Juan Carlos I has reversed his intention to take Corinna Larsen back to court for the nearly 65 million euros he gave her in 2012. The lawyers of the former head of state had studied an action for fraud and offenses against honor with which he intended to claim about 70 million from his ex-partner and another 3.5 million from the Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica, but the lawsuit announced in 2025 has ultimately not been filed, according to what El País publishes this Saturday, citing people close to the emeritus king.
The decision avoids opening a new judicial chapter in a conflict that has dragged on for years, but it also brings the focus back to the document that formalized that transfer. The text, of just two pages, was signed by Juan Carlos I and Larsen in 2012 and presented to the bank managing the funds. Its content is particularly relevant because it expressly classified the operation as an irrevocable donation, making any subsequent attempt by the donor to demand that the money return to his assets difficult.
The 65 million came from the 100 million received from Saudi Arabia
The origin of the money dates back to 2008, when the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia transferred 100 million dollars to an account linked to the Panamanian foundation Lucum, whose beneficiary was Juan Carlos I. At the exchange rate of the time, that amount was approximately equivalent to 65 million euros. The account was opened at the Swiss bank Mirabaud and was managed through a structure in which Dante Canonica participated.
Four years later, after the public impact of the Botswana hunting trip and the decision of the financial institution to close the account, the money ended up being transferred to Larsen. She subsequently moved it to an account linked to one of her companies in Nassau, Bahamas. The version offered then by Larsen's representatives was that it was a gift related to the attention and care provided over the years to Juan Carlos I.
What the document exactly says
The main obstacle for a claim lies in the very nature of the delivery. The deed establishes that the transfer was irrevocable, meaning that in principle Juan Carlos I could not later decide to unilaterally recover the amount delivered. The document adds that the operation would also not be rendered ineffective by the death of either party.
Specifically, if Juan Carlos I passed away, Larsen would not be obliged to return the funds to his heirs. The document also indicated that the donation did not affect the rights of the forced heirs of the then monarch, that is, Felipe VI and the infantas Elena and Cristina. That point is important: the document aimed to record that the 65 million had definitively left the donor's estate without subsequently generating a debt of Larsen with his children.
It is not recorded, according to the information published about the document, that the deed was formalized before a notary. It was signed by Juan Carlos I and Corinna Larsen and presented to the bank. That circumstance does not by itself mean that the donation could be annulled: their lawyers precisely studied ways to challenge it, but to recover the money it would have been necessary to convince a court that there were sufficient legal reasons to nullify what had been signed as a definitive delivery.
Juan Carlos I said he felt "deceived"
The change of strategy began to take shape after the outcome of the procedure that Larsen had initiated against Juan Carlos I in London for alleged harassment. The British Justice ended up dismissing that lawsuit in 2023 for jurisdictional reasons and the legal environment of the emeritus subsequently began to study its own offensive against Larsen and Canonica.
Juan Carlos I maintained that he had felt "deceived" and his lawyers even prepared a claim of 70 million against Larsen. The plan was not limited to discussing the donation: it also contemplated actions related to the public statements of his ex-partner and with the management that had been made of his estate. He intended to claim another 3.5 million from Canonica, after that amount left the structure linked to Lucum towards a company related to the lawyer.
The great difficulty of that strategy was that Juan Carlos I himself had left in writing that the 65 million constituted a donation with no turning back. Furthermore, there is subsequent documentation in which the emeritus again described the delivery as irrevocable, reinforcing the thesis that Larsen received the funds as the final beneficiary and not simply to safeguard them on behalf of the former monarch.
Renouncing to sue does not automatically make Larsen the owner "by judgment"
The decision now known also does not equate to a ruling that declares who is right about all the controversies between both. There has not been a trial regarding the claim of 65 million because the lawsuit has ultimately not been filed. What happens is that Juan Carlos I has decided not to attempt to legally invalidate the document and recover that money through that route.
In practical terms, this leaves intact the situation arising from the transfer of 2012: Larsen received the funds and the document classified them as an irrevocable donation. To alter that situation, it would have been necessary to initiate legal action and achieve that a court accepted the arguments of the emeritus. By refraining from doing so, there is currently no pending claim from Juan Carlos I to recover those 65 million.
This decision should also not be confused with a formal and perpetual waiver of any imaginable action. What the published information confirms is that the emeritus king has decided not to file the lawsuit he had prepared. Its immediate effect is to close, at least at this moment, the judicial offensive announced in 2025 and avoid a new procedure that would have re-examined the origin, movement, and destination of the fortune.
Why Juan Carlos I has decided not to continue
According to the sources cited by El País, the possibility of a new legal battle generated discomfort in the environment of the Royal House and several close friends of Juan Carlos I recommended that he desist. The former monarch usually resides in Abu Dhabi and his closest circle would have defended avoiding another judicial and media exposure after years of proceedings in Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The decision is particularly significant because the emeritus's British lawyers had indeed defended the possibility of returning to the courts after the favorable outcome of Larsen's lawsuit in London. Ultimately, the opposite option weighed: not to reopen a dispute that would have forced a re-analysis of the Lucum foundation, the funds received from Saudi Arabia, the transfer to the Bahamas, and the conditions under which the donation occurred.
What it implies for Felipe VI and the infantas
One of the most relevant points of the deed affects the inheritance. The document expressly states that Larsen would not have to return the amount to the heirs of the donor in the event of the death of Juan Carlos I and asserts that the donation did not harm the rights of his forced heirs. Therefore, the 65 million do not appear in the document as money that Felipe VI, Elena, or Cristina can automatically claim in the future as part of their father's inheritance.
The novelty of this Saturday is not, in fact, the existence of the deed, whose essential content had already been published in 2020, but the decision of Juan Carlos I not to attempt to invalidate it now. That nuance is fundamental: the document had been indicating for years that the delivery was irrevocable; what is now known is that the emeritus abandons the judicial strategy with which he intended to challenge its effects and recover a fortune that he himself had signed as a definitive donation.