Genoveva Casanova: What To Know About The Woman Linked To King Frederik

King Frederik X ascended the Danish throne on January 14, 2024, two weeks after his mother Queen Margrethe abdicated. That would be a story worthy of international headlines in and of itself, but this time around, the story of a new king is one clouded by a rumored affair. Add in the fact that the new king's alleged love interest is Genoveva Casanova — Mexican actor turned Spanish socialite — and you have all the ingredients necessary for a bonafide media firestorm.

The king seemed to address the rumored affair in his book, "The King's Word," which he released to mark his coronation. In the book he wrote, "I love marriage, my wife, our children and the whole happy base that arises for the people who manage to stay together and persevere."

Casanova, on the other hand, has tried to remain out of the spotlight since the news of her night with the then-prince first hit the headlines. Here's what we know about the Mexican socialite.

Mexican actor Genoveva Casanova, who appeared in "Goya's Ghosts" with Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman, became internationally famous when she married into the Spanish aristocracy. In 2005, she wed Cayetano Martinez de Irujo y Fitz-James Stuart, the 4th Duke of Arjona and 13th Count of Salvatierra but they divorced two years later. Casanova would later refer to her divorce regretfully, explaining on the Spanish show "Plano General" (via Lecturas) that it was the "defeat of her life." She added that the separation was "a suffering that should not be avoided. You have to sit down and live it."

Casanova and her ex-husband, however, do seem to have remained on the best possible terms. Speaking with Diez Minutos, Casanova insisted that she and her ex are still close family. Furthermore, even though the aristocrat has moved on romantically, she bears his new partner Barbara no ill will. "I get along very well with Barbara," she said. "Each one has her own place and no one is interested in the other person's place." 

While discussing her dating life in the interview, Casanova said that she's been single for many years. "I'm very picky," she explained. "It has to be a person that we really love and I have a hard time believing that." That interview took place in October 2023, and mere weeks later, Casanova's romantic life would make international headlines.

Even though Genoveva Casanova is no longer married into the Spanish aristocracy, she's been able to extend her time in the public eye thanks to her participation in several reality shows. In 2020, she appeared as Caniche — "the Poodle" — on the Spanish version of "The Masked Singer." She did well on the show, winning acclaim for her performances of songs like Katy Perry's "Firework" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses. Casanova was unmasked in the final episode of the season, coming in as a runner-up to eventual winner Paz Vega. When she was revealed, the Mexican star told the Spanish audience that being on the show felt like "a very nice way to honor this country that has given me so much" (via Vanity Fair).

Moreover, in 2023, Casanova was a contestant on the eighth season of "MasterChef Celebrity." Unfortunately, she fared far worse at cooking than she did at singing, becoming the first person to be kicked off the show. "I admit that I was a disaster," she confessed to Diez Minutos. Still, Casanova said she enjoyed her time on the show and has stayed friends with the other chefs, even if she didn't measure up. "I had a great time," she recalled. "We laughed all the time and when you got home, in the chat, I remember crying from laughter in bed."

Genoveva Casanova was hospitalized for eight days in the summer of 2023 after she suffered a pulmonary embolism. According to Hola!, Casanova initially thought she was having a muscle spasm in her back. When it lasted for several days, she went to the hospital, where she was then admitted for more than a week. Sources told the outlet that her condition was so severe, it might have been life-threatening had she waited any longer to seek medical attention.

After her health scare, Casanova spoke with Diez Minutos about her different outlook on life. "I feel like I'm very different now," she said. "I see everything with more relativity and I feel that it makes you think more about the little things." While she was no longer in a life-threatening situation, Casanova said that she still dealt with shortness of breath as a result of her condition. She counts herself lucky, as the situation might have been much worse. "I was very lucky because the clot was medium in size and did not get stuck at the beginning of the lung," she explained.

Fortunately, Casanova had people by her side to help her recover, including her ex-husband Cayetano Martinez de Irujo. "He was at the hospital every day and dealt with everything," Casanova revealed. "He behaved super well."

In November 2023, the Spanish magazine Lecturas published photos showing Genoveva Casanova on what appeared to be a night out in Madrid with Denmark's King Frederik X, still a prince at the time. Lecturas reported that they visited a Picasso exhibit and then enjoyed dinner together at the Corral de la Morería, a restaurant that has flamenco shows. They stayed past closing time, ultimately leaving at 1 a.m. The magazine followed them back to Casanova's house, where they remained until the king left after 8 a.m. That would be well and good, except for the fact that King Frederik has been married to Queen Mary for almost two decades.

In the wake of the photos being published, Spanish journalist Susanna Griso revealed on "Espejo Público" (via the Daily Mail) that the pair initially met on a luxury hunting trip. "These are exclusive meetings, where you have to pay a lot of money to attend," Griso explained, describing high-powered trips to Germany and Austria where people pay to hunt things like wild boar and red deer.

Trying to untangle how this came to be, Hola! reported that sources told them King Frederik initially meant to see the Picasso exhibit with a friend who got COVID, and Casanova was a second-choice invitation. For their part, the Danish royals released a statement to B.T. (via the Daily Mail), insisting that they "do not comment on rumors or insinuations."

In the wake of the rumors, insinuations, and tabloid speculation, Genoveva Casanova released a statement denying everything. "I flatly deny the statements that suggest a romantic relationship between Prince Frederick and me," she wrote (via Hola!). "Any statement of this type is not only completely untrue but also distorts the facts in a malicious manner." 

In a separate article, Hola! pointed out that it's unlikely the two were having an affair, as they were walking around together in public without trying to conceal their identities. Nevertheless, the rumors continued to follow Casanova, and she even threatened legal action. "This is already in the hands of my lawyers ... who will take care of the pertinent steps to protect my right to honor, truth and privacy," she wrote.

Lecturas continued to imply that Casanova and King Frederik X had indeed had an affair, writing up a past interview Casanova gave to a show called "Plano General." They pointed out that Casanova said she liked a love life filled with mystery, adding suggestively, "When I love, I love very high. The experience of flying high is because it is worth the fall."

Two weeks after the photos of Genoveva Casanova and King Frederik X were first published, the media firestorm showed no signs of slowing down. According to the Spanish media outlet 20 Minutos, the Danish media had nicknamed Casanova "Fede's friend." One outlet, they noted, had run more than 40 stories about the situation in the two-week span that had elapsed since the news of their friendship went public.

As the attention from the Danish media continued to simmer, Casanova's ex-husband Cayetano Martinez de Irujo defended his ex-wife. At a memorial service marking the ninth anniversary of his mother's passing, Martinez de Irujo told 20 Minutos that he wished his ex had been able to attend the service. "Not only is she the mother of my children, I love her personally too and what worries me a lot is that it has been a very difficult couple of weeks," he said, noting that Casanova was still struggling with the after-effects of the pulmonary embolism she suffered over the summer.

Martinez de Irujo didn't stop there. He hit back at the media for their ongoing insinuations about Casanova's association with the Danish king, accusing the media of "carrying out a lynching, a savagery beyond all logic."

After Lecturas published the photos of Genoveva Casanova and King Frederik X in Madrid in November 2023, the Mexican socialite began to lay low. "She is in hiding right now and has turned off her mobile phone because she doesn't want anyone to call her," Spanish journalist Susanna Griso reported (via the Daily Mail).

If speculation about the affair died down following the initial media buzz, it certainly kicked back up in the wake of Queen Margrethe II's abdication, in which she bestowed the crown to her son, Frederik. According to Sky News, Casanova hunkered down at her ex-husband's home in San Sebastian.

Two days after Frederik became king, Casanova returned to Instagram to share a video about child slavery in cobalt mines in Congo (via the New Zealand Herald) but sometime in the days that followed, she deactivated her Instagram account entirely.