Court gives Spanish princess’ husband 5 days to go to prison
MADRID — Judicial authorities on Wednesday told the brother-in-law of Spain’s King Felipe VI that he must report to a prison within five days in order to serve five years and 10 months for fraud and tax evasion, among other crimes.
Inaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball medal winner who has been married for two decades to the king’s sister, Princess Cristina, is the closest person to the ruling family of the Bourbons to be convicted and imprisoned.
The case was seen as instrumental in prompting the abdication in 2014 of Juan Carlos I, who passed on the throne to Felipe.
Public broadcaster TVE showed Urdangarin and his lawyer arriving Wednesday by car at the Palma de Mallorca court after landing on a commercial flight from Geneva, where the 50-year-old lives with his wife Cristina.