Former king accused of spying on ex-lover
LONDON • The former lover of King Juan Carlos of Spain is suing him for damages, claiming he harassed her and put her under illegal surveillance in the U.K.
Corinna zu Sayn-wittgenstein, who has a country estate in Shropshire in the English Midlands, is accusing the former monarch of threatening and defaming her, documents filed at the High Court in London show.
Sayn-wittgenstein, 56, claims the Spanish intelligence service has also been conducting “unlawful covert and overt surveillance” on her since 2012.
She is seeking substantial damages and a restraining order. The Danish businesswoman alleges that the surveillance included tracking her vehicle, trespassing on her property and hacking her phone and computer.
She claims to have discovered a “perfectly drilled hole” in the bedroom window of her private estate, Chyknell Hall, where she lives with her son. She also alleges a man followed her as she shopped in Knightsbridge, and menacingly said to her, “Hola Corinna.”
Her claims include that Juan Carlos wrongly accused her of stealing a silver elephant and candelabra set from one of the royal residences in Spain. She also alleges he is behind false rumours that she has attempted to blackmail the Spanish royal family.
Sayn-wittgenstein’s claim was filed at the High Court in December 2020. Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, has not filed a defence but denies wrongdoing. Her claim under U.K. jurisdiction could be an issue, given that Juan Carlos does not live there and is Spain’s former head of state.
At the heart of the case is a payment of 55 million pounds made by Juan Carlos to her in 2012. In her claim, Sayn-wittgenstein claims that Juan Carlos told her he “wanted to ensure that she and her children would be provided for” but was “concerned that his family would challenge anything he left to her in his will, after his death.”
However, she alleges that Juan Carlos later asked for the money back or be “made available for his use.” She claims that, after she declined, he falsely accused her of stealing the funds and defamed her to her family and business partners, as well as to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
This resulted in a loss of income from her job as a “strategic consultant working with high-net worth individuals and with leading companies around the world,” her claim states.