I WAS lucky enough to meet the present King of

Spain just over two years ago. His charm, candour and informality are almost dangerously pronounced in the sense that one felt that there must always be those tempted to take advantage of such qualities.
The atmosphere in King Juan Carlos's study at the Zarzuela • Palace near Madrid was in stark contrast to the rather forbidding effect created by the elaborately uniformed bemedalled military men somewhat grimly lining the corridors outside. At one point during our conversation the telephone jangled on the royal desk.
"No," said the King jovially to the caller. "This is the King speaking. You must have the wrong number!"
This engagingly natural, shrewd and dedicated monarch will have needed all his diplomatic finesse during his audience with the Pope. His mission to he a true Constitutional Monarch is no easy one. His devotion to the Church is unquestioned.
But he cannot be unaware of the disasters that befell Spain when his grandfather, King Alfonso XIII, violated the then Constitution and instead of resisting an attempted coup allowed General Primo de Rivera to become dictator.
This was 60 years ago, just after the last visit by a Spanish sovereign to the Pope. Alfonso had just gone to Rome accompanied by Primo de Rivers whom he proudly introduced as "my Mussolini."
At his Papal audience, Alfonso made a long speech stressing his loyalty to the Church and the Papacy in such flowery and exaggerated terms that the Pope, Pius XI, was quite embarrassed. The King declared that he wanted to bring back the great days when Spain would once more be a conquering arm for the Church. He wished to recover the glorious epoch of veritable Catholic crusade against forces in Europe and North Africa which were inimical to Christendom.