The journalist Taki Theodoracopulos is facing trial in Switzerland after being charged with attempted rape.
The 86-year-old, who writes a column for the Spectator, was charged in February over the alleged incident in 2009. He is accused of attempting to rape a woman on a ski weekend at his chalet in Gstaad in the Swiss Alps.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police the alleged incident occurred in early 2009.
Greek-born Theodoracopulos, who lives in New York, denies the allegation and will contest it in court. He told the Guardian: “Not only do I deny everything, I hardly know the lady.” He added: “I’m 86 years old and I’ve never been accused of anything like that.”
The multimillionaire shipping heir, socialite and conservative commentator was first questioned by Swiss police in February last year. Theodoracopulos and the alleged victim attended a hearing with a Swiss prosecutor in July.
Theodoracopulos said he attended the hearing in Thun, Switzerland, with his wife and lawyer.
“She [the alleged victim] said some amazing things,” he said. “I was hoping that the prosecutor would just say: ‘[it’s] he said, she said’ but apparently – I haven’t been told when the trial is – but there will be a trial.”
He added: “It’s unfortunate because I happen to like and admire women, the female sex, very much and it’s certainly not the kind of thing I would ever do, or anybody in my family would ever do.”
The woman, who is British, reported the allegation to the Metropolitan police in January 2019 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. She was interviewed by detectives, but was later told that she would have to file a complaint in Switzerland.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office in the Canton of Berne confirmed that Theodoracopulos was charged with attempted rape on 1 February. The spokesperson said a hearing would take place at the Oberland regional court. A date has not yet been set.
Theodoracopulos has been writing his Spectator column, High Life, since 1977. His latest column was published last week. He also runs Taki’s Magazine, an online rightwing political magazine, which has faced criticism for its writings on race.
The Spectator was approached for comment.
