Editorial: Royal in the dock

I thought that the King´s sister, the Infanta Cristina, had escaped her day in court after she paid a 600,000 euro civil liability bound for allegedly benefiting from the money her husband is alleged to have defrauded from the local authorities. This is what the prosecution had demanded and last week, she paid up, later than expected because the money was transferred to a court in Barcelona instead of Palma! But enter Judge Jose Castro. He announced yesterday that the Infanta should stand trial afterall for two counts of tax fraud. Once again the case is thrown wide open and there is a possibility that the sister of King Felipe of Spain will stand trial in Palma. Now the Infanta´s lawyers have already said that they will appeal the decision and have denied any wrongdoing by their client. It is certainly highly embarrassing for the Spanish royal family. Her brother will be giving his first Christmas address as the reigning monarch tomorrow and his speech will be scrutinized by all to see whether he mentions his sister or even his brother-in-law who is facing a 19 year jail sentence. It is obviously a bad moment for Spain with a whole series of corruption allegations involving local officials and even the royal family. There have been calls for the Infanta to be stripped of all her royal honours. I think Castro is right because there are two tax fraud allegations which need to be resolved and therefore it is only right that the Infanta should have her day in court to prove her innocence.