Inside scandalous world of sex-mad royal who ‘bedded 5000 women’, tried to seduce Princess Diana & gifted mistress £57m
HE was King of Spain for four decades before a corruption scandal forced his abdication in 2014.
But arguably Juan Carlos’ bed-hopping antics have attracted more headlines than accusations of money-laundering.
It’s claimed the monarch, whose son King Felipe VI of Spain, 54, is now on the throne – has slept with 5,000 women, with his libido once labelled “a state problem” by the Spanish secret service.
At one point he reportedly had testosterone-blocking injections in a bid to quell his voracious sexual appetite, and was rumoured to have hit on Princess Diana at state occasions.
Now the 85-year-old royal – who has been married to Queen Sofia, 84, for 60 years – has been accused of harassing a former mistress out of her £15million Shropshire mansion.
Corinna zu Wittgenstein-Sayn, whose five-year affair with the King ended in 2009, is selling Chyknell Hall after telling friends she fears for her safety from “shadowy forces” working for Juan Carlos.
The German-born businesswoman – who at 57 is 27 years his junior – has accused the King of harassing her over a “gift” of €65million, including artworks and jewellery, which he handed her in 2012 and now wants back.
She believes Spanish secret forces were behind a terrifying raid on the property in 2017.
Since 2020 she has been embroiled in a legal case against Juan Carlos, who now lives in a luxury hotel in the United Arab Emirates, after accusing him of intimidating and spying on her.
In a recent podcast, Corinna and the King, the mother-of-two claimed her royal lover gave her a £900,000 ‘engagement’ ring in 2009 and described him as the “husband of my heart”.
But she claims the sex-mad monarch – who she describes as “one of the biggest seducers in the royal world” – was swift to move on to a new lover while she was nursing her cancer-stricken father.
Their affair was finally exposed after she joined him on a controversial elephant hunting trip to Botswana in 2012, which contributed to his decision to hand the throne to his son.
‘Rampant’ king
The former King’s legendary sex life has long been the subject of society tittle tattle.
Amadeo Martinez Ingles’ book Juan Carlos: The King of 5,000 Lovers, detailed his many affairs and painted him as a sex addict.
As well as Corinna, lovers include Spanish singer Sara Montiel, Belgian governess Liliane Sartiau and Italian princess Maria Gabriela de Saboya.
It’s rumoured he even tried to seduce Princess Diana, then aged 25 and married to Prince Charles, at state occasions.
Although Diana denied he had made a move, she admitted he was a “little too attentive”.
In 2015, Ingrid Sartiau claimed she was the King’s daughter, born from a fling with her Belgian governess mum Liliane, although the case was thrown out of court because of the King’s immunity.
In January 2017 it was claimed the secret service paid former Miss World contestant Barbara Rey millions in taxpayers’ money to gag her from revealing their affair.
A Belgian housewife has claimed to be Juan Carlos’ daughter, alleging he had an affair with her mother, governess Liliane Sartiau, and a Spanish waiter Albert Sola says he is his son.
In October 2021, ex-police chief Jose Manuel Villarejo told a parliamentary hearing that the exiled King was “injected with female hormones to control his rampant sex drive”.
He said: “[The National Intelligence Centre (CNI)] injected female hormones and testosterone blockers to control his libido because it was considered a problem of state that he was so horny.”
He claims he was told of the medical intervention by Corinna – whose claims that the Royal had profited from “kickbacks” for contracts in the Gulf states and bought properties in her name in Monaco led to a criminal investigation in 2019.
She also claimed the head of the Spanish intelligence service warned her that her and her children’s lives would be at risk if she spoke out.
Five-year affair
Corinna first met keen hunter Juan Carlos on a shooting weekend hosted by the Duke of Westminster in La Garganta, northern Spain in 2004.
She says they dined on venison and quail and he was impressed that she ignored royal protocol, getting up from the table before him.
“I think it fascinated him that I treated him like a normal man rather than a symbol,” she said.
Although she was still married to second husband, German Prince Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, the father of her youngest child Prince Alexander, the King bombarded her with flowers and love letters every day.
The affair with the royal lothario – whom she described as “funny and quite persistent” – intensified after she separated from the Prince in 2005, with her lover ringing her Madrid office 10 times a day.
He showered her with lavish gifts and expensive holidays and she claims the Sultan of Oman bought him a £50m townhouse near her flat in London’s Belgravia, which he then asked her to decorate to match her own.
At one point Corinna says she was confronted by a furious Queen Sofia – who has reportedly not shared a bed with her husband since 1976 – when she caught him romping with a Spanish actress.
Describing the alleged confrontation at Madrid’s Zarzuela Palace, she said: “Suddenly, Queen Sofia bursts into the room with a face like thunder. She pointed at me and said, “I know who you are”. I obviously wanted to disappear into the ground.”
She added that her royal lover “seemed completely taken aback and unable to actually cope with this aggression”.
She describes “bags of cash” being handed to Juan Carlos by rich friends and crates of “priceless wine” being delivered, free of charge, at his request.
Although the romance fell apart in 2009, after she discovered he had taken another mistress as she cared for her sick dad, the pair remained close friends.
Three years later, their relationship was revealed after the King broke his hip on the £50,000 elephant-hunting trip which caused widespread criticism amongst his subjects.
Shortly afterwards, she claims he transferred £57million into her bank account as a “gift” – and two years later, with daughter Princess Cristina facing tax evasion claims and growing unease around his own financial dealings, the King abdicated in favour of his son.
But things turned sour when the King’s secret bank accounts began to be investigated by the authorities and he went into self-imposed exile in 2020, taking up residence in a £10,000-a-night suite in Abu Dhabi.
Corinna believes Juan Carlos was behind a 2017 break in at her home – which she bought in 2015 for £6million – after he began harassing her to return the cash.
She found a perfectly cut round hole, the size of a plate, in the glass window of her bedroom, although nothing in the property had been taken or disturbed.
Speaking about the money-laundering allegations against him, she says: “It became clearer and clearer to me [that] he was conducting not just a double life, he was conducting a quintuple life.
“There’s something quite unhinged about him and something quite ruthless. It’s all about self-preservation.”
Killed brother
The King’s life has been beset by scandal, which began at 18 when he accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old brother Alfonso.
The pair had been playing with a .22 calibre revolver owned by Alfonso when, according to royal dressmaker Josefina Carolo, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso.
Not realising it was loaded he pulled the trigger, shooting him in the forehead and killing him instantly.
He may now be living in exile, but with financial investigations still underway and court cases from ex-lovers ongoing, this colourful king isn’t likely to enjoy a quiet retirement.