajoz, but divorced the following year.
When she met her future husband Felipe in 2002, Letizia was working for the popular television station 24 Horas, where, in addition to presenting the popular evening news program Telediario 2, she covered a variety of current news.
As a news anchor, she reported live from Ground Zero after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The following year she met Prince Felipe – at the site of an oil spill in northern Spain. The year after first meeting Felipe, Letizia quit her job and a few days later her engagement was announced.
Letizia and Felipe’s marriage in Madrid in 2004 sparked an upsurge in support for the royal family, and their habit of endorsing high street brands such as Zara proved popular. She and Felipe had two daughters, Leonor in 2005 and Sofia in 2007.