Spain's scandal-hit royals look to new king and queen

Spain's scandal-hit royal family looked to a new king- and queen-in-waiting to mend its fortunes as King Juan Carlos called an end to his 39-year reign on June 2.

The 76-year-old monarch said he would hand over the crown to his son Prince Felipe, 46, hoping to revitalise the palace and the country after years of scandal and recession.,

Felipe, a tall former Olympic yachtsman, will take the throne with his wife Letizia, a glamorous 41-year-old former newsreader who will be Spain's first "commoner" queen.

An act of parliament is needed to bring Juan Carlos's abdication into force. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called a cabinet meeting for Tuesday to draw up the required legislation. Rajoy said he hoped Felipe would be proclaimed king "very soon".

Crowned in November 1975 after the death of general Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos won wide respect for his role in building modern Spain.

But a corruption scandal struck his family in 2011 at the height of an economic crisis and undermined his popularity.

The following year he sparked fresh outrage by hunting elephants in Botswana while ordinary Spaniards struggled through a recession.  Years of economic crisis "have awakened in us a desire for renewal, to overcome and correct mistakes and open the way to a decidedly better future", the king said in a televised address.

"Today a younger generation deserves to step into the front line, with new energies," said the monarch, looking relaxed in a grey suit and green tie.

"For all these reasons... I have decided to end my reign and abdicate the crown of Spain." The future king, who will be crowned Felipe VI, "has the maturity, the readiness and the sense of responsibility needed to take on the leadership of the...