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SPAIN’S KING FELIPE has issued a decree stripping his sister Princess Cristina of her title as Duchess of Palma, as the royal sibling faces tax evasion charges in a scandal that has embarrassed the monarchy.
“The Official Journal of the state will publish a royal decree by which His Majesty the King will revoke the use of the title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca by Her Royal Highness the Infanta Cristina,” the palace said in a statement.
Cristina, 49, stands accused of taking part in tax evasion by her husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin.
A judge ruled in December that she must stand trial on two counts of accessory to tax fraud, making her the first member of the Spanish royal family to be sent to the dock. No date has been set for her trial.
Both Cristina and Urdangarin have suffered a dramatic fall from grace since they married in 1997 in a lavish ceremony in Barcelona and were bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Palma by Felipe’s father, king Juan Carlos, who unexpectedly abdicated last year.
The couple’s multi-million-euro mansion has been impounded by the courts and Cristina was notably absent from ceremonies marking Felipe’s ascension to the throne in June 2014.
Urdangarin, 47, is accused along with a former business partner of creaming off €6 million in public funds from contracts awarded to Noos, a charitable foundation which he chaired.
Cristina’s lawyers say she is innocent of any wrongdoing and that she trusted her husband to handle their financial affairs.
The corruption controversy has outraged Spaniards and helped sour the last years of the reign of Juan Carlos, who gave up the throne after nearly four decades hoping his son could freshen up the image of the monarchy.
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Such a sad accident.
Very very sad for those families and it so close to christmas. R.I.P
will be hard for the driver to deal with killing those people and christmas will never be the same for him or the other family. such a tragic accident.
They believe the driver had a heart attack
Did he die? Bet he wishes he did which is understandable. But end of the day it was a horrible accident
It’s just sad, my heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims of this terrible accident, maybe if something like the dead man’s switch in trains could be installed in trucks, that could prevent something like that happen again
Two generations of a family wiped out within a matter of seconds . Bless them and there family’s
Tragic. It’s been a bad few weeks for the world. Awful stuff.
True Trevor…least not forget the many people killed in ‘warzones’ where western forces are at play but are not reported by the mainstream media too
God.lve them all…thoughts and prayers with everyone..
Surely in a busy shopping centre CCTV cameras were
in operation,it seems to have happened so quickly.
Reported that lorry was travelling up to 50mph in a busy
packed area,seems unbelievable a bit like the helicopter
crashing into the pub last year.
Paranoid much?
If the driver had a heart attack, which I understand he did, then his foot could have easily pressed the accelerator, so briefly traveling at 50mph until crashing is not an unlikely scenario.
Terrible tragedy. RIP.
Given the speed at which lorries accelerate, the way they are geared and the fact he was in a built up are I’d find 50mph highly unbelievable. Chances are he was doing a little over the speed limit by the time he mounted the path. A tragic accident and nothing could have prevented it unfortunately!
God.lve them all…thoughts and prayers with everyone..
Too sad, for everyone affected my heart goes out to you.
God.lve them all…thoughts and prayers with everyone..
I’m at a loss as to why anyone on here conveying their sadness and condolences to those who lost their lives would be red thumbed, a lot of sick f**ers on this site. Anyway we should be used to some of the clowns on here at this stage, but it still beggars belief. May those who lost their loves rest in peace, and god give strength to their loved ones left behind.
Ffs
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