Infanta Cristina of Spain

Infanta Cristina (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia Santisima Trindad of Bourbon Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofia. She is sixth in the line of succession to the Spanish throne, after her brother King Felipe VI's children, her sister Elena and Elena's children.

From 2013 she was investigated and later tried for fraud and acquitted of corruption involving a company owned by Cristina and her husband. Despite the acquittal, she was nonetheless stripped of her title of Duchess of Mallorca by her brother King Felipe VI as a result of the case.

Early Life

Cristina de Bourbon was born on 13 June 1965 at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital, now known as ORPEA Madrid Loreto in Madrid and was baptized into the Church at the Zarzuela Palace by the Archbishop of Madrid. Her godparents were Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cadiz (her first cousin once removed), and Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain (great-aunt).

She is a sailor, and completed in the Tornado event at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

She received her secondary education at Santa Maria Camino School before graduating from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1989 with a degree in political science. She pursued postgraduate studies at New York University, obtaining an MA in international relations in 1990. In 1991, she gained practical experience working at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

She speaks Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Greek

Marriage and Children

Cristina married team handball player Inaki Urdangarin at Barcelona Cathedral on 4 October 1997. On this occasion, she was endowed as Duchess of Palma de Mallorca for life. The couple have four children, all born at Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona: Juan Valentin Urdangarin Borbon (born 29 September 1999), Pablo Nicolas Sebastian Urdangarin Borbon (born 6 December 2000),Miguel Urdangarin Borbon (born 30 April 2002), Irene Urdangarin Borbon (born 5 June 2005)

They lived in Washington, D.C. from 2009 to 2012, where her husband worked for Telefonica. In August 2013, she moved with her four children to Geneva, Switzerland, to take a job with the Caixa Foundation, while her husband who was the subject of an embezzlement investigation, remained in Barcelona. On 24 January 2022, Cristina and Urdangarin announced their separation.

Corruption Inquiry

Her husband was investigated from 2012 on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining millions in public funds in the Babel operation. In April 2013, Infanta Cristina was formally named as a suspect in the case by the judge in charge. When invited to comment, a Royal Household spokesman said that the Casa Real "does not comment on judicial decision," yet the next day, after the anti-corruption prosecutor announced that he would appeal the decision, it relented by expressing "absolute conformity" with the legal authorities. In light of the forthcoming trail, she and her children moved to Geneva, Switzerland, in summer 2013. On 7 January 2014, a Spanish judge charged her with tax fraud and money laundering and ordered her to appear in court. The infanta made her first appearance in the Majorca Court on 8 February 2014, where she denied any knowledge of her husband's dealings.

Spanish judge Jose Castro formalized charges against Infanta Cristina on 25 June 2014. In November 2014 the High Court of Palma de Mallorca upheld tax charges against the princess, paving the way for her to face trail; however, it decided to drop money-laundering charges. Her lawyers maintained that they remained completely convinced of her innocence.

On 22 December 2014 the High Court of the Balearic Islands announced that Infanta Cristina, her husband, and 15 others would stand trail on tax fraud charges "as soon as next year."

On 12 June 2015, King Felipe VI officially deprived his sister of her dukedom, privately announcing his intention beforehand. Pursuant to their meeting in person on 12 July Infanta Cristina wrote to the king (her brother) requesting the forfeiture of her noble title, immediately following which a royal decree to that effect was issued. According to newspaper El Pais, between 1995 and 2013 the Spanish monarchy's approval rating dropped from 7.5 to 3.68 out of 10 amongst Spaniards. The Spanish media also attributed, in no small part, King Juan Carlos' abdication to these ongoing proceedings. Her rights of succession to the throne and to the royal title of Infanta were unaffected.

Cristina's trail began on 11 January 2016, presided over by three judges in Palma, with a maximum potential sentence of eight years if found guilty. The charges were filed by the 'Clean Hands' anti-graft organization using a Spanish legal instrument known as the 'people's accusation'. At that time, her lawyers had asked judges to drop the criminal charges against her, and the state prosecutor said there was insufficient evidence to back up the accusations, but on 29 January the Court of Palma de Mallorca, where the trail was being held, said in a statement it was upholding the charges. She took the stand in March 2016, denying being an accessory to tax evasion, and denying knowledge of her husband's activities. She insisted on her right to answer only questions from her own lawyer. She said that her husband handled the couple's finances, and that she did not know why some large personal expenses were charged to a credit card of a company that the couple owned. She said that she never spoke with her husband about these matters because she was not interested in the subject, and that she was very busy with her small children. On 17 February 2017, she was acquitted of the charges, while her husband received a sentence of imprisonment for a term of six years and three months. On 12 June 2018 the Supreme Court in appeal reduced this sentence to a term of five and ten months.

Title

13 June 1965 Her Royal Highness Infanta Dona Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia Santisima Trinidad Borbon of Spain

House Bourbon

National Honors

-Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III

-Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic

Foreign Honors

-Austria: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria

-Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold

-Ecuador: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit

-Egypt: Member Supreme Class of the Order of the Virtues

-El Salvador: Grand Cross with Silver Star of the Order of Jose Matias Delgado

-Germany: Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

-Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of Honor

-Guatemala: Grand Cross of the Order of the Quetzal

-Iceland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon

-Japan: Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown

-Jordan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan

-Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

-Mexico: Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle

-Nepalese Royal Family: Member First Class of the Most Illustrious Order of the Three Divine Powers

-Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau

-Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav

-Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun

-Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry

-Sweden: Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

-Thailand: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

Religion: Roman Catholic

(https://simple.m.wikipedia.org)