Spain’s Princess Cristina faces historic tax fraud trial

Spain's Princess Cristina, the younger sister of King Felipe, goes on trial on Monday on tax fraud charges in a case that has rocked the monarchy and made her the first Spanish royal ever to face criminal proceedings.

The trial of Cristina de Borbón (50) will take place in Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands, and if found guilty she could face a prison sentence of up to eight years.

The charges stem from an investigation into the princess's husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who is also on trial, accused, along with his business partner, of embezzling over €6 million in public funds from Nóos, a non-profit sports consultancy he used to head. Originally, investigators had sought to try the princess for money laundering and tax fraud, believing the couple had ploughed the money into a front company, Aizoon.

However, while Mr Urdangarin (47), a former Olympic handball player, faces an array of charges and a sentence of up to 19 years, the money laundering accusations have been dropped against his wife.

Instead, she will defend herself against the charge that she helped her husband defraud the Spanish treasury of hundreds of thousands of euros in unpaid taxes from 2007 and 2008.

As Diario de Mallorca newspaper looked back on the couple's 18-year marriage, it declared that they "represented the most modern image of the monarchy…until the Nóos case destroyed all that and changed their lives."

The Nóos investigation began four years ago and the trial, involving a total of 18 defendants, is expected to last around six months. The early stages are unlikely to shed new light on the case, as they will be dedicated to preliminary procedures and the defendants will not face questioning until February.

However, the mere fact that the princess, who is sixth in line to the throne, will be on trial reflects the enormous difficulties the Spanish monarchy has faced in recent years.

The Nóos case hit the headlines just as the country's economy was in the doldrums and the idea that royals may have been abusing their position while a double-dip recession was biting was deeply damaging to the monarchy's credibility. A few months later it emerged that King Juan Carlos had been elephant hunting in Botswana. The outrage that followed, along with the monarch's frail health, helped persuade him to abdicate in 2014, making way for Princess Cristina's older brother, Felipe.

Felipe VI has successfully restored some of the lustre to the Spanish monarchy. He has introduced a more austere image for the royals, making it clear that his sister will not enjoy any favours while facing the justice system. In June of this year, the king stripped her of the title Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.

Recent media reports suggested the princess was deeply hurt by her brother's treatment of her. "She had been hoping for some kind of gesture [from Felipe] but there hasn't been any," a friend told El Español newspaper. "It's months since she heard her brother's voice."

Since 2013, Princess Cristina and Mr Urdangarin have been living in Geneva with their four children in an effort to escape the attentions of the Spanish media. But, as this unprecedented trial gets underway, the next few months promise to keep them both firmly in spotlight.