A new legal problem for Juan Carlos

All criminal investigations against former King Juan Carlos of Spain have just ended, when the next inconvenience threatens him and the Spanish royal family. The previous king failed in court.

Former King of Spain Juan Carlos has failed in a London court to bring a harassment suit from his ex-mistress over his immunity as a member of the royal family.

And the High Court in London said, Thursday, that it did not grant personal immunity to Juan Carlos, “whatever the status of the accused under Spanish law and constitution, he is no longer a ‘sovereign’ or ‘head of state’.”

Lawsuit filed against Juan Carlos for harassment

The court has set the next hearing on harassment allegations from Danish businesswoman Corina zu Sayn Wittgenstein-Sain v. Juan Carlos for next Tuesday. The 58-year-old has sued the former king in London for damages for harassment.

Her attorney, Robin Rathmel, said Thursday that the court’s decision against the immunity request “shows that this defendant cannot hide behind any position, authority or privilege to prevent this trial.”

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn: Born in Frankfurt, she was in a relationship with Juan Carlos. (Source: Mikhail Metzel / imago photos)

The allegations were rejected by Juan Carlos, who was president of Spain from 1975 until his abdication in 2014, “strongly”. In addition, his lawyers argued in a December motion that English courts were not empowered to try Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos couldn’t accept the breakup

The plaintiff said she was threatened, her property was broken into, and that Juan Carlos “asked the return of the gifts”. More “secret and open surveillance measures” as well as “criminal trespassing and criminal damage” to their property in England would have put them in “fear and awe”.

Shots were fired and security cameras at the front gate of their property were damaged. In the summer of 2017, a hole was drilled in her bedroom window while she was sleeping in her home in Shropshire, northwest England.

Juan Carlos, once revered for his role in Spain’s transition from fascist dictatorship to democracy, has been plagued by numerous scandals since his abdication. Among other things, it was about questionable gifts in the millions from Saudi Arabia and allegations of money laundering, in which his former lover was said to be involved. Both deny these allegations.

Juan Carlos does not want to return to Spain

Juan Carlos went into exile in Abu Dhabi in August 2020 on suspicion of embezzlement. In early March, the Spanish judiciary dropped its investigation of insufficient evidence, statute of limitations and inviolability enjoyed by Juan Carlos as head of state.

Although this paves the way for his return, the former king has said he will continue to live in the Emirati capital. Here he “found peace,” as he wrote in a letter published by the royal family in Madrid to his son, King Philip VI. At the same time, Juan Carlos announced that he “will, of course, return to Spain frequently.”