Editorial: Princess goes to court

WELL for the first time in history a senior  member of the Spanish royal family will go on trial in Palma for tax fraud. Palma Judge Jose Castro rejected the appeal which had been launched against the Infanta Cristina´s trial date and will mean that she will now take the stand in court in Palma later this year. I sincerely believed that King Felipe´s sister would escape with a heavy fine and would not have to go to court. Some in the judiciary favoured this outcome and would mean that the Spanish royal family would be saved the embarrassment of an actual court hearing. But no. The Infanta Cristina will now go on trial alongside her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma de Mallorca. The Infanta has been charged with two counts of tax fraud relating to her husband alleged fradulent business dealings. He is accused of embezzling in excess of six million euros from the local authorities in Valencia, Palma and Madrid. Now, so far King Felipe has managed to distance himself from the case and he called for a zero tolerance on corruption in his annual festive speech to the nation. But obviously this case is doing the royal family few favours. However, I do not believe that the Infanta should be stripped of her royal titles. There is always a danger in these cases that the public and media become their very own court of justice. There is only one person who can decide her fate and that is a judge. Once the judge has given his verdict then is the time to act on titles and other issues but until then she is a suspect and has not been found guilty of any crime.