Urdangarín could travel to Qatar on a diplomatic passport even if the judge confiscates his own

EVEN if the courts confiscate Iñaki Urdangarín's passport, he will still be able to travel to Qatar to take up the job he has been offered, say sources from the Zarzuela Palace.

Despite having been withdrawn from public duties and his name and details scrubbed from the Royal family's website amid corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the Nóos Institute, the King's son-in-law is still entitled to use a 'diplomatic' passport as he is still officially one of the Royals due to his marriage to the Infanta Cristina, daughter of the monarch.

Urdangarín has not confirmed either way whether he will take up the post of handball trainer for the Spanish team in Doha, but public clamouring – especially by the anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpios ('clean hands') – calling for his passport to be taken off him while the trial continues was thought to mean that if the judge agreed, he would have to turn down the job.

However, a spokesperson for the Royal household says this is not the case.

Even though use of a diplomatic passport is not considered a 'personal privilege' and is only permitted for 'functions that duly justify' its being granted, according to the Royal Decree of 1984 and amended in 2008, any member of the Royal family is entitled to hold one.

“Iñaki Urdangarín is still a Royal and nothing can change that,” stated the Zarzuela Palace source.

Although he is facing five different charges relating to fraud and misappropriation of public funds, some of which normally carry a custodial sentence, the only way he would stop being a member of the Royal family would be if he and the Infanta Cristina divorced.

The couple have already made clear they have no intention of doing so.

And even if the Infanta agreed to give up her public duties so that her husband's involvement in the trial did not taint the Royal family, merely by dint of her marriage to Urdangarín he would continue to be one of them.

“These are the long-standing foundations of an institution based upon biology and blood relations,” the Zarzuela Palace states.

Urdangarín would be working alongside his close friend Valero Rivera, manager of the Spanish handball team in Doha.

It is likely Urdangarín would be treated with the same privilege and protection in Qatar as any other Royal.

This is especially so given that King Juan Carlos has always had a close relationship with the Qatari Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

When the Emir and his wife, Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, travelled to Spain, the King went to the airport in person to meet them, which is an extremely rare occurrence.