Spain's Princess Cristina to stand trial in landmark corruption case

Spain's Princess Cristina and her husband go on trial Monday 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, will be 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 player Inaki Urdangarin, will get underway at 9:15 am (0815 GMT) at a court in Palma on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, where the Spanish royals have a holiday home.

Hundreds of journalists from around the world have flocked to cover the arrival of the princess for the start of the legal proceedings and a crowd of protesters is expected to fill the streets outside the courthouse.

The trial comes as Spain seethes over repeated corruption scandals that have exposed politicians, trade unions, bankers and footballers, eroding Spaniards' faith in their institutions and elites after a major economic crisis and a government austerity drive.

- Harry Potter books -

The case is centred on the shady business deals of the Noos Institute, a charitable organisation based in Palma which Urdangarin, 47, chaired from 2004 to 2006.

He and his former business partner Diego Torres are suspected of embezzling 6.2 million euros ($6.7 million) in public funds paid by two regional governments to the organisation to stage sporting and other types of events.

Urdangarin is accused of using his royal connections to secure inflated contracts without competing bids and siphoning off some of the money into Aizoon, a firm he jointly ran with his wife Cristina to fund a lavish lifestyle.

Urdangarin and Cristina are suspected of using Aizoon for personal expenses including work on the couple's mansion in Barcelona, trips to South Africa's Kruger National Park, dance lessons and even Harry Potter books, which reduced the firm's taxable profits, according to court filings.

Cristina has been charged with tax evasion while her husband is accused of the more serious crimes of embezzlement, influence peddling, document falsification, money laundering and tax fraud.

If convicted Cristina -- who has denied wrongdoing -- faces a jail term of up to eight years. Urdangarin faces more than 19 years in prison.

During a preliminary hearing in February 2014 she told the court that she loved her husband and trusted him to manage their finances. She repeatedly answered "I don't know" to questions.

- New royal rules -

The corruption scandal and health woes prompted Cristina's father Juan Carlos -- who helped smooth Spain's transition to democracy in the 1970s after the Franco dictatorship -- to abdicate in 2014 in favour of his son Felipe to try to revive the scandal-hit monarchy.

King Felipe VI swiftly adopted new rules banning members of the royal family from working for private firms and ordered palace accounts to be subject to an external audit.

Last year he stripped Cristina and her husband of their titles as Duke and Duchess of Palma, which Juan Carlos had given the couple when they had their glitzy wedding in 1997.

Torres, Urdangarin's former business partner, has insisted that Juan Carlos and his advisers monitored the Noos Institute's dealings closely and offered advice.

The royal palace supervised "what we did, they would say 'that's very good, that seems very well done, go ahead', and they would guide us," Torres said during an interview that aired on television channel La Sexta on Sunday night.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Prince William's wife Kate in labour

LONDON, United Kingdom – Prince William's wife Kate was admitted to hospital on Saturday in the early stages of labour with the couple's eagerly-awaited second child, Kensington Palace said.

"The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted at 6.00 hours to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London and is in the early stages of labour," the palace press office said in a statement.

"The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge," it said.

This will be the couple's second child after Prince George, born in 2013.

He or she will be the fourth in line to the throne after Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son Prince Charles, his eldest son William, and George, the new arrival's big brother.

William was expected to stay by his wife's side throughout the labour, as he did at George's birth in July 2013.

Queen Elizabeth, senior royals and Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, will be the first to be informed of the news.

It will then be announced both on the official Kensington Palace Twitter account and in the traditional way -- with a royal bulletin displayed on an ornate easel in Buckingham Palace's forecourt.

Guy Thorpe-Beeston, surgeon-gynaecologist to the royal household and a specialist in high-risk pregnancies, is leading the delivery team.

The world's press quickly gathered outside St Mary's in anticipation of the birth.

William's office announced on April 21 that he had gone on leave from his job as an air ambulance pilot after completing his training ahead of the birth.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace, William's official residence, said he would not return to work until June 1.

- Gun salutes in celebration -

He and Kate are planning to spend the first few days after the birth at Kensington Palace, their London residence.

They will then travel to Anmer Hall, a country mansion on Queen Elizabeth's privately-owned Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England, where they have set up home.

Cannons will be fired across London to celebrate the birth -- 62 shots from the Tower of London and 41 from Green Park -- and the British flag will be flown from government buildings.

The baby's name may not be revealed for several days -- William's name was not announced for a week, while the world had to wait one month after his father Charles was born.

George was named two days after his birth.

The baby will be known as His/Her Royal Highness Prince/Princess (name) of Cambridge.

The baby will be christened as a member of the Church of England, wearing a replica of the intricate lace and satin gown made for queen Victoria's eldest daughter in 1841.

Experts say the royal birth could inject tens of millions of pounds (euros, dollars) into the British economy, with a baby princess particularly lucrative because she could become a fashion trendsetter.

George's birth gave Britain a £390 million (544 million euros, $592 million) boost and the new baby is expected to generate approximately £300 million, according to figures from the London School of Marketing.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

William, Kate pose with basketball royalty

Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate attended their first National Basketball Association game on Monday in Brooklyn, New York.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as they have been officially known since their 2011 wedding, were on hand at the Barclays Center to see the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Brooklyn Nets.

The Royal couple met with LeBron James, commonly known as "King James" before the game.

The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player gave the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a jersey for Prince George with the number 1 and another jersey with Cambridge and the number seven written on it.

On Tuesday, the royals, who are expecting a second child in April, will tour the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, including its reflecting pools.

Dignitaries including former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea, a new mother herself, are expected to meet the couple.

They will cap their visit by attending a fundraising dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday night to benefit the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where the couple met and earned their college degrees.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Kate Middleton goes into labor

Prince William's wife Kate was admitted to hospital on Monday in the early stages of labour as the world awaited the birth of a baby directly in line to inherit the British throne.

After weeks of global anticipation over the arrival of a new generation of British royalty, the royal couple, both 31, were driven from Kensington Palace to a private London hospital wing at around 6 a.m.

Dozens of international media waited outside the Lindo wing of St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington on a hot summer's day while royal fans waving Union Jacks were also starting to gather.

The baby will be born third in line to the throne and in the direct line of succession after Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir Prince Charles, and then his eldest son William.

"Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London in the early stages of labor," Kensington Palace said in a statement.

"Things are progressing as normal," a spokesman added.

The couple say they do not know the sex of the baby.

If it is a girl, then new succession laws being brought in across the 16 Commonwealth realms would mean that she could no longer be overtaken by any future younger brothers.

The birth is later than widely expected, adding to the sense of anticipation around a saga that began when William and the former Kate Middleton married with a huge fanfare in April 2011.

The pregnancy was announced in December when Kate was admitted to hospital with severe morning sickness.

Her early morning arrival at the hospital on Monday coincided with thunder and lightning as a huge storm over London brought the first rain for weeks after a major heatwave in Britain.

Kate has been admitted to the private Lindo Wing of the hospital, where a standard room and normal delivery -- which she is hoping for -- costs £4,965 ($7,775) for the first 24 hours, plus consultant's fees which can reach around £6,000.

The duchess is being tended by a top medical team led by the queen's gynecologist Alan Farthing and his predecessor Marcus Setchell.

William was born in the same hospital wing and media from across the globe are hoping for a repeat of the scene in 1982 when Charles and first wife Diana brought the baby prince out onto the steps to show him off to the world.

International press have been crammed cheek by jowl on the opposite side of the street for three weeks. Roughly 100 media were buzzing about Monday, with around 30 presenters lined up in a row delivering live broadcasts.

Yang Shanshan, from China's CCTV, told AFP: "We've been waiting for this for 10 days now. It was a long wait. We didn't show up every day but now of course we'll stay here till the baby comes.

"Hopefully the baby arrives at daytime."

Meanwhile, around 20 police officers were also stationed outside the wing and royal fanatics clad in British flags were beside themselves with excitement.

Prime Minister David Cameron sent his best wishes to the couple. "A very exciting occasion and the whole country is excited with them. So everyone's hoping for the best," he said.

The new arrival will be the monarch's third great-grandchild, and a first grandchild for Charles.

Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth said the royal family were unlikely to visit once the new addition arrives. Charles was pressing on with a visit to the National Railway Museum in York, northern England.

"The family will be waiting like any other family for news of the baby," Arbiter said. "The queen will be the first to be informed because William will telephone her as soon as something happens."

According to the palace, the next statement will be issued when the baby is born.

The duchess made her final public appearance before giving birth on June 15, attending the queen's official birthday celebrations.

William and Kate live in a cottage at Kensington Palace when in London. In the last four weeks, the duchess has been splitting her time between there and her family's home in the Berkshire countryside, west of London.

Otherwise they are based on the rural island of Anglesey in northwest Wales, where William works as a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot.

There has been a betting frenzy on the name of the royal baby.

"There is a clear view that the baby will be a girl so there are lots of activity around girls' names," a spokeswoman for William Hill told AFP. "Alexandra and Charlotte are the most popular."

Other favored names are Diana, Elizabeth and Victoria, with George and James picked by those who think the baby will be a boy.

Outside Buckingham Palace, the queen's residence, Josh Killoren from Melbourne, Australia told AFP: "I'm hoping it's a boy. I'm sick of seeing a girl on the side of our coins."

That earned him a smack from his girlfriend Connie Sourlatzis, 30, who was a lot more enthusiastic.

"These two have really brought some life back into the royal family. I'm a lot more interested in them now than I used to be," she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com