King Juan Carlos - Fiscal Investigations, Inheritance and Exile : 2018-2022

[Somebody]

So he’s staying there and may drop back in on Spain occasionally.

I appreciate that he apologized and I think there’s a part of him that’s sincere, a bigger part that regrets it all inconveniences him, and it still sounds like he wants to have his cake and eat it too.

At least he agreed to go under the radar.

Edit: Wait, does he sincerely regret what he did or just the public opinion of it?

My reading of that sentence in Spanish is that 'que' refers to the 'acontecimientos pasados', so the events themselves (that were both 'part of his private life' AND 'that he sincerely regrets') and not the public opinion.

Soy consciente de la trascendencia para la opinión pública de los acontecimientos pasados de mi vida privada y que lamento sinceramente

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Very interesting. Were the reports alleging the king emeritus's wish to return to live in Spain incorrect (and if so, why?), or does that continue to be his silent hope for the long term? It's noticeable that his letter does not rule out an eventual move back to Spain and nor does it express firm reasons for his claimed preference for the UAE.

 

[Somebody]

Very interesting. Were the reports alleging the king emeritus's wish to return to live in Spain incorrect (and if so, why?), or does that continue to be his silent hope for the long term? It's noticeable that his letter does not rule out an eventual move back to Spain and nor does it express firm reasons for his claimed preference for the UAE.

Given that he explicitly references the possibility to reside in Spain in the future again (as part of a private arrangement), my take is that they are taking a phased approach: after his full exile, the first step includes 'visits' to Spain (that can be increased in length over time) - depending on the public's response, the final phase of fully returning to Spain will be considered.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Given that he explicitly references the possibility to reside in Spain in the future again (as part of a private arrangement), my take is that they are taking a phased approach: after his full exile, the first step includes 'visits' to Spain (that can be increased in length over time) - depending on the public's response, the final phase of fully returning to Spain will be considered.

I fully agree with that. I mean, he's 84. There won't be too many years ahead of him commuting between Spain and UAE. I think in the end, he wants to die in Spain so he will eventually move there permanently, in the not too distant future. Of course if fate allows him to do so.

 

[Marengo]

I suppose there will be other options available to him than to reside in Zarzuela? It must be akward for his wife to have him back at the dining table all of a sudden.

 

[muriel]

I suppose there will be other options to him than to reside in Zarzuela? It must be akward for his wife to have him back at the dining table all of a sudden.

I think it is many years since his wife and he have been at the same family dining table, so I don't think Queen Sofia worries too much about that.

 

[Stefan]

I suppose there will be other options to him than to reside in Zarzuela? It must be akward for his wife to have him back at the dining table all of a sudden.

I think the private Part of Zarzela is big enough so it would be surely possible for both of them having separate Appartements.

 

[muriel]

I think the private Part of Zarzela is big enough so it would be surely possible for both of them having separate Appartements.

Possibly. I appreciate it may be convenient to put J-C on a property on the Zarzuela estate and keep him safe there. However, I am not sure if the letter could be interpreted to mean that he may choose to live privately when in Spain, and not in a government property.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The old king could use La Mareta on the island of Lanzarote ,its been rarely used since the death of the Dowager Countess of Barcelona in 2000.

 

[lula]

If Juan Carlos showed anything after his abdication, it is that he wanted to enjoy life (in luxury and paid for by his friends)... trips, private planes, lunches, sailing... and as long as he lives in Spain and is exposed to public opinion and the press, he cannot enjoy that life. Then he was already spending long periods outside Spain.

So the solution is the opposite, as long as he can continue enjoying that lifestyle, he will remain in Abu Dabhi where no one asks what he does, he will be able to travel wherever he wants, and he will go to Spain from time to time.

Probably, if his health begins to fail him seriously and he can no longer follow that lifestyle, he will be able to return to Spain with the apology of the sick old man who returns to be with his family, and no longer able to create scandals.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

King Juan Carlos: Harassment allegations and court case 2018-2022

On October 16, 2020, emeritus king Juan Carlos' former lover and business associate Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn filed a civil lawsuit against him in England's High Court for alleged harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. He strongly denied her allegations.

On March 24, 2022, the High Court judge handed down a judgment rejecting the Defendant (Juan Carlos)'s claim of state immunity under the UK's State Immunity Act 1978. The decision allows the Claimant (Corinna) to proceed with her civil case against him in the English court.

The judgment:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content...ittgenstein-Sayn-v-Borbon-Judgment-230322.pdf
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v HM Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria De Borbon Y Borbon [2022] EWHC 668 (QB) (24 March 2022)

Summary of the judgment:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content...Wittgenstein-Sayn-v-Borbon-Summary-230322.pdf


Quoting from the summary,

10. The definition of “household” under s.20(1)(b) is to be determined in accordance with English Law, [...] The Defendant was not a dependent of King Felipe VI but, in any event, since his retirement from public life, the Defendant has discharged no Royal, constitutional and/or representational functions: [64].

11. In respect of functional immunity claimed in respect of acts of the Defendant carried out in his public capacity, the Court rejected this ground of immunity for acts of harassment alleged against the Defendant prior to his abdication. The Claimant’s claim is based on a course of conduct of alleged harassment by the Defendant. Such acts do not fall within the sphere of governmental or sovereign activity: [68]. Acts of surveillance alleged by the Claimant, if carried out by agents of Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (“CNI”) (the Spanish National Intelligence Agency), might potentially attract state immunity, but no such immunity had been claimed by the Spanish State and it was unclear precisely what role CNI agents played in the alleged acts of harassment: [72]. [...]

The judgment, at paragraph 8, quotes particulars of the claims made by Corinna against Juan Carlos. She alleges "harassment in the period from April 2012 to 18 June 2014" by agents of the Spanish intelligence service (CNI) and/or King Juan Carlos, including "physical surveillance which included vehicle and personal surveillance, trespassing onto her property at which she was residing and hacking into her/their telephones and computers", in order to "find and remove any documents in her possession related to his business and financial dealings; to ascertain any information about the Claimant which might be used to pressurise her to comply with his wishes; to prevent her from providing information in respect of anything which might incriminate him; and to install surveillance equipment".

She further claims that the head of the CNI threatened her and her children's lives if she acted against King Juan Carlos's interests and that King Juan Carlos himself supplied defamatory allegations about her to the media.


Her allegations of harassment by the Spanish security services first surfaced when a secret recording taped in 2015 was leaked by retired Spanish police chief José Manuel Villarejo to the media in July 2018.

https://okdiario.com/investigacion/...da-mis-hijos-rey-juan-carlos-lo-sabia-2595390
https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20...z-roldan-hizo-amenazas-hijos/321468445_0.html
https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/07/16/inenglish/1531729422_476862.html


In the years following, she discussed her allegations in numerous interviews.

https://okdiario.com/investigacion/...los-distancia-que-siguiera-siendo-rey-6244769
https://www.parismatch.com/Royal-Blog/Juan-Carlos-Corinna-son-ex-maitresse-sort-les-griffes-1704420
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-53749630

 

[iceflower]

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn had a court hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday, March 29, see here.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

There are media reports that Felipe called his father from Abu Dhabi, where he was on official buiness, and invited JC to see him and his family when he comes back to Spain.
The return of the Emeritus seems to be imminent.
https://gettotext.com/spains-king-felipe-wants-to-invite-father-juan-carlos-to-madrid/

 

[Blog Real]

More information:
The Royal House has revealed this information after the King Felipe VI traveled to the United Arab Emirates to offer his condolences for the death of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

"Before leaving Abu Dhabi and given the characteristics of the ceremony, D. Felipe spoke on the phone with King Juan Carlos, and they agreed to meet in Madrid when D. Juan Carlos comes to Spain."

This is how the Royal House has reported on the telephone conversation that Felipe VI had with his father in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
https://www.abc.es/espana/casa-real...jalifa-zayed-nahyan-202205151437_noticia.html

 

[An Ard Ri]

Lets wait and see what happens!

 

[Mbruno]

On October 16, 2020, emeritus king Juan Carlos' former lover and business associate Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn filed a civil lawsuit against him in England's High Court for alleged harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. He strongly denied her allegations.

On March 24, 2022, the High Court judge handed down a judgment rejecting the Defendant (Juan Carlos)'s claim of state immunity under the UK's State Immunity Act 1978. The decision allows the Claimant (Corinna) to proceed with her civil case against him in the English court.

The judgment:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content...ittgenstein-Sayn-v-Borbon-Judgment-230322.pdf
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn v HM Juan Carlos Alfonso Victor Maria De Borbon Y Borbon [2022] EWHC 668 (QB) (24 March 2022)

Summary of the judgment:
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content...Wittgenstein-Sayn-v-Borbon-Summary-230322.pdf


Quoting from the summary,




The judgment, at paragraph 8, quotes particulars of the claims made by Corinna against Juan Carlos. She alleges "harassment in the period from April 2012 to 18 June 2014" by agents of the Spanish intelligence service (CNI) and/or King Juan Carlos, including "physical surveillance which included vehicle and personal surveillance, trespassing onto her property at which she was residing and hacking into her/their telephones and computers", in order to "find and remove any documents in her possession related to his business and financial dealings; to ascertain any information about the Claimant which might be used to pressurise her to comply with his wishes; to prevent her from providing information in respect of anything which might incriminate him; and to install surveillance equipment".

She further claims that the head of the CNI threatened her and her children's lives if she acted against King Juan Carlos's interests and that King Juan Carlos himself supplied defamatory allegations about her to the media.


Her allegations of harassment by the Spanish security services first surfaced when a secret recording taped in 2015 was leaked by retired Spanish police chief José Manuel Villarejo to the media in July 2018.

https://okdiario.com/investigacion/...da-mis-hijos-rey-juan-carlos-lo-sabia-2595390
https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20...z-roldan-hizo-amenazas-hijos/321468445_0.html
https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/07/16/inenglish/1531729422_476862.html


In the years following, she discussed her allegations in numerous interviews.

https://okdiario.com/investigacion/...los-distancia-que-siguiera-siendo-rey-6244769
https://www.parismatch.com/Royal-Blog/Juan-Carlos-Corinna-son-ex-maitresse-sort-les-griffes-1704420
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-53749630

It is interesting that one of the arguments put forward by JC's lawyers to justify that he had immunity in this civil lawsuit was that the King Emeritus was part of the current King's "household". When rejecting that claim, the English court said that the central criterion to determine whether someone was part of the King's household was "dependence" and that King Juan Carlos "was not a dependent of King Felipe VI". I wonder then if, by cutting the allowance that his father received from the Royal Household, King Felipe VI unintentionally made him more vulnerable to being sued in the UK.

The English court also rejected JC's claims of immunity for acts that predate his abdication, which the Spanish courts conversely seem to consider absolute in Spain itself. The allegation of the English judge was that the alleged acts of harassment do not fall "within the sphere of governmental or sovereign activity" and, therefore, are not covered by the State Immunity Act 1978. That is also interesting because the Defendant claims that the alleged harassment was perpetrated by agents of the CNI (the Spanish Intelligence Services), which the English judge acknowledges "might potentially attract state immunity, but no such immunity had been claimed by the Spanish State".


The latter sentence in quotes is, with all due respect, a bit of a trap laid out by the judge. He says in the decision that the Spanish State will have the opportunity to claim immunity in the course of the proceedings if the involvement of the CNI is proven. However, the "Spanish State" obviously cannot claim immunity on the actions of the CNI a priori, or maybe even a posteriori, because it naturally denies that any such actions may have taken place (that is inherent to the operation of any Intelligence Service).

 

[Marengo]

Posts about the King's visit to Sanxexo have been moved to his thread, which you can find here.

 

[Somebody]

Apparently Juan Carlos was planning to be in Spain for a sailing competition in Sanxenxo (where he spent the weekend late May as well), however, it seems he has been told to remain in Abu Dhabi as Felipe wasn't too happy about the 'show' that his return that was supposed to be a low key private visit turned into. Royalblog (in Dutch) wrote an article based on some Spanish newspapers.

Among other things, it describes that one of the problems is accommodation as it requires quite some security and neither the royal house nor the government is interested in finding a solution as they prefer he'd stay away. I wonder why he cannot stay in Marivent as that seems not occupied most of the year - and he could receive his friends over there instead of traveling around. Or do they not want him on any royal property?

 

[An Ard Ri]

He could use La Mareta on the island of Lanzarote which is owned by the Spanish royal family and was used as Christmas holiday home up until the death of the King's mother in 2000.
Juan Carlos's parents also had a residence in Madrid which was sold off and in retrospect a bad move as it could have been kept in the family and used by the former monarch now.

Also no photos of ever emerged of The Juan Carlos family reunion at Zarzuela.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Also no photos of ever emerged of The Juan Carlos family reunion at Zarzuela.

Who knows if there even was one and who was present. Would have been great to read those faces and give out the Oscars for best actor or actress in a leading or supporting role.

 

[tommy100]

Could he not stay on another property at Zarzuela? I mean not being snarky but maybe the one he put Corinna in? It was far enough away from the main residence to keep her out of Sofia's way so he could do the same and even pay rent on it? I mean I don't have any respect for him but telling him he can't come back ever seems pretty harsh and cost wise it would obviously be better to have him on the main RF compound where security is protected. Or as others have said one of the other royal residences but these aren't used all that much now so would likely increase costs.

 

[Somebody]

Who knows if there even was one and who was present. Would have been great to read those faces and give out the Oscars for best actor or actress in a leading or supporting role.

It was reported that it was quite a family reunion. Next to the king emeritus, the king and queen also infanta Sofia was present as well as Elena and her children, infanta Margarita with her husband and children (if I'm not mistaken), I seem to recall that also some of infanta Pilar's children attended (but I am not sure) and queen Sofia was present but seated away from the others as she had tested positive for Covid.

 

[Somebody]

Could he not stay on another property at Zarzuela? I mean not being snarky but maybe the one he put Corinna in? It was far enough away from the main residence to keep her out of Sofia's way so he could do the same and even pay rent on it? I mean I don't have any respect for him but telling him he can't come back ever seems pretty harsh and cost wise it would obviously be better to have him on the main RF compound where security is protected. Or as others have said one of the other royal residences but these aren't used all that much now so would likely increase costs.

They don't want him to be seen and prefer to not be associated with him as much as possible, so a constant reminder that he is nearby on the Zarzuela estate would most likely not achieve it. Putting him away in a far away corner of Spains would most likely sound more palatable to them (although so far they want him outside of Spain altogether).

 

[Stefan]

He could use La Mareta on the island of Lanzarote which is owned by the Spanish royal family and was used as Christmas holiday home up until the death of the King's mother in 2000.
Juan Carlos's parents also had a residence in Madrid which was sold off and in retrospect a bad move as it could have been kept in the family and used by the former monarch now.

I think they don't have La Mareta anymore. If i remember right it was given to the government or something like this.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I think they don't have La Mareta anymore. If i remember right it was given to the government or something like this.

Yes so it seems and another private residence gone!
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spent his Christmas holidays there in 2018.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Apparently Juan Carlos was planning to be in Spain for a sailing competition in Sanxenxo (where he spent the weekend late May as well), however, it seems he has been told to remain in Abu Dhabi as Felipe wasn't too happy about the 'show' that his return that was supposed to be a low key private visit turned into.Royalblog (in Dutch) wrote an article based on some Spanish newspapers.

Among other things, it describes that one of the problems is accommodation as it requires quite some security and neither the royal house nor the government is interested in finding a solution as they prefer he'd stay away. I wonder why he cannot stay in Marivent as that seems not occupied most of the year - and he could receive his friends over there instead of traveling around. Or do they not want him on any royal property?

https://www.elconfidencialdigital.c...rictamente-privadas/20220607145308408256.html

Juan Carlos will not come to the regattas of Sanxenxo as planned. Obviously Zarzuela was not happy with the last return of the Emeritus, who was followed by lots of cameras and journalists, a far cry from the promised privacy during his visits. Also considered a high security risk at the nautical club of Sanxenxo and staying at a private house, he had to be protected by civil guard etc.

Was that within the power of King Juan Carlos to influence?

What was the reaction of the public to the previous visit? Did protests or critical media coverage appear, for example?

 

[camelot23ca]

Juan Carlos left the country and stayed away for a long time, thereby guaranteeing that his first time back was going to turn into a media circus. Felipe and his advisors may not have liked the show, but if they pressured JC into leaving the country, and vetoed an earlier return, they’re at least partly responsible for how things turned out.
If he starts coming back every few months interest will die down, as long as he sticks to things like sailing and watching his grandchildren play sports.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

The King is not in exile. He has chosen to stay outside Spain. If the Government and Felipe do not want to see him on Spanish soil, they should exile him.

Of course they do not do that because there is no any juridical base for exiling a citizen of Spain. The King would be victorious in every Court of Justice and humilitate the Government and Felipe.

My advice would be not to act so stingy and let it all loose. The more frequent the visits of the King, the less the media upheaval.

 

[tommy100]

Surely he has effectively been exiled if the government say he can not return and won't provide / accomodate security? I agree, he has been gone a long time, this first return visit was always going to be huge news. The more he visits the less attention he will get.

I guess he didn't help himself when he said he had nothing to explain when asked about the financial scandals. Some more humility on his part and the ability to see the long game on the government's side are needed. I guess Felipe is probably caught in the middle of what the government want and what his father wants.

 

[lula]

A large part of Juan Carlos's problem is and has always been his friends, people who always tell him what he wants to hear and who benefit from their relationship with him.

Juan Carlos's visit was a show and one of the protagonist of that show was Pedro Campos, the organizer of the regatta and who hosted Juan Carlos in his house. Before and after the visit he granted multiple interviews, even to the most yellow media, to give details of the visit. A video recorded by his wife with her mobile phone was sent to a yellow television program. He also wrote a letter inviting all the members of the yacht club to go and receive Juan Carlos.

The idea that Juan Carlos's first visit was to attend a regatta (a frivolous event, and not a family or medical visit that were more justifiable), that he flew in a private plane that no one knows who paid for (that with his previous controversies only increased the controversy) and that he went sailing before visiting the King... it was already a bad plan.

The visit should have been discreet, but Pedro Campos, with the permission of Juan Carlos, turned it into a circus. This caused anger in the Royal House, the Government and the Civil Guard, which issued a report saying that in these conditions it was impossible to guarantee his security because he was constantly exposed.

Josep Cusí, one of Juan Carlos's best friends and who has always been a discreet man, is quite ill. If, as some expected, his visit had been to visit his friend in Barcelona, people would probably have empathized with the situation and everything would have been more normal.