Former king of Spain Juan Carlos seeks immunity in English court over harassment allegations

Former king’s ex-lover is seeking damages for ‘mental pain, anxiety and humiliation’

Ex king of Spain, Juan Carlos (AFP via Getty Images)

The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, is seeking immunity from the English courts after his ex-lover accused him of harassing and spying on her.

It was revealed in a London court on Monday that Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, a Danish businesswoman, is seeking damages for the “great mental pain, alarm, anxiety, distress, loss of wellbeing, humiliation and moral stigma she has suffered” over the former king’s alleged actions.

She had a five-year-long affair with the monarch.

The court documents alleged that the former king’s associate Gen Sanz Roldán — who was then the head of the Spanish national intelligence agency — and his colleagues began “threatening her and her children”.

The threats began, she has claimed, almost two years before Juan Carlos abdicated the throne and his son Felipe became the king — when Mr Roldán met her at London’s Connaught Rooms in 2012.

The former king has however denied any wrongdoing. And alleges that he is “entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of the English courts in his capacity as a senior member of the Spanish royal family”.

The arguments were heard in the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday by Justice Nicklin.

El Pais reported that the judge has called on Spain to confirm whether Juan Carlos is still part of the royal family. Justice Nicklin said: “I would feel much more comfortable if the Spanish state could confirm that Juan Carlos continues to be a member of the royal family.”

According to Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, the former king gave her “artwork, jewellery and financial gifts” even after they broke up.

However, when Mr Carlos allegedly started to rekindle the relationship again, and she refused, he started a “pattern of conduct amounting to harassment,” she claims.

She claims that he also “demanded the return of gifts”, started “threatening” her and “subsequently carried out or arranged a series of further acts of covert and overt surveillance, causing distress and anxiety”.

Jonathan Caplan QC, representing Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, said in written submissions that Juan Carlos was not entitled to state immunity, arguing that he had relinquished the status of “a sovereign or other head of state.”

He said: “The defendant is plainly not, and does not claim to be, a dependent of his son King Felipe VI.”

Sir Daniel Bethlehem QC, the attorney representing Juan Carlos, said that the former king “rejects the allegations made against him and any alleged wrongdoing by the Spanish state is denied in the strongest of terms.”