King Juan Carlos undergoes surgery

Spain’s King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said yesterday. The 74-year-old monarch had...

Spain’s King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said yesterday.

The 74-year-old monarch had surgery on his right hip almost immediately after returning from a trip to southern Africa, the palace said in a statement.

A palace spokesman said he had been driven straight to a hospital on Friday night after flying back from a private visit to Botswana, where he had fallen.

The statement said the king had sustained “a fracture in three fragments of the right hip, associated with osteoarthritis of that joint”.

Leading newspaper El Pais reported on its website that the king had been on an elephant hunting trip when the fall occurred, but the palace declined to comment, saying the visit was a private matter.

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