I’m a victim as well, claims former lover of ex-king Juan Carlos as scandals push Spain’s monarchy to brink

As its former king flees, Spain’s monarchy looks increasingly fragile, reports Graham Keeley

Corinna Sayn Wittgenstein (Getty/Opera Italiana Is In The Air)

The ex-lover of the former Spanish king Juan Carlos has claimed she is a victim of a political conspiracy after being summoned to court following her allegations that the royal was illegally paid millions in a rail deal.

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was due to give evidence before a Spanish court next week in a highly anticipated hearing but the case has been delayed indefinitely after prosecutors challenged the judge’s decision to bring the case.

It is the latest twist in an ongoing tale of monarchy, missing millions and mistresses, which has intrigued and appalled Spaniards in equal measure.

Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein and her ex-lover have been under scrutiny over allegations that in 2008 Juan Carlos was paid $100m, then €65m, by the Saudis for commissioning construction of a railway. 

Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, is living in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates after a financial scandal made him decide to leave Spain to avoid embarrassing his son, King Felipe VI.

The affair has raised questions about the future of the monarchy in a country which has had a troubled relationship with royalty.

Pablo Iglesias, Spain’s deputy prime minister who is the leader of the far-left Unidas Podemos party, this week called on supporters to seize on this “historic crisis for the monarchy” and push for a republic.

Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein alleged in tapes recorded by a former police officer in London that Juan Carlos received kickbacks for helping to broker the rail deal. The tapes were later leaked to the media in 2018.

In July, the 56-year-old London businesswoman was put under investigation over the meeting with José Manuel Villarejo, the police officer, for allegedly commissioning him to obtain information about a Spanish citizen. She faces no charges.  

However, prosecutors appealed against the judge’s decision to bring the Spanish case, saying there was no evidence. The hearing was delayed.

“There are political motivations behind this case in Spain, a case which has no basis whatsoever,” a spokesperson for Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein said. “Spanish prosecutors have publicly said there is no evidence. All of this persecution and those behind it will ultimately be exposed.”

Lawyers for Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein are applying to get the case thrown out of court.

Separately, she plans to take legal action in a London court, claiming she has been harassed by the Spanish secret services in Britain. Juan Carlos will figure prominently.

The Spanish justice ministry declined to comment.

The case in Spain is another chapter in a legal saga for the man who reigned over it for nearly 40 years. He had a relationship with Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein between 2004 and 2009.

A Swiss inquiry into secret offshore accounts linked to the 82-year-old former monarch is investigating Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein for alleged money laundering over a €65m payment made to her by the ex-monarch in 2012.

Yves Bertossa, a Swiss prosecutor, is looking at the alleged $100m donation to Juan Carlos – or €65m at the time – from Abdullah, the late king of Saudi Arabia, in 2008.

The prosecutor is investigating whether the donation and the payment to Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein were linked to the alleged payment of illegal commissions for the construction of a railway in Saudi Arabia by a Spanish consortium in 2011.

Lawyers for Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein say the payment was a gift and deny that it is linked with illegal commissions.

In Spain, public prosecutors are investigating if there is enough evidence to start proceedings for money laundering and tax crimes against Juan Carlos over his alleged ties to the suspected kickbacks.

Under the Spanish constitution, reigning monarchs are immune from prosecution but investigators want to explore if any criminal activities occurred after the king abdicated in 2014.

The former king has not commented publicly but his lawyer Javier Sanchez has said that his client is at the disposition of prosecutors.

A once popular figure in Spain, credited with ushering in democracy after the death of the dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975, Juan Carlos faced down conspirators who staged an armed coup in 1982.

However, nearly 40 years on, Juan Carlos has become a millstone for his son Felipe, who came to the throne after a series of embarrassing scandals forced out his father.

Whispers of affairs with women to whom the king was not married were kept under wraps by a submissive media.

All this changed in 2012, when injury forced Juan Carlos to return to Madrid from Botswana, where he had been on a secret elephant hunting safari with Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein, sparking outrage among Spaniards struggling to get by in deep recession.

Rumours had swirled for years about Juan Carlos allegedly spiriting money abroad in connection from brokering deals for Spanish businesses, but experts believe it was “el caso elefante” that prompted his downfall.

“This image of a rich man on an elephant hunting trip at a time when Spain was in the middle of a desperate recession did [nothing] for the monarchy,” said Francisco Javier Álvarez García, a professor of criminal law at the Carlos III University in Madrid.

“I seriously doubt Felipe’s heir and daughter Leonor will be queen. There is little hope for the monarchy.”

At just 14, Princess Leonor has made a series of public appearances, prompting speculation she is being groomed to make monarchy appeal to a younger generation.

Despite financial scandals dogging his father, Felipe remained untarnished – until March this year when it was revealed the king was named as a beneficiary of the Lucum Foundation, an entity which received a $65m donation from the king of Saudi Arabia.

Felipe renounced his inheritance from his father and stripped the ex-monarch of his annual allowance of €194,000 (£177,000).

After a daily drip-feed of highly damaging stories, Juan Carlos announced he was leaving Spain in August.

The royal family’s troubles have prompted republicans to hope their moment has come.

“Less and less people in Spain understand, especially young people, that in the 21st century, citizens cannot choose who their head of state is and that he does not have to answer to justice like any other citizen and cannot be removed from charge if you commit a crime,” said Pablo Iglesias.

Polls have provided a mixed picture of what Spaniards make of the troubles of their royal family.

Readers of conservative newspapers generally backed the monarchy while left-wingers supported a referendum on the issue.

Significantly, the respected government-run Centre for Sociological Investigation refused requests by left-wing parties to ask Spaniards what they thought of the royal family.

“They are too scared of what people will say,” said Professor Àlvarez.

However, the Socialists and conservative People’s Party oppose any reform of the constitution, which is necessary for a referendum to happen.

And what of the fate of the man once hailed as converting generations of Spaniards into, if not monarchists, then Juan Carlistas?

Royal watchers believe the octogenarian ex-monarch will never return to Spain – unless it is to face trial.

“Recently, I spoke to someone who is close to the king and he said, ‘I am not kidding you, Pilar, he will not return’,” Pilar Eyre, an author and journalist, told The Independent.

The royal household declined to comment.