Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Larsen; born 28 January 1965) is a German-born Danish entrepreneur.
Early life
Corinna Larsen was born on 28 January 1964 in
Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to a German mother, Ingrid Sauer, and a Danish father, Finn Bønning Larsen. Her father, born in 1920 in
Ballerup
Ballerup is a Danish town, seat of the Ballerup Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden.
There are approximately 25 schools in Ballerup Municipality.
Ballerup has its own educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, was the European Director of
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...
, the national airline of Brazil, from 1961 until 1991.
Larsen is a Danish national
by right of birth.
She was raised in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
and graduated from the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...
in 1987.
Career
She began her career at
L'Oréal
L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...
before moving on to a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
role at
Compagnie Générale des Eaux
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
.
Boss Sporting
From 2000 until 2006, she organized rare animal hunts at Boss Sporting, a subsidiary of the London based gun-making firm
Boss & Co. It was in this capacity that she was introduced to
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Nov ...
by
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Major General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, (22 December 1951 – 9 August 2016), was a British landowner, businessman, philanthropist, Territorial Army general, and peer. He was the son of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of ...
in 2004.
The King of Spain subsequently hired her to arrange the honeymoon of his son
Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Felipe VI (;,
* eu, Felipe VI.a,
* ca, Felip VI,
* gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...
and his new bride
Princess Letizia
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is the Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. She came from a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for ''ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión ...
.
Between 2004 and 2005, the monarch hired her to organize two hunting
safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
s, including an
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
hunt at the Duke of Westminster's estate in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
in 2012.
Apollonia Associates
In 2006, she founded a consulting firm called Apollonia Associates that advises businesses and governments.
[Natalia Junqera,]
Operación Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
, ''El País'' (27 February 2013). She relocated to
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
where she became an advisor to
Princess Charlene
Charlene (' Charlene Lynette Wittstock; French: ''Charlène'';Since her marriage, her name has been Gallicised by adding a grave accent to her name in French documents. born 25 January 1978) is the princess consort of Monaco and a former Olympic ...
.
In 2013,
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005.
Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...
, appointed her as a global trade envoy for the principality.
She is one of the people named in the
Paradise papers
The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...
disclosure published in the German newspaper ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat.
History ...
''.
In 2012, approximately $65 million (€57 million) was allegedly transferred from an account to zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn told investigators that the money was a donation from the former Spanish monarch, whom Swiss prosecutors name as the first beneficiary of the Mirabaud bank account.
Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn told investigators that the money paid for the refurbishment work at an
Eaton Square
Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia ...
apartment in London. These refurbishments cost around £4 million pounds (€4,340,055).
In August 2020, she was part of an investigation regarding a
Saudi rail deal during the late-2010s, and a series of financial transactions involving
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Nov ...
.
During many years zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, used several offshore societies to move the money that she received from different sources, this was to avoid to be able to get tracked in the purchase of mansions and houses in different places, the creation of these complex network based in places thousands of miles from her residence. The creation of these complicated companies or trusts facilitate to hide the real owner of properties and accounts with money.
Personal life
In 1989, she met Philip Adkins, a British businessman.
They were married in 1990 and in 1992, they had a daughter, Anastasia.
They were divorced in 1995.
On 26 October 2000, she married
Casimir, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, twelve years her junior, in London.
In 2002, she and Prince Casimir had a son, Prince Alexander Kyril. They divorced in 2005 and she retained her married name.
In 2015, she purchased a home (which she reportedly told Swiss prosecutors was for her son) at
Chyknell Hall at
Claverley
Claverley is a village and civil parish in east Shropshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlets of Beobridge, Hopstone, Upper Aston, Ludstone, Heathton and a number of other small settlements.
Claverley village is east of the market to ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, where she has been resident since.
Relationship with Juan Carlos I
She became the
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
of Spanish King
Juan Carlos I
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
in 2004. News of her relationship with the king made international headlines in April 2012.
She arranged and accompanied the monarch on an elephant-hunting safari at the
Duke of Westminster
Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...
's estate in Botswana.
The elephant-hunting trip she arranged came at an expense of €40,000 which was paid by Mohammed Eyad Kayali, advisor to the
Saudi royal family
The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), an ...
, who, like zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, was named in the 2016
Panama Papers
The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
as the head of 15 offshore companies.
When the King fell, broke his hip and had to have emergency surgery, their affair was exposed via increased media scrutiny.
In 2012, King Juan Carlos transferred around €65m to her as 'a gift'.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayn-Wittgenstein, Corinna
1964 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Frankfurt
German people of Danish descent
Corinna
Corinna or Korinna ( grc, Κόριννα, Korinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born ), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition ...
German princesses
Princesses by marriage
German philanthropists
German women philanthropists
Monegasque philanthropists
People named in the Panama Papers
Mistresses of Spanish royalty
People named in the Paradise Papers
People named in the Pandora Papers
Juan Carlos I of Spain