Spain`s princess charged with tax fraud, money-laundering

Princess Cristina, the younger daughter of Spain`s King Juan Carlos, is on the brink of going to court due to allegations of money-laundering.

Spain`s Palma de Mallorca court summoned her Tuesday (local time) to appear in court on March 8. Examining Magistrate Jose Castro said he decided to summon Princess Cristina for investigation to prove allegations of tax fraud and money laundering.

She will be investigated as a suspect of whether she helped her husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, in the embezzlement of public funds. Last year, Urdangarin was investigated by prosecutors for an alleged embezzlement of 6 million euros in public funds through his charitable foundation Noos Foundation. He has denied any wrongdoing and was not indicted.

Urdangarin has been claiming that his business has nothing to do with Princess Cristina or the royal family. However, Princess Cristina is member of the foundation and jointly owns with her husband real estate company Aizoon, which investigators suspect was a front for money laundering and tax evasion.

The court`s latest decision will be a huge damage to King Juan Carlos who took office after death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. The king got a beating from media in 2012 when he went on a luxury elephant hunting trip to Botswana, Africa, at a time when the Spanish economy was in slump.

The Spanish royal family is suffering from plunging confidence due to the corruptive scandal. According to survey by Spanish daily El Mundo, the share of people who responded they are fond of the king fell 9 percentage points late last year from a year ago to 41 percent. Those saying the king should step down and Prince Felipe Alponso should succeed rose 17 percentage points to 62 percent.