It does not have jurisdiction to judge the claim of alleged harassment and, even if it did, it would dismiss the case due to the “inconsistency” of the arguments presented. In this way, the resolution handed down yesterday by Judge Rowena Collins Rice, of the Court of England and Wales, to reject the admission of the civil claim that Corinna Larsen presented against King John Charles can be summarized.
After almost three years, in which the different teams of lawyers hired by King Joan Carles have won the successive court battles after seeing how their appeals were admitted in the different instances, after yesterday’s resolution it seems that Corinna Larsen’s war against her former lover may be lost.
The magistrate has ruled that the British courts are not competent to judge the case, but in the last paragraph of her decision she admits that “if she had had the capacity to judge this case, she would have dismissed it for several reasons”, among these, “the inconsistency” of his arguments and “the numerous changes of version”.
Corinna Larsen, who had an emotional relationship with King John Charles between 2004 and 2012, filed a harassment lawsuit in the British courts, where he resides, in December 2020. The lawsuit included alleged episodes , described as harassment by the plaintiff, which happened, according to Larsen, in different countries (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Brazil and Monaco, mainly) between 2012 and 2020, which also involved who was director of the National Center for ‘ Intelligence (CNI), General Félix Sanz Roldán, and several agents of his service. The alleged facts dated before the abdication on June 18, 2014 were already excluded from the lawsuit when the Court of Appeals, ruling in favor of the lawyers of King Juan Carlos, recognized their immunity. At one point in the process, Larsen included a claim for damages of 145 million euros.
With the lawsuit, according to sources familiar with the case, Corinna Larsen sought to reach a preliminary out-of-court agreement to ensure ownership of the 100 million dollars (about 65 million euros when the calculation was made) that had been transferred to her during the their relationship and that, subsequently, after the breakup of the couple following the accident in Botswana, he had claimed from her. An amount for which, when the time has come, the heirs of King Juan Carlos could litigate.
Larsen’s intention was to use the lawsuit as pressure, although at no time did King Juan Carlos or his lawyers bite the hook of this strategy. At the same time, Larsen launched an image campaign consisting of the broadcast through digital channels of documentaries in which he reiterated his accusations of harassment.
After learning of the court ruling, the lawyers of King Juan Carlos issued a statement yesterday in which they affirm that “although King Juan Carlos regrets the expenditure of energy and resources that this lawsuit has entailed, he is pleased, all and this, from the decision of the Superior Court of Justice, which, as expected, confirms his innocence”. Corinna Larsen, for her part, has been very disappointed, at the same time announcing the possibility of appealing the judicial decision.
With the decision of the English court, King John Charles sees his horizon clear to be exonerated from all the judicial processes in which he has been immersed during the last years, both in Spain and in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Processes that three years ago motivated his decision to self-exile in Abu Dhabi due to media and political pressure and his desire not to harm the Crown. King Juan Carlos is now faced with the dilemma of continuing to justify, for tax reasons, his residence in Abu Dhabi or face the conditions of his return to Spain, which are, basically, to find a place of residence and have a discreet life .
