Targeted by a complaint from his ex-partner, who accused him in particular of harassment, the ex-king of Spain obtained immunity from British justice until his abdication in 2014.
Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, also known as Corinna Larsen, had filed a harassment complaint in October 2020 in London, where she lives, and was seeking compensation for psychological harm and loss of income due to anxiety, as well as restraining order.
She claimed that after their breakup, from 2012, she had been spied on and harassed for eight years on the orders of the 84-year-old ex-head of state, who abdicated in June 2014, i.e. for a period in great part after the abdication. This 57-year-old Danish businesswoman, but also her children, have allegedly been threatened.
The case is not closed
But the ex-king, who has lived in exile since 2020 in the United Arab Emirates and firmly denies the accusations, had initiated legal proceedings to have his immunity recognized.
British judges ruled on Tuesday that the acts alleged against the former monarch during the “prior to the abdication” period, from 2012 to 2014, were covered by immunity “in the courts” of the United Kingdom. But this decision does not put an end to the procedure because most of the facts denounced by Corinna Larsen are after 2014.
Sovereign from 1957 to 2014, Juan Carlos saw his popularity plummet after personal scandals and revelations about his lavish lifestyle in Spain from 2012 and his relationship with Corinna Larsen. Juan Carlos abdicated in favor of his son Felipe VI, who distanced himself from him. The origin of his fortune has also been the subject of several criminal proceedings in Spain for corruption and embezzlement, closed since March.