Adrián's statement went out at eleven.
I watched it on a tablet in the private sitting room with Lucas on the sofa beside me and Doña Carmen standing near the door like a woman who had attended more of these moments than she could count and had developed an appropriate relationship with each one. The statement was four minutes long. He spoke without notes, I noticed that immediately, and his voice was steady and clear and entirely his own, without the managed smoothness of someone performing composure. He was composed. There is a difference.
He said his father had served the kingdom with the full weight of his intelligence and his care. He said the transition of the crown was proceeding according to constitutional protocol. He said the kingdom was in good hands and that the hands in ques
