I’m sort of surprised by the amount of drama going down with the Spanish royal family. Almost one year ago exactly, King Juan Carlos formally abdicated, leaving his son Felipe as king. Juan Carlos abdicated under a cloud of scandal, and there were several other family members embroiled in controversy too. I should note: King Felipe and Queen Letizia don’t seem to be particularly dramatic these days. The Daily Mail is always trying to start something about Letizia looking too thin, but other than a too-severe hairstyle, Letizia looks pretty much the same as always. So in the absence of drama at the top, all of the drama is still with other royal family members. Like Felipe’s sister, Princess Cristina de Borbon. The king just “stripped” his sister of her royal title. Whoa!

Duchess drama. King Felipe VI of Spain stripped the title of “Duchess of Palma de Mallorca” from his sister, Cristina de Borbon, on Friday, June 12, as she’s currently embroiled in fraud charges. According to a statement released by the palace (via Agence France-Presse): “The official journal of the state [on Friday] 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 formal title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca was bestowed upon Princess Cristina in 1997, by her late dad, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who abdicated the throne last year. The bold move from King Felipe comes after surmounting pressure that his sister relinquish her succession rights amidst her scandal. Princess Cristina is expected to stand trial as the first-ever royal in Spain to face prosecution since the monarchy’s restoration in the country in 1975.

She is accused of being involved in a huge tax-evasion scheme involving her husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, who apparently embezzled millions of public funds through his Noos Foundation. Cristina’s lawyers, however, have remained adamant that the Princess was not involved in the scheme and was simply used by her husband.

[From Us Weekly]

It’s my understanding that this “title-stripping” would be the equivalent of stripping Princess Anne with the title “The Princess Royal” (which was conferred on her by the Queen many years ago) but leaving her as HRH Princess Anne. Like, Cristina is still a princess (a blood princess) but she is no longer the Duchess of Palma de Mallorca. And yes, if you’re a member of the royal family and you’re standing trial for some major criminal acts, you should probably voluntarily relinquish your place in the line of succession.

Here’s Cristina:

Photos courtesy of WENN.