A legal case amounting to €145m (£126m), initiated by Danish businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn against former Spanish King Juan Carlos, has been summarily dismissed by a London court. The former consort made claims of an orchestrated scheme of harassment instigated by Carlos upon their relationship’s disintegration in 2012.
The intimidation campaign, according to zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, comprised unwarranted surveillance coupled with illicit intrusions. It allegedly originated following her refusal to return gifts from Carlos, with the cumulative value of these gifts spanning millions. Carlos, however, persistently refuted such accusations.
A consequential ruling on Friday disclosed an absence of jurisdiction by the High Court of England and Wales over the case. Judge Rowena Collins Rice, while abstaining from commenting on the credibility of the allegations, stated that zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, a British citizen, had been unable to concretely establish whether the harassment occurred within England.
Within the court’s verdict, the representatives of the octogenarian ex-monarch were quick to interpret it as a reaffirmation of his innocence. They took this opportunity to signal that the ruling provided required conditions for his renewed public appearances.
The Danish businesswoman, who has been seeking legal recourse against the harassment since 2020, expressed her deep disillusionment with the judge’s decision. Her statement noted that such outcomes only serve to illustrate the uphill battle faced by victims of harassment within our existing legal framework.
Prior to this court’s ruling, legal authorities in the UK had clarified in December of last year that she was not entitled to litigate the former monarch over actions taken during his reign, given his sovereign immunity.
Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn asserted that after their high-profile relationship soured on the heels of their 2012 expedition to Botswana—an event already infamous for elephant-hunting, and an injury necessitating Carlos’ urgent medical evacuation—the former king had coerced her into returning the €65m worth of gifts he had previously given her.
Known for steering Spain from dictatorship to democracy, Carlos abdicated his throne in 2014 amidst an array of scandals engulfing the royal family, including a corruption inquiry involving his son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, and a fraud-related Swiss probe into his questionable receipt of a multi-million dollar gift from Saudi Arabia.
Since 2020, Carlos has chosen a solitary life in the United Arab Emirates following his voluntary departure from Spain. His departure was in response to allegations of fraud that were eventually dismissed due to a lack of compelling evidence.
