London’s High Court throws out case against Spain’s ex-king Juan Carlos

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A high-profile lawsuit brought against Spain’s former king Juan Carlos by his ex-lover was thrown out by London’s High Court on Friday.

Juan Carlos, 85, has been fighting a court battle against his ex-lover Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein since 2020. She has accused the former king and the Spanish secret service of harassment and putting her under illegal surveillance in the UK since 2012, and was seeking substantial damages and a restraining order.

But Mrs Justice Rowena Collins Rice on Friday dismissed the case, saying the English courts lacked the powers to hear the claims and that Sayn-Wittgenstein had not properly established that the alleged harassment had occurred in England.

“My principal conclusion is that the High Court of England and Wales lacks jurisdiction to try this claim,” the judge said in her ruling.

The former king abdicated in favour of his son, King Felipe VI, in 2014 and moved to Abu Dhabi in 2020 under a cloud of personal and financial scandals that damaged the standing of the Spanish royal family.

He has made three brief trips back to Spain since going into exile and has always strongly denied what he described as “unsubstantiated allegations” in the lawsuit.

A statement issued on behalf of the former king on Friday welcomed the ruling and appeared to hint at a return to public life.

“Today’s decision, favourable to His Majesty, re-establishes the conditions necessary for further public appearances,” it said. “While His Majesty Juan Carlos regrets the outlay of energy and resources involved in the proceedings, he nonetheless welcomes the decision of the High Court of London, which unsurprisingly confirms his innocence.”

At the heart of the case is a payment of €65mn made by Juan Carlos to Sayn-Wittgenstein in 2012.

Sayn-Wittgenstein claims the ex-king told her at the time that the payment was an unconditional gift, but she contends he had since put her under improper pressure to allow him to control or make use of it.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Juan Carlos has challenged the High Court’s ability to hear the claim on the grounds that his purported conduct was subject to state immunity, arising from his past position as head of state in Spain.

Last year, the Court of Appeal agreed and struck out parts of the lawsuit relating to alleged episodes before his abdication. In July, the ex-king’s lawyers asked the High Court to strike out the rest of the lawsuit.

Sayn-Wittgenstein said she was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling. “Juan Carlos has deployed his full armoury to grind me down and the reach of his power is immense. I am considering all options,” she added.