Queen Sofia's Moroccan 'nightmare'

Nov 3, 2008, 11:00 GMT

Spain's Queen Sofia found visiting the former king of Morocco a "nightmare".

The 70-year-old vegetarian monarch, claims King Hassan II, ruler of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999, insisted on ignoring her dietary requests when she visited him.

She said: "Knowing that I do not eat meat, when he invited us to Morocco I would find it in all the dishes, disguised and hidden in doughnuts, in croquettes, in raviolis, in the rice, in the salad... a nightmare!"

Sofia also revealed her distress at Hassan's insistence at catering for himself when he visited her and husband King Juan Carlos in Madrid.

She added in new biography 'The Queen Up Close': "It was a little thing, but it really bothered me. He brought with him not only his cooks and scullions, but also beef, chickens, cheeses, lettuces, flour and butter to make the couscous.

"He would say that it was for his religion... but he didn't trust us."

This is not the only controversial comment which appears in 'The Queen Up Close' - last week, leaked extracts caused outrage when they appeared to detail the queen making homophobic comments.

King Juan Carlos' wife is quoted as saying: "I can understand, accept and respect that there are people of other sexual tendencies, but should they be proud to be gay? Should they ride on a parade float and come out in protests? If all of those of us who aren't gay came out to protest we would halt traffic.

"If those people want to live together, dress up like bride and groom and marry, they could have a right to do so, or not, depending on the law of their country, but they should not call this matrimony, because it isn't. There are many possible names: social contract, social union".