Spanish Court to Examine Paternity Claims Against Former Monarch

MOSCOW, December 12 (Sputnik) — Spain’s Supreme Court will examine two paternity cases against the country’s former ruler Juan Carlos I, filed by a woman and a man, who claim to be illegitimate children of the abdicated king, AFP reported on Friday.

Alberto Sola Jimenez from Spain and Ingrid Jeanne Satiau, a Belgian national, filed separate paternity suits against Spain’s former monarch in 2012. Sola was adopted when he was a child. He claims that his birth mother, who came from a well-off banking family, may have dated the king before his marriage with Queen Sofia, according to the news agency.

Satiau started her inquiry after her mother insisted the Spanish king is her father. After a while, Satiau found Sola, who was working as a waiter in a Spanish restaurant. A DNA test revealed a 91% possibility that they have one parent in common.

In 2012, civil courts rejected the applicants’ claims due to the king’s immunity, which Juan Carlos lost after his abdication. Spain’s politicians quickly adopted new legislation in order to protect him against the claims. According to the new amendments, only the country’s Supreme Court has the right to hear civil and criminal suits brought against Juan Carlos I. That, however, means that the ex-monarch is not completely shielded, according to BBC.

Juan Carlos I ruled the country from 1975 to 2014. He formally stepped down in summer this year after a corruption and money laundering scandal, succeeded by his son Felipe VI.