A young member of the Spanish royal family has been accused of racially abusing a staff member at a theme park in Madrid, after being told that he was not allowed to jump the queue for a ride.

A nephew of King Felipe, 16-year-old Don Froilán, apparently lost his temper at the Parque de Atracciones last week, when he attempted to jump a long queue. After being challenged by a schoolteacher, Froilán is alleged to have said: “I’m fourth in line to the Spanish throne.”

According to El Economista newspaper, an attendant at the park then told the teenager that he would have wait his turn for the ride, at which point, Froilán shouted: “You shut up, you f***ing chino.” “Chino” is used in Spain to describe a person of Chinese origin.

It is not the first time Froilán – or Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y Borbón, to give him his full name – has found himself in trouble.

Last year, he was kicked out of school after twice failing his exams, and in 2012 he managed to shoot himself in the foot during a hunting trip. At the time he was not yet 14, the minimum legal age to use firearms in Spain.

Indeed, while the popularity of Spain’s immediate royal family has soared since King Felipe came to the throne last year, those on the periphery of the family find themselves in ever-hotter water. Froilán is the son of the King’s sister, Elena, the Duchess of Lugo. His aunt is Cristina, the Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, who is set to become the first Spanish royal family member ever to stand trial.

Last November, a court upheld tax fraud charges against her, but dropped allegations of money laundering. The case concerns her husband’s business dealings and, if found guilty, Princess Cristina could face 11 years in prison.

King Felipe was crowned last year, after the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos.

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Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia of Spain with the Cervantes Award 2013 winner Mexican author Elena Poniatowska before the Cervantes Awards ceremony at the Alcala de Henares University in Alcala de Henares, near of Madrid, 2014 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and their granddaughters Spain's King Juan Carlos, Spain's Queen Sofia and their granddaughters Sofia (L) and Leonor (R) before the traditional Mass of Resurrection in Palma de Mallorca, 2014 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos of Spain receives new ambassadors King Juan Carlos of Spain (C) receives new ambassadors at the Royal Palace in Madrid, 2013 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos with his family (L-R) Spain's King Juan Carlos I, Queen Sofia, Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon, Princess Letizia, Princess Elena, Princess Cristina and her husband Inaki Urdangarin taking part in a reception at the Royal Palace after an army parade to mark Spain's National Day in Madrid, 2011 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos with Prince Charles Spain's King Juan Carlos I (2L) and his wife Queen Sofia (2R), Spain's Crown Prince Felipe (R) and his wife Princess Letizia (L) welcome Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (3R), and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (3L) before a lunch at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, 2011 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos with Queen Sofia Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia wave as they appear on the balcony of the royal palace after the wedding ceremony of Crown Prince Felipe de Bourbon and Letizia Ortiz in Madrid, 2004 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos with Bolivian President Hugo Banzer Suarez Bolivian President Hugo Banzer Suarez (L) and Spanish King Juan Carlos (R) review a guard of honor in La Paz upon the Spanish monarch's arrival in 2000 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia laying a wreath Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia wave to a crowd in Montevideo after laying a wreath at the monument of Jose Artigas, hero of the Uruguayan revolution, 1996 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos outside Cathedral of Santiago King Juan Carlos of Spain waving as he walks out the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela after the Santiago pilgrimage mass in 1999 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King of Spain Juan Carlos with Cuba's President Fidel Castro Cuba's President Fidel Castro and King of Spain Juan Carlos wave upon the King's arrival to the Havana's airport in 1999 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King of Spain Juan Carlos delivers a speech King of Spain Juan Carlos delivers a speech at the national Assembly in Paris, 1993 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain Spanish King Juan Carlos with French President Francois Mitterrand Spanish King Juan Carlos (L) and hid wife Queen Sofia (R) with French President Francois Mitterrand (C) and French first lady Danielle Mitterrand (2nd R) at Elysee Palace in Paris, during their official visit in 1985 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain Prince Juan Carlos receives dynastic rights Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon (3-L), his wife, Princes Sofia (2-L), their son prince Felipe de Borbon (L) and his mother Maria de las Mercedes (R) listening to his father count of Barcelona Juan (2-R) annoucing he gave up his dynastic rights to his son Prince Juan Carlos in 1977 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain King Juan Carlos and Spanish dictator General Francisco King Juan Carlos and Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco salute the crowd in Madrid in 1975 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife princess Sophia's wedding Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife princess Sophia of Greece in Athens during their wedding in 1962 In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain Prince Juan Carlos with his wife Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Princess Sofia of Greece in the 1960s In pictures: Reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain Prince Juan Carlos in Military Academy Prince Juan Carlos of Spain in the Military Academy of Zaragoza between 1955-57

A hero to many for helping to restore democracy to Spain after the 40-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos’s later years on the throne were dogged by scandals.

At the height of the financial crisis, which hit Spain especially hard, the former king was photographed hunting elephants in Botswana.