Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I seeks immunity from ex-lover’s spying claims
- Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn says the royal showered her with gifts, but things turned sour when she refused to rekindle their relationship
- The 57-year-old Danish businesswoman alleges she was threatened, and that gunshots were fired at and damaged security cameras at the front gate of her property
Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I is seeking immunity from the English courts after his ex-lover accused him of spying on and harassing her, a London court was told on Monday.
Danish businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn is seeking civil personal injury damages claim against the ex-monarch at the High Court.
But the 83-year-old Juan Carlos, who ruled from 1975 until his abdication in 2014, denies wrongdoing and argues that as a Spanish royal, English courts have no jurisdiction.
Court documents claimed that the pair were in an “intimate romantic relationship” between 2004 and 2009 and that the royal showered her with gifts, even after they broke up.
But the situation turned sour when she declined to rekindle the relationship, leading him to pursue “a pattern of conduct amounting to harassment”, it was alleged.
The 57-year-old claimant alleged she was threatened, had her overseas properties broken into, and that the now Abu Dhabi-based former king “demanded the return of gifts”.
