The name of the podcast does not fool anyone, and nor is it clickbait. Under the title "Corinna and the King", the ex-lover of Juan Carlos I gives a version of her own of the relationship with the now-emeritus when he was still Spain's head of state, a relationship with a thousand twists and turns, which came into full public view when Juan Carlos broke his hip while hunting elephants in Botswana and was part of the decline into decadence that led to the monarch's abdication in 2014. Although the story is that they remained friends after breaking off the relationship, there is much that is now known to be complex and convoluted, and Corinna has not bitten her tongue when opportunities have arisen to expose Juan Carlos's behaviour - now, she has a new medium. The disputes between the former couple have reached the courts and, in fact, the case against Juan Carlos I in the British courts by his ex-lover is his last legal obstacle, after Spanish justice gave up investigating the shadowy financial activities of a man protected for decades by royal inviolability.
The new podcast emerged from London, where Corinna lives - and also where Juan Carlos's wife, the queen emeritus Sofia, resides most of the time. In eight episodes, Corinna is to give her version of the sentimental relationship she had for years with Juan Carlos I when he was still king and which, once it ended, continued as friendship for a time. During the controversial hunt in Botswana they were no longer a couple, but good friends. It was once the friendship ended that everything blew apart, leading to Corinna's lawsuit before British justice.
Hearing in London on Juan Carlos I's immunity from prosecution
Although Corinna has made many statements in recent years, they have often been made through her lawyers, and now she has decided to inject her own more particular angles in the eight-part podcast that will be released on Mondays from now until New Year. In the first two chapters, Corinna will talk about the beginnings of her relationship with the Spanish king, after they met on a hunt in Ciudad Real in 2004. From there, the emeritus began sending her letters and bouquets of flowers, as a sign that he wanted to start a relationship with her. In fact, the first chapter's title is La Casita, in reference to the house that Juan Carlos provided for her near the royal palace of La Zarzuela in Madrid - the place where the couple met during the early part of their relationship and which ended up becoming Corinna's residence whenever she went to Madrid. The podcasts will be available on all platforms, starting next Monday, November 7th, coinciding with the hearing in London to consider Juan Carlos's claim of immunity from prosecution under British law.
In the same episode in which Corinna talks of a "fairy tale" relationship with the then-king of Spain, and when she was ending her relationship with her ex-husband, the German-Danish princess also says that everything ended up getting twisted, as the world of the emeritus was full of "greed, corruption, violence, hidden wealth, international espionage, conspiracy, hedonism and elephant hunting". Although the podcasts have not yet been released, a teaser preview has been allowed to circulate, in which Corinna is heard defining Juan Carlos I as "ruthless and disturbing".