Spain’s Princess Cristina and her husband went on trial today under intense global media scrutiny in a landmark corruption case that has outraged the country and sullied the monarchy’s reputation.
Cristina, a 50-year-old mother-of-four with a master’s degree from New York University, is the first Spanish royal to face criminal charges in court since the monarchy was reinstated following the 1975 death of dictator General Francisco Franco.
The trial of the princess and the 17 other accused, including her husband, former Olympic handball medallist Inaki Urdangarin got underway at 9:20 am at a makeshift courtroom in Palma on the palm-lined Mediterranean island of Mallorca, where the Spanish royals have a holiday home.