The exiled and disgraced former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, is to sue his ex-lover Corinna Larsen for defamation, in the hope of being awarded “substantial compensation”.
Juan Carlos will also demand that Larsen retract her claim that a €65 million “donation” from Saudi Arabia that he paid into her bank account was a “gift” from him to her. The former monarch says that he only gave the money to her for safekeeping and that she had kept it when he asked for it back.
The defamation case against Larsen, which Juan Carlos has lodged in a Swiss court, according to Spanish media reports, is the latest clash in a series of legal battles between the former lovers.
Juan Carlos, who abdicated in favour of his son King Felipe VI in 2014 amid corruption scandals, is trying to re-establish his reputation ahead of the 50th anniversary of his ascension to the throne in November.
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“In addition to restoring his honour, he also intends to claim substantial compensation from Larsen,” La Vanguardia newspaper reported, quoting “direct sources with the emeritus king”, referring to Juan Carlos’s official title. The report added that he had commissioned a London law firm to represent him in the Swiss courts.
Juan Carlos is also preparing to sue his former lawyer, Dante Canonica, who managed a fund into which “donations” to him were allegedly paid. Canonica, along with the lawyer Arturo Fasana and Larsen, were the subject of an investigation by the Swiss public prosecutor’s office, which accused them of money laundering. The case was eventually dropped.
According to El Mundo, Juan Carlos’s lawsuit against Larsen and Canonica is for alleged fraud.
The relationship between Juan Carlos, 87, and Larsen, 60, who were romantically involved between 2004 and 2009, was definitively severed when she filed a lawsuit against him in 2022 in the UK, claiming €146 million and accusing him of harassment, surveillance and intimidation.
She claimed that he orchestrated a campaign against her when she refused to return the €65 million donation from Saudi Arabia.
Larsen, however, said she offered to return the €65 million to an account in Spain in Juan Carlos’s name, declared to the Spanish tax authorities but that he refused. The British courts concluded in October 2023 that Juan Carlos could not be tried in the UK.
Larsen has made numerous accusations against Juan Carlos about his financial activities and personal affairs, claiming in all of them that the money she received from him was a gift and compensation for the years they spent together.
Juan Carlos’s fall from grace began when it emerged in 2012 that he had been on an elephant-hunting trip in Botswana with Larsen while Spain languished in economic crisis.
The media caught wind of it after he had to be flown home to Madrid for an emergency hip replacement. The Spanish press, breaking the taboo on reporting Juan Carlos’s alleged affairs, published photos of Larsen, who goes by the name of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn from her former marriage.
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The source of the €65 million donation was at the heart of corruption and money-laundering investigations in Switzerland and Spain, all of which have been discontinued.
In 2020 Juan Carlos was stripped of his €200,000 annual state stipend as emeritus king after revelations concerning offshore funds. He was forced into exile in Abu Dhabi amid several investigations into his business affairs. He has now settled his tax debts with Spain and the investigations have been shelved.
He remains unable to return permanently to Spain as his full-time residence is opposed by the Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, and reportedly by Felipe, who has tried to restore the monarchy’s standing in a country with a strong republican history.
Last week it emerged that Juan Carlos has launched a defamation case against Miguel Ángel Revilla, the former head of the Cantabria region, who is fond of publicly accusing the former monarch of corruption.
Spanish commentators have expressed surprise at Juan Carlos’s decision to “defend his honour in court”, in spite of people close to him having advised against it. “The reasons given by the King’s father are based on his conviction that his historical legacy derived from the successes of his reign has been overshadowed by the accusations and statements made against him,” stated La Vanguardia.
Juan Carlos wants to be remembered for his role in restoring democracy after the death of the dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975 and facing down a coup d’état in 1981.
The report added: “He also complains to his close circle that the Zarzuela [palace, the seat of his son, Felipe] has done nothing to defend him.”
This article was amended on April 10 to add Ms Larsen’s statement that she offered to return the €65 million payment.
