Former Spanish King Juan Carlos is facing a paternity suit after the country’s supreme court agreed to examine a Belgian woman’s claim that she is his illegitimate daughter.
The case is being heard now because the king lost his immunity from prosecution after his abdication last year.
He has 20 days to respond to the suit.
Forty-eight year-old Ingrid Sartiau is one of two claimants highlighted by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo – the case of Alberto Sola has already been rejected by the court for not meeting legal requirements.
Sartiau has told the court that her mother had an affair with Juan Carlos in the 1960s while he was married and a crown prince.
Royal officials have refused to comment.
Juan Carlos, the father of King Felipe VI, abdicated last year in a move aimed at restoring the monarchy’s popularity. A string of scandals had identified the royals as out of touch,including a secret luxury elephant-hunting trip by Juan Carlos in Africa at the height of Spain’s econ
