Spain 's Supreme Court has dismissed a second paternity suit brought against former King Juan Carlos , accepting the ex-monarch 's argument that the claim had no basis . The court said Wednesday the decision was backed by seven judges to three . Juan Carlos , 77 , lodged an appeal after the court in January agreed to consider a claim by a Belgian woman , Ingrid Sariau , that her mother had a relationship with Juan Carlos which lasted into 1966 , when she was born . Spain 's Supreme Court has dismissed a second paternity suit brought against former King Juan Carlos ( pictured ) In January , the court dismissed a similar claim by a Spanish man . Juan Carlos married former Queen Sofia in 1962 and became king in 1975 . He was immune from lawsuits while king , but lost the privilege on abdicating in June in favor of his son , Felipe . Juan Carlos was for decades held in high esteem for steering Spain from military dictatorship to democracy . King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris , 2005 . His reputation plummeted after he took a secret elephant hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 while honorary president of the World Wide Fund for Nature . He took over the throne in 1975 , two days after the death of longtime dictator Gen. Francisco Franco . But his reputation plummeted after he took a secret elephant hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 at the height of Spain 's financial crisis , despite being honorary president of the WWF . He later apologized for the trip .
He lodged an affair after a visit by a Belgian woman , Ingrid ##aine . She claims her mother had a relationship with him in the 1960s . ain Carlos married former queen Sofia in 1962 and became divorced in 1975 .