The Duke of Palma, Iñaki Urdandarin and his wife, the Infanta Cristina, travelled to Palma de Mallorca today in readiness for the duke's appearance in court tomorrow.  The King and Queen's son-in-law will answer questions about his alleged misappropriation of public funds from the Nóos Insitute, a charitable organisation that received 5.8 million euros between 2004 and 2007 from various regional governments including the Balearic Islands government and the Valencian government.

The duke, who is one of a score of people charged with embezzlement, took over as administrator at Nóos in 2003 and was made president of the company a year latert, handing over to an ex-business partner of his, Diego Torres, when he left the post in 2006.

The duke's lawyer has promised that his client will hold a press conference after he has given evidence tomorrow.  About 350 journalists from 60 different national and international publications have been granted press passes to cover Urdangarin's sworn statement tomorrow.

The prosecution maintains that Urdangarin and Torres set up a number of ghost companies, managed by themselves or members of their families, in order to appropriate hundreds of thousands of euros of public money and, in addition, retained a Barcelona law-firm to move some of the money offshore.
 
It is the first time that a member of the Spanish royal family has faced charges of corruption.  The Infanta Cristina, will not accompany her husband to court, but will remain at the Marivent Palace.  As has been the case for the past few months, the infanta will not be carrying out any official royal duties in the foreseeable future.