Surgeons replaced Spanish King Juan Carlos's hip in Madrid on Saturday after he fractured it in a fall during a private visit to Botswana, the royal palace said.
The 74-year-old king "had a surgical operation on his hip this morning at USP San Jose Hospital in Madrid," the palace said in a statement.
"Juan Carlos had suffered a fracture of his right hip into three pieces, linked to arthritis," it added.
"A reconstruction of the parts of the fracture was carried out and a hip implant was installed."
It said Juan Carlos suffered an "accidental fall" in Botswana.
It was the fourth operation the king has undergone in the past two years.
He had a benign tumour removed from a lung in May 2010, and last June he was given an artificial right knee joint. Then in September he had a torn Achilles tendon repaired.
In November the king donned sunglasses at an official ceremony to hide a black eye that a palace spokesman said he sustained when he was "hit by a doorknob."
On Tuesday the royal family said that Juan Carlos's 13-year-old grandson Felipe Marichalar Borbon had shot himself in the foot with a shotgun.
Source: AFP Global Edition
