Great stuff from Santiago, Chile, where one of the crowned heads of Europe has finally spoken up for an increasingly bored silent majority by publicly telling Hugo Chavez to go and fuck himself. 

Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to "shut up" as the Ibero-American summit drew to a close in Santiago, Chile.

The outburst came after Mr Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist". Mr Chavez then interrupted Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's calls for him to be more diplomatic, prompting the king's outburst. [...]

Mr Chavez called Mr Aznar, a close ally of US President George W Bush, a fascist, adding "fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Mr Zapatero said: "[Former Prime Minister] Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people."

Mr Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, despite his microphone being turned off. The king leaned forward and said: "Why don't you shut up?"

Not only that, but JC's choice of phrase - "¿Por qué no te callas?" - was the sort of thing you might say to a particularly obnoxious teenager.

To the King's eternal credit, it silenced Chavez - but, predictably, the respite was brief. By yesterday, he was accusing Juan Carlos of complicity in the abortive 2002 coup, and launching the fightback: "I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up", he was quoted as saying. "Mr King, we are not going to shut up."

Maybe not. But if it takes an unelected monarch to speak truth to power, then so be it.