The Spanish Royal Family came under scrutiny earlier this month after former King Juan Carlos announced he would leave Spain after sparking widespread media attention over his dealings with Saudi Arabia. The former monarch became embroiled in a major corruption probe amid claims of his alleged involvement in a high-speed contact in the Arab country, claims he has repeatedly denied. Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, Juan Carlos’s former girlfriend, this week defended a “generous” gift the ex king gave her as she rejected claims the present had been an attempt to launder money.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn said: “I was very surprised because it was obviously an enormously generous gift.
“I think it was a recognition of how much I meant to him.
“I think it was a gratitude for looking after him during his absolutely worst moments.”
After their break up in 2014, Juan Carlos requested she give him the money back but she suggested his demands were a final attempt to push her into reconciliation rather than attempts to launder money.
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Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn said: “In 2014 he made desperate attempts to get me to come back to him.
“At some point, he realised I wasn’t going to return, and he went completely ballistic. He asked for everything back. I think it was just a tantrum he threw.
“So he’s confirmed to the Swiss proceedings that he actually never asked for the money back, and that I never carried money on his behalf.”
She suggested the relationship had moved slowly as she had been living in London and he remained king.
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Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn said: “The first date was in early summer. We always laughed a lot. We immediately clicked on many things, and we had many common interests – politics, history, fantastic food, wines.
“I was living in London at the time, having just started my own consultancy business. And I was a single mother of two. So we would meet in Madrid in a small cottage on the larger estate, and we travelled together.
“In the first year it was more difficult because I was very busy and he had a full agenda, but he would phone me up to 10 times a day. I mean, it was an immediately very strong, deep and meaningful relationship.”
The king had also faced questioning as he remained married to Queen Sophia, whom he wed in 1962.
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Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn explained: “He said they had an arrangement to represent the crown, but they led totally different, separate lives.
“And the king had just come out of a nearly 20-year relationship with another lady who also had a very important place in his heart and in his life.”
While Juan Carlos effectively retired from public duties upon his abdication in 2014, Queen Sophia continued to play a very active supporting role to help her son King Felipe VI and his wife, Queen Letizia, settle down in their new role.
The former king relocated to the United Arab Emirates in early August while his wife remained in Spain and later joined King Felipe and Queen Letizia for their annual summer holiday in Palma de Mallorca with the couple’s two daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sophia.
