Leonid Bershidsky, Columnist

A Good King Knows When to Go

The abdication of King Juan Carlos of Spain reflects the same values that have made him a great monarch.

June 2, 2014 at 5:15 PM UTC

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwell’s “1984” and Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.”

Leading by example. Photographer: Ballesteros/AFP/Getty Images — Leading by example. Photographer: Ballesteros/AFP/Getty Images

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King Juan Carlos of Spain should have no regrets as he steps down from the throne: His abdication reflects the same values that have made him a great monarch.

Like it or not, lifetime tenure is no longer standard practice, even for royalty. Juan Carlos, 76, is the third septuagenarian monarch in the last 18 months to abdicate, after Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and King Albert II of Belgium. And that's not counting Pope Benedict XVI. With the media exposing their frailties and foibles, and with polls tracking their popularity, monarchs have become as accountable as any politician.