In recent years, the Spanish Royal Family has been embroiled in numerous controversies. Now, the person thrust into the centre of the media storm is Queen Letizia.

The 51-year-old model is the central character in the shocking book  Letizia & Yo: ¿Qué secretoes la reina Letizia?  (  Letizia and I: What secret is Queen Letizia hiding?  ), by 91-year-old journalist Jaime Peñafiel.

In the book, businessman Jaime Del Burgo (53 years old), who was married to Queen Letizia’s sister Telma from 2012 to 2014, claims to have had an affair with Queen Letizia from before 2000 until August 2011. This means that Letizia betrayed King Felipe during the first 7 years of their marriage.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia were still in close contact during the December 4 event amid allegations of adultery. Photo:  EPA.

To prove his claim, Burgo posted never-before-seen selfies of the Queen of Spain, along with “soft” text messages that Letizia allegedly sent to her lover.

Although Internet users doubted the authenticity of the photo and the message, the author Peñafiel’s confidence in writing a book to sell made many people think that “without fire there is no smoke.”

More importantly, Queen Letizia’s affair with her brother-in-law is not the only shocking revelation in the book published on November 21.

The first marriage failed.

Before marrying King Felipe in 2004, Queen Letizia, a former famous broadcaster, was married to English literature professor Alonso Guerrero Pérez for a year.

Her ex-husband is 9 years older than Letizia. They met when Letizia was just 16 years old. At the time, the Queen was a high school student and Perez was her teacher. After 10 years of romantic love, the two married in 1998. However, just a year later, they went their separate ways.

In  Letizia & Yo,  Peñafiel confirmed that the beauty born in 1972 had cheated on her first husband. The object of her romance was a reporter on internship at Efe, the largest Spanish news agency in the world.

According to the veteran journalist, Letizia slept with her colleagues when she was in Mexico, and also visited her lover on business trips to Houston and Las Vegas (USA).

Peñafiel also accused Letizia of having had an affair with another journalist at that time.

Queen Letizia was accused of having had an affair during her first marriage.

Letizia has doubts about her relationship with Felipe

In 2002, King Felipe met Letizia at a dinner party thanks to an introduction from a friend. Meanwhile, some other reports claim that the two first met on an oil platform that Letizia came to report on.

According to the book, Letizia was dating Jaime del Burgo at the time. The author initially wrote that Letizia was unsure about dating Felipe, who was still the Crown Prince at the time. She allegedly told her best friend in Mexico that the future king was handsome but that she didn’t like men with curly hair.

Meeting Burgo at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid (Spain) the night the businessman intended to propose to her, Letizia first spoke about Felipe, but did not specify his identity, only saying that she had met someone who forced her to leave her job.

Jaime del Burgo is said to have advised his girlfriend not to make their relationship public while they are dating, but to wait until they are married.

The former Kings of Spain did not like Letizia

According to Peñafiel, Felipe’s parents, former King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, did not approve of their son marrying Letizia.

When his son announced his intention to marry a civilian journalist, Mr Juan Carlos declared: “I will destroy the monarchy.” Queen Sofia continued to cry and told Felipe: “Marriage is for life.”

Of course, Felipe did not listen to his parents’ arrangements. He gave him an ultimatum to allow Letizia to marry or he would renounce his right to inherit the throne.

Former King Juan Carlos finally had to give in when his son skipped the holiday parade and opted to stay in New York to attend a dinner hosted by Woody Allen.

In the book, Jaime del Burgo accuses Juan Carlos of refusing to pay Letizia’s family expenses before the wedding.

Former King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia did not accept Letizia becoming their royal daughter-in-law. Photo:  EPA.

Letizia refused to sign a prenuptial agreement

Jaime del Burgo claims to have helped Letizia arrange the prenuptial agreement after the news of the engagement was announced in 2003.

However, Burgo added that Letizia refused to sign the first draft drawn up by Palace advisers and was worried about what would happen to her future children if they separated.

According to Burgo, she called Felipe to warn him that the prenuptial agreement risked Letizia ending up like Princess Diana if they divorced.

“Felipe promised Letizia that if the marriage broke down, he would take care of her and respect her rights as a mother if they had children,” the author writes.

Former King Juan Carlos asked his son and his wife for a divorce

In 2013, the Spanish Royal Family was plunged into crisis when rumours began to spread that former King Juan Carlos had been unfaithful and had embezzled millions of dollars, leading to his abdication in September 2014.

Peñafiel wrote that in August of the same year, Juan Carlos asked his son for a divorce when Letizia left a family vacation at the Maravent Palace (Spain) in front of everyone.

According to the author, the former King of Spain wanted his son and his wife to stay in the palace for a few more days so that he could spend more time with his nieces. Letizia announced that she had an appointment and left alone. Mr. Juan Carlos is said to have asked: “Who did she call to pick her up at Madrid airport? Jaime del Burgo?”

Peñafiel said the argument between father and son was so tense and fierce that Juan Carlos was heard shouting outside: “We are going to get a divorce.”

The Spanish Royal Family has not yet commented on the accusations made by journalist Jaime Peñafiel.