Spain’s former king does not have immunity, can be tried for harassment: UK court

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – The UK High Court on Thursday rejected the immunity claim of Spain’s former King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, meaning he could stand trial for harassing his ex-mistress.

British Judge Matthew Nicklin concluded that the monarch's legal team failed to justify assertions that the former king was immune to legal prosecution in this case.

Earlier this month, Spanish prosecutors dropped all investigations against the former king. Despite finding numerous “irregularities” around his financial conduct, arguments regarding his immunity and a statute of limitations helped clear up legal proceedings in Spain.

But he may have to stand trial in the UK over allegations made by Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a Danish businesswoman with whom he had a five-year affair.

She accuses the former king of getting members of Spain’s spy agency to break into her homes and, in one case, leave behind a book about Princess Diana’s death on her coffee table.

She also asserts that they spied on her at her UK home, even drilling a hole into her bedroom window and shooting down her CCTV cameras.

At the time, she said Juan Carlos was asking her to return gifts including nearly €65 million ($71.5 million) cash.

But the lawyers of the king, who abdicated in 2014, said sovereign immunity should apply to the case because the only way Juan Carlos could have used Spain’s intelligence agency to harass his former mistress was in his role as king.

Sayn-Wittgenstein is seeking damages for pain and suffering related to the alleged harassment.