AP

MADRID THE 13-year-old grandson of Spain’s King Juan Carlos was recovering in a hospital on Tuesday after shooting himself in the foot accidentally with a shotgun, the royal palace said.

A palace official said the child, Felipe Juan Froilan, was handling a small-caliber shotgun on Monday at a country estate owned by his father when the gun went off and hit him in the right foot. His father was with him at the time.

Under Spanish law, it is illegal for children under 14 to possess or discharge firearms. A palace official declined to comment on the infraction.

It is now up to a judge to decide whether to punish the boy’s father. Spain’s Civil Guard police said he could face a fine of up to €6,000 ($7,900).

Widely known in Spanish media as simply Froilan, the boy is the son of Princess Elena, the eldest of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia’s three children.

His father is an aristocrat and banker named Jaime de Marichalar. The couple were divorced in 2009.

The royal palace said the boy underwent surgery on a toe overnight and will be hospitalised for a few days.

Froilan is the eldest of eight royal grandchildren.

It was not the first shooting incident in the royal family’s history.

In 1956, Juan Carlos was handling a gun that accidentally went off and killed his 14-year-old brother.

The accident happened in Estoril, Portugal.

The royal family has been the focus of much media attention in recent months on account of a judicial probe into whether the other princess’ husband – Inaki Urdangarin – used his privileged position to secure lucrative deals for a nonprofit foundation he ran, then fraudulently diverted some of the money for personal benefit.