MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

No immunity: British Judiciary may try former Spanish King Juan Carlos I

His position under the Spanish constitution is “entirely honorary,” the judge said

Former King Juan Carlos I may be brought to Justice in the United Kingdom for the alleged harassment of his former mistress Corinna Larsen, Judge Matthew Nicklin ruled.

London's High Court Magistrate Nicklin last week found Juan Carlos, 84, was entitled to no immunity since he no longer is a head of state. “Whatever his special constitutional position following abdication, [Juan Carlos] is neither the sovereign nor the head of state of Spain.” His position under the Spanish constitution is “entirely honorary.”

The former monarch, who abdicated in favor of his son, may still bring the case to the Court of Appeal, which his lawyers Tuesday said they would do.

Larsen accuses Juan Carlos I of having subjected her to “harassment” since 2012 personally or through “agents” in his service, which, according to the plaintiff, “threatened” her safety.

Former Spanish Intelligence Chief Félix Sainz Roldán, reportedly went to London in 2012 to ask Larsen to put an end to the sentimental relationship she maintained with then-King Juan Carlos I. This is what Larson denounced as a threat in 2021, and which Roldán denies, along with alleged illegal follow-ups, threats and extortion.

“He told me that I knew things that could affect 45 million people and that he could not guarantee my personal safety or that of my children if I did not comply with his recommendations, which were actually orders. And that the king was thinking of abdicating,” she recounted. For Juan Carlos I's lawyers, these are “unfounded accusations.”

Larsen claims that her romance with Juan Carlos lasted between 2004 and 2009 when the ex-monarch met another woman and she decided to break up. However, they remained friends and in 2012 they both went on a safari in Botswana, where Juan Carlos broke his hip, for which he underwent emergency surgery, an incident that sped up his abdication.

The German-born Danish entrepreneur Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, also known as Corinna Larsen, 58, is suing Juan Carlos for “tens of millions of euros” in London's High Court. The former king, who ruled from 1975 until his abdication, denies any wrongdoing. The London-based Larsen filed a claim in December 2020 accusing Juan Carlos of harassment “from 2012 until the present time.” She is also seeking an injunction that would prevent Juan Carlos and his agents from coming within 150m of her home, communicating with her, making defamatory statements about her or tracking and harassing her.

Involved in several other scandals, Juan Carlos has moved to Abu Dhabi last year.

Twice-divorced Corinna became a princess through her second marriage, to German aristocrat Prince Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. She is a long-time friend of Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret's son. She has also been a regular at Prince Charles's philanthropic occasions and was honored at Buckingham Palace for her efforts in supporting the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Foundation.

Juan Carlos has not been charged with any offence but is facing three separate criminal probes in Spain. He was a popular monarch for most of his four-decade reign who played a critical role in the country's transition to democracy.