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(NewsNation) — King Felipe of Spain is facing humiliation and extreme embarrassment after several books have come out alleging his wife, Queen Letizia, had a yearslong affair with her brother-in-law, ​​Jaime Del Burgo, 53. 

Del Burgo, who contributed to the tell-all book about Queen Letizia, “Letizia & I,” by journalist Jaime Peñafiel, alleged he was dating Letizia before she met the king … and continued their affair for years after she married him [The Spanish royal family has declined comment.].

The king was further “crushed and destroyed” when Peñafiel published his second book about the couple, “Letizia’s Silences,” which just pubbed in Spain. 

According to the book, “Felipe was ‘aware that Letizia was cheating on him in real time’ as her bodyguards have an obligation to report on her whereabouts.”

Also in the book, Del Burgo, who said he helped Letizia with her prenuptial agreement, claims the now-queen asked to see him the night before the wedding at the exclusive El Latigazo restaurant in Madrid — where she asked him to “never leave” her.

According to the book, “Felipe has been ‘plunged into hell’ by his wife’s supposed ‘betrayal’ and ‘wants to get out.’”

But some friends say the two should have never married — because not only was Letizia apparently in love with Del Burgo, Felipe wasn’t quite over his ex-girlfriend (I am withholding the name as she is a private citizen) who had broken up with him due to the intense media scrutiny she and her family were put under. And so he had to find someone who could handle the paparazzi … and quick.

“He was being pressured to marry and produce heirs — the timing was right,” an insider said. Felipe was 36 when he married, and his family was anxious for him to continue the family line.

Letizia, a former news anchor who didn’t mind the media attention (in fact, craved it, my source said), met the now-king sometime in 2002, but my sources say they didn’t start dating until a few months before their engagement was announced in November 2003. Five months later, on May 21, 2003, the couple married at the Almudena Cathedral at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

But while Felipe was happy, his family and friends never took to Letizia — and the antipathy worsened over the years. 

In “Letizia’s Silences,” Penafiel notes: “Letizia’s ‘passive aggressive’ behaviour towards King Felipe is the reason her ‘mother-in-law [Queen Sofia] and sisters-in-laws [Infanta Cristina and the Duchess of Lugo] hate her so much.’”

And I remember a secret trip the king made to New York City in the fall of 2003 to tell his ex he was proposing.

He met the woman at APT, a small secluded club in the meatpacking district with a secret entrance, around 9 p.m. — before anyone else arrived. 

He only had eyes for her and didn’t talk or look at anyone else. They left to chat privately for about 45 minutes, and when they came back, it was clear both had been crying and the then-prince left. 

“They’re getting engaged — he needs to marry,” the woman told me. “It’s really over.”

The two still loved each other — and if he had been an anonymous investment banker would still be together … but Felipe needed someone who could handle the limelight, which Letizia thrived in. 

Penafiel alleges Felipe and Letizia are now living separate lives and just “keeping up appearances in public.”