1 of 1 King Juan Carlos I of Spain waves to the press outside Palma de Mallorca Cathedral after the traditional Easter mass April 1, 2018 Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP/Archive King Juan Carlos I of Spain waves to the press Press in front of the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca after the traditional Easter Mass on April 1, 2018 Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP/File
The legal battle between Juan Carlos de Borbón, the Emeritus King of Spain, and his former lover, the Danish woman Corinna zu SaynWittgensteinSayn, who is demanding around US$ 165 million (R$ 796 million in current exchange rates) for molestation her years The case was reopened this Tuesday (8) before a British court charged with clarifying preliminary questions.
Corinna is a 58yearold businesswoman, divorced from a German prince, and also known by her maiden name Larsen. She filed a civil suit in October 2020 in London, where she resides. She denounces Juan Carlos for threats, assaults, persecution and defamation.
Adam Wolanski, the new lawyer for the king emeritus of Spain, said the Dane is seeking R$796 million for psychological damages.
At a preliminary hearing before London Judge Rowena Collins Rice, the lawyer argued that the case could not go to trial because London did not have jurisdiction in the case and there were formal and procedural flaws in the judge’s conduct.
His lawyers have been trying to prevent the case from being judged for two years.
The King Emeritus’ lawyer says Juan Carlos’s former lover says Britain’s Protection from Harassment Act 1997 barred “defamation of reputation” and that the former lover’s case was based on “loss of business due to damage to reputation”.
Juan Carlos’ representative also says that the English courts have no jurisdiction to judge acts that took place in places like Monaco and Switzerland: “Harassment abroad committed by a person who is not a British national or has his habitual residence in England and Wales.’ is not regulated by law’.
He also said that the former lover changed his suit 11 times.
The Dane claims the 85yearold former monarch, with whom she had an extramarital relationship between 2004 and 2009, has been harassing her since 2012 for gifts worth €65 million (R$352.5 million at current exchange rates) win back). ).
She claimed, among other things, that people had illegally entered her homes and that someone drilled a hole in her bedroom window while she was sleeping on June 21, 2017. Years later, in April 2020, someone shot her through the security cameras at her property.
Juan Carlos denies the allegations.
The date the king abdicated
Juan Carlos’ lawyers argue that he enjoyed immunity as a head of state and royalty in England. However, he abdicated the throne in June 2014.
However, the Danish lawyers say the alleged harassment was greater from that point on.
Juan Carlos’ attorney said Tuesday that the statute of limitations would limit the final judgment to acts known six years prior to the filing of the trial, on October 16, 2014.
Threats, harassment, invasions
Juan Carlos I was appointed head of state in 1975 after the death of dictator Francisco Franco and for decades was respected for enabling the return of democracy to Spain.
But the proliferation of scandals from 2012, including the relationship with the Dane, who became known for a trip to Botswana to hunt elephants, tarnished his image.
In June 2014 he finally resigned in favor of his son Felipe VI. back, who has now distanced himself from his father.
Later revelations by Larsen about alleged wrongdoing led to the King Emeritus going into exile in the United Arab Emirates in August 2020.
In March 2022, the Spanish Ministry of State concluded investigations into the unclear origin of his wealth.
In December 2021, Swiss justice closed an investigation into his assets, including $100 million paid by Saudi Arabia to the Lucum Foundation, linked to the former king, which resulted in the financial “gift” to Larsen.
From 2012, Juan Carlos “demanded the return of the gifts”, was “threatening” and organized “covert and open surveillance”, involving the Spanish secret services, including its director at the time, General Félix Sanz Roldán, denouncing the former lover .
The king’s lawyer invoked this fact Tuesday to claim that Larsen in 2012 “attributed the harassment campaign” to Sanz Roldán and “factions of the royal family” and not to Juan Carlos.
Soon after, his colleague Alexander Thompson argued that “the actions of the state organs” enjoy “immunity.”
Larsen sent letters to Felipe VI. himself and his wife Letizia and threatened to reveal dangerous information against the monarchy, assured Wolanski. But he never wrote to report his lawsuit, he said.
The preliminary hearings will continue until Friday. Danish lawyer Jornathan Caplan will begin his arguments on Wednesday.