Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I is not immune from the crown and could be brought to trial to face charges that he sent Spanish agents to the UK to harass and threaten his ex-lover, a judge ruled today.
Lawyers for the 84-year-old former head of state argued in the High Court last December that English courts lacked jurisdiction to hear the case of Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, a wealthy businesswoman from London.
A 58-year-old Danish woman is seeking restitution for civilian damage, alleging she was threatened, her overseas property broken into and spied on after their relationship soured.
His lawyers, in turn, argued that he was not subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts, and that any charges should be heard in the Supreme Court of Spain.
But Judge Matthew Nicklin disagreed, stating that “whatever special status the defendant retained under the law and the Spanish constitution, he was no longer a ‘sovereign’ or ‘head of state’, which gave him the right to personal immunity.”
Spain’s former king Juan Carlos failed in his attempt to invoke crown immunity to avoid explosive claims that he sent Spanish agents to the UK to harass and threaten former mistress Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (they were seen together in Barcelona in 2006)
Juan Carlos, who lives in Abu Dhabi, was also “not a member of the family” of his son, the current king of Spain, Felipe VI, which would have given him legal protection, he added.
“The consequence of the court’s decision is that the civil action filed by the plaintiff will be allowed to proceed,” the summary of the decision says.
Lawyer Robin Rathmell, representing zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, said the decision showed that Juan Carlos “cannot hide behind position, power or privilege to avoid this lawsuit.”
Now he is “accountable to the English court … as a private individual.”
Juan Carlos, whose full name is listed in court documents as Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria De Borbón y Bourbon, vehemently denies the allegations.
The materials claimed that the king, who ruled from 1975 until his abdication in 2014, was in an “intimate romantic relationship” with zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn from 2004 to 2009.
Court documents accuse Juan Carlos of using spies to spy on her, hacking into her phones and the Internet, running a smear campaign and making death threats.
The royal family showered her with gifts even after they broke up. But things turned sour when she refused to rekindle the relationship, which was alleged to have led him to engage in “behavior amounting to harassment”.
In addition to threats, break-ins and surveillance, Juan Carlos “demanded the return of gifts” and she said she suffered “trespass and criminal damage” at her home in rural central England.
Court documents accuse Juan Carlos of using spies to surveil Ms. zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, hacking into her phones and the Internet, running a smear campaign and making death threats. (She is pictured in Monaco in 2014, six months after Juan Carlos abdicated)
She claimed that CCTV cameras were shot at and damaged at the main gate of the property, blaming the former king for getting angry at her refusals.
Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein claims she was bizarrely attacked at night at her £6m Chyknell Hall estate in Shropshire where security was breached and nothing was stolen but a hole was drilled in her bedroom window .
She had previously received an anonymous phone call threatening to die in a car accident in the French Tunnel – “between Monaco and Nice” – just like the late Princess Diana.
The documents allege that Juan Carlos and a high-ranking Spanish general organized mercenaries to take over her Monaco apartment in 2012 while she was living there.
Ms. zu Sayn-Wittgenstein had a five-year affair with married Juan Carlos, from 2004 to 2009, but court documents suggest the relationship ended when it became clear he was sleeping with other women.
The couple’s affair became public in 2012 when, after the relationship had already ended, it was revealed that they were on safari in Botswana with the son of Ms. zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.
The hunting trip outraged Spain, especially since it was reported that the king had shot the elephant.
Two years later, in June 2014, he gave way to his son Felipe VI and assumed the unofficial title of honorary king.
The twice-divorced Mrs. zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was previously married to a German aristocrat.
In an earlier interview, she said, “After eight years of abuse that has also been directed at my children, and with no end in sight, I reluctantly have no choice but to take legal action.”