A £126m lawsuit brought against the former king of Spain by his ex-lover cannot go to trial in England, a judge has ruled.
Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, a Danish businesswoman with homes in England, was attempting to sue Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, in the high court of England and Wales. On Friday, the judge, Mrs Justice Rowena Collins Rice, said the case was outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn claims she suffered intrusive, intimidatory and adverse episodes since their relationship came to public attention in 2012 in the aftermath of an elephant-hunting trip to Botswana.
She alleged that this included ordering the then head of Spain’s national intelligence agency to harass and threaten her. Documents submitted to an earlier hearing alleged that a book about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was left in her home as a warning. Juan Carlos denied the claims made against him and had sought to have them struck out.
In her written judgment Collins Rice said her principal reason for not allowing the claim to proceed was “because it has not been brought against the defendant in his country of domicile, as is his default entitlement; and the claimant has not satisfied me she has a good arguable case that her claim falls within an exception to that default rule. That, in turn, is because she has not sufficiently established that the ‘harmful event’ of which she complains – harassment by the defendant – happened in England.”
The judge said even if she had concluded that the high court did have jurisdiction, she would have granted Juan Carlos’s application to strike out Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn’s claim because it did not apply with the rules for the drafting of a harassment claim. Other parts of the claim relating to alleged conduct before his abdication had previously been struck out on the grounds they were subject to state immunity.
Collins Rice said: “The claimant has an account she wishes to give of her personal and financial history with the defendant, and about the harm he has caused her peace of mind and personal wellbeing, and her business, social and family life. I take no view about that account as such.”
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn claims Juan Carlos’s alleged behaviour was connected to a payment of €65m (£56m) she says he made to her soon after the Botswana trip and told her was an unconditional gift before changing his mind.
She said she was “deeply disappointed” by the high court’s decision, adding: “Juan Carlos has deployed his full armoury to grind me down and the reach of his power is immense. I am considering all options.”
In a statement, Juan Carlos welcomed the ruling but expressed regret at “the outlay of energy and resources involved in the proceedings”.
The 85-year-old former monarch left Spain for Abu Dhabi in August 2020 after a series of damaging allegations were made about his business dealings that further dented his already battered reputation and embarrassed his son and successor, King Felipe. He has since visited Spain from time to time to take part in sailing competitions in Galicia.
However, the high court’s decision to throw out the case – together with the fact that three separate Spanish investigations into his financial affairs have been shelved – could clear the way for him to resume a more public role, and perhaps even allow him to consider returning to Spain permanently.
The former king’s representatives declined to comment on whether Juan Carlos was considering a permanent move back to Spain, adding: “His majesty is no longer facing any legal proceedings, thus re-establishing the conditions necessary for further public appearances, as he recently had the opportunity to do at the sailing competitions in which he took part, for example.”
Juan Carlos, who was long praised for the role he played in returning Spain to democracy after the Franco dictatorship, left the throne amid plummeting popularity.
Pictures of him posing in front of a dead elephant while in Botswana with Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn did not go down well in a country still reeling from the 2008 economic crisis.
