>
The former mistress of Spain’s King Juan Carlos is selling her Shropshire manor house after telling friends she fears for her safety from ‘shadow forces’ working for the royals.
Princess Corinna zu Wittgenstein-Sayn is hoping to receive up to £15m for Chyknell Hall, a Regency-era mansion set in the middle of a 200-acre shooting estate, which she is selling privately.
The 57-year-old businesswoman has told friends she feels unsafe in the house, which was previously raided in a raid she believes was carried out by secret forces working for the former king, who abdicated the throne in 2014. two years after their relationship was closed. exposed.
Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn is involved in a long-standing legal action against Juan Carlos, 85, whom she accuses of harassment and placing her under ‘constant hostile’ surveillance since 2012. He denies any wrongdoing.
Princess Corinna zu Wittgenstein-Sayn (pictured) hopes to receive up to £15m for Chyknell Hall
Chyknell Hall is a Regency-era mansion set in the middle of a 200-acre shooting estate and is being sold privately.
Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn is involved in a lengthy legal action against 85-year-old Juan Carlos (pictured), whom she accuses of harassment and placing her under “constantly hostile” surveillance since 2012.
A friend of the Danish businesswoman told The Mail on Sunday that she is saddened to part with Chyknell Hall, which she bought for £6m in 2015.
The friend said: ‘She has transformed the property and grounds into something quite spectacular and is well loved by the local community. She is quite sad, but I understand that her harassment case in London against Juan Carlos from Spain has made her wary of living in a remote property.
Another friend said: ‘She has had quite an interest in the English and foreigners, quite a few people. It’s not that the house isn’t safe, it’s her problems with Spain. She won’t be leaving the UK, but she spends a lot of time in the US and she obviously has this problem about [Chyknell] being very remote.
Mrs zu Wittgenstein-Sayn intended Chyknell Hall to be a lifetime UK base for her 20-year-old son Alexander from her second marriage to German Prince Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn of who divorced in 2005.
The 57-year-old businesswoman told friends she feels unsafe in the house, which was previously raided.
A friend of the Danish businesswoman told The Mail on Sunday that she is saddened to part with Chyknell Hall, which she bought for £6m in 2015.
The friend said: “She has transformed the property and grounds into something quite spectacular and is very loved by the local community.”
He has spent a fortune modernizing the Grade II listed house, which was built in 1814.
Prince Alexander, who is attending university in the UK, regularly hosts parties attended by wealthy and well-connected socialite friends with his mother at the 11-bedroom property. But recently friends say that the invitations have dried up.
After a 2017 land raid, he told this newspaper he found a perfectly cut round hole, about the size of a dinner plate, missing from a pane of glass in his bedroom window. Nothing else on the property had been taken or disturbed. She blamed the intrusion on ‘shadowy forces’ acting for her former lover, the King.
However, she continued to reside on the property until recently. She has spent a fortune modernizing the Grade II listed house, which was built in 1814.
The remodel included an indoor/outdoor kitchen and breakfast room by designer Isabel Bannerman. The house also has a cinema room, a neoclassical library and Nicky Haslam wallpaper in the bedrooms.
After a 2017 land raid, he told this newspaper he found a perfectly cut round hole, the size of a dinner plate, missing from a glass pane in his bedroom window.
Mrs zu Wittgenstein-Sayn intended Chyknell Hall to be a lifelong UK base for her 20-year-old son Alexander.
The remodel included an indoor/outdoor kitchen and breakfast room by designer Isabel Bannerman.
The house also has a cinema room, a neoclassical library and Nicky Haslam wallpaper in the bedrooms.
Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn intends to settle in New York and London, where she owns a flat worth more than £5 million bought in part with money given to her by Juan Carlos during their five-year relationship, which took place while he was separated. of his wife, Queen Sofía.
He gifted Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn £58m in 2012 after they had parted ways, but tried to get it back after he abdicated.
Their relationship remained a secret until 2012, when it emerged that Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn and the King had been on safari in Botswana. During the trip the King shot an elephant.
When the trip came to light, a scandal broke out and the King abdicated two years later.
Juan Carlos (left) had a five-year affair with Mrs. zu Wittgenstein-Sayn, which took place while he was allegedly separated from his wife Queen Sofia (right)
Ms zu Wittgenstein-Sayn has brought legal action in London’s High Court against the former king. She is seeking damages and an injunction for allegations that he has caused her “great mental pain” as a result of “an ongoing and ongoing campaign of harassment.”
Last year, UK Court of Appeal judges ruled that the former king had immunity for the period before his abdication in 2014.
His claim will be heard at a trial expected to take place next year.
A source close to the princess said: “She has been terribly abused and now everything is coming out and he won’t be able to get away with it.” Juan Carlos won the immunity claim for a narrow period of 24 months prior to his abdication, but it has no impact in the case of Ms. Zu Wittgenstein-Sayn. The court case is moving forward.