LONDON (Reuters) -Spain’s former King Juan Carlos on Friday won a bid to throw out a 126 million pound ($154 million) London lawsuit brought by his ex-lover, who accused him of a campaign of harassment after she refused to return millions of euros to him.
The 85-year-old ex-monarch was being sued by Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who alleged Juan Carlos orchestrated threats, surveillance and intimidation from 2012.
Juan Carlos “emphatically denies ever having harassed” Sayn-Wittgenstein, the former monarch’s lawyer Adam Wolanski told London’s High Court at a hearing in July.
The former monarch asked the court to throw out Sayn-Wittgenstein’s case, arguing that there was no viable claim against Juan Carlos for harassment.
Judge Rowena Collins Rice ruled in his favour on Friday, saying that Sayn-Wittgenstein’s lawsuit did not contain reasonable grounds for bringing the claim.
“No sufficient basis is provided for understanding the evidence that might be expected at trial to provide a real prospect of the claimant succeeding on this claim,” she said.
Sayn-Wittgenstein said in a statement that she was “deeply disappointed” with the decision and was considering all options.
Juan Carlos’ British lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James and Alex Richardson)
