Inaki Urdangarin: The damage is done

There are indications that The Duke of Palma, Inaki Undangarin was involved in a corruption behavior and he appears in court today.

Question:

If he will be charged (and perhaps Infant Cristina also) would you say it will have a profound impact on the royal family and on how poeople of Spain perceive them?

Answers:

Alejandro Quiroga, Reader in Spanish History, School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University

The evidence against Urdangarin is so strong that the damage to the Royal Family is already done in terms of popular support. The Royal House is developing a tactic of detaching Urdangarin from princess Cristina. “He may be guilty but she did not know anything about her husband’s dirty business”, seems to be the official discourse. This is highly improbable, for part of the money of Noos was deviated to a company own by both Cristina and Iñaki. Still, the Royal family seems to be happy to offer Urdangarin as a sacrificial lamb, if this means that the monarchy as an institution is cleared. It is a typical political exercise of damage contention. However, I think this scandal undermines still further the prestige of the monarchy in Spain, already in decline over the last years. Many are beginning to quesition the privileges of the Crown, their judicial status, their incomes (paid with public money). This scandal of corruption puts corrupt politicians and the royal family at the very same level. Somehow, it humanises the royals in the worst possible manner.

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