Former Spanish king Juan Carlos can only be prosecuted for possible misconduct during the time he was no longer a monarch. The 84-year-old former king, who ruled until 2014, was sued by a former mistress. She accuses him, among other things, of years of misconduct and slander.
With the decision on appeal, part of the charges against his Danish-German ex-girlfriend Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn are dropped. She became her lover in 2004, but the relationship ended when she went public in 2012 over a controversial safari trip in Botswana. He is still married to Sofia of Greece.
The now 57-year-old Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn accuses him of molesting her for years. He would also threaten her and deliberately violate her good name. Juan Carlos would also have British and Spanish secret services spy on her for no apparent reason.
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who has lived in England since 2015, went to court to seek substantial damages and enforce measures against defamation and threats.
Juan Carlos denies all allegations. He retired to the UAE in 2020 following a corruption scandal in Spain. He had previously tried unsuccessfully to dismiss all charges with the title of king, but in the eyes of British judges he hasn’t been king since June 2014.
