Infanta Cristina celebrates her 59th birthday more and more attached to Spain, where she prefers to go unnoticed.
For years, KIng Felipe VI’s sister was the most elusive of the royal siblings. As the middle child, she often attracted less attention than her brothers and grew up believing she could remain in the background.
Infanta Cristina’s 59th birthday
Born on June 13, 1965, her arrival was somewhat disappointing for King Juan Carlos, who had been hoping for a male heir.
“When Prince Felipe was born, the marital relations between the parents began a path of no return,” wrote Paloma Barrientos in her book ‘Los secretos de la infanta.’
Cristina was loved as much as her siblings but received less attention, especially from Queen Sofia, who was more involved in raising her other two children. This familial dynamic rendered Cristina somewhat ‘invisible.’
This sense of independence shaped her life in many ways. Cristina chose to study Political Science and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid, a decision that was quite unconventional for a royal. The university, known for its republican leanings, was often decorated with anti-Borbón graffiti.
The book mentions that some professors even failed her because of her royal status, and Cristina stood up to them—something her parents never knew about. However, they were aware of the threat from ETA, which made them reluctant for Cristina to continue her studies. Defying their concerns, she graduated in 1989.
“Her trajectory of freedom was already evident,” Barrientos noted. The atmosphere at the Zarzuela Palace was tense, with the royal couple’s relationship deteriorating, prompting Cristina to distance herself.
The press linked her with various European nobles, though she preferred non-royals like Juanjo Puigcorbé, José Luis Doreste, and Alvaro Bultó.
Using the excuse that Madrid lacked a sea, she moved to Barcelona, where she met young athlete Iñaki Urdangarin in 1996 through water polo goalkeeper Jesús Rollán, with whom she also had a brief affair.
At the time, Iñaki had a girlfriend and didn’t reveal his relationship with Cristina until a month later. By spring 1997, they were officially engaged and married in October of the same year in Barcelona.
Over the next few years, they had four children: Juan Valentín (born in 1999), Pablo Nicolás (2000), Miguel (2002), and Irene (2005).
Their marriage seemed solid, and Iñaki, who completed a business diploma in 1999 and retired from handball the following year, was considered King Juan Carlos’s favorite son-in-law. The king even helped pay for their luxurious Pedralbes mansion, a three-story house in an upscale Barcelona neighborhood costing nearly six million euros.
However, when Iñaki was investigated in the Nóos case, a scandal involving the misappropriation of public funds, it was revealed that he and Cristina had invested three million euros more in renovations through Aizóon, a company they co-owned.
Following the scandal, Iñaki was removed from official royal duties, and the family moved to Geneva to protect their children from harassment at their Barcelona school.
This investigation led to Cristina becoming the first Spanish royal to be implicated in a criminal case.
The Palma Court found her involved in two tax offenses, with Judge Castro suggesting she had knowledge of the fraud.
Eventually, she was acquitted, but her husband was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2018, claiming that the Royal House was aware of his activities.
During his imprisonment, Cristina supported him unconditionally, covering all expenses, including his coaching psychology master’s degree at UNED.
In March 2022, Iñaki was granted parole, and they began to rebuild their lives. However, magazine Lecturas exposed his affair with Ainhoa Armentia, a married lawyer from Vitoria, which shattered Cristina, still in love despite his infidelities.
Under pressure from her father and brother, Felipe, to separate to protect the institution, Cristina initially resisted. “Are you crazy? What do I tell my kids?” she would say.
But realizing the public humiliation was too much, and with her children grown, she eventually saw that separation was best.
By late 2023, after tough negotiations, they finalized their divorce, agreeing on financial terms for their children, with Iñaki receiving neither alimony nor a pension.
Since the separation, Cristina hasn’t been publicly linked to anyone. Friends in Barcelona try to set her up, but she seems focused on her children’s futures and her work with the Aga Khan Foundation, where she leads international development projects, earning 400,000 euros annually.
According to those close to her, Cristina is pragmatic, warm, and sociable, maintaining a strong bond with her father, who relocated to Abu Dhabi in 2020 to avoid further scandals. She and her children have visited him there multiple times.
Cristina also remains close to her sister, Infanta Elena, who supported her through the Nóos trial.
However, her relationship with King Felipe has been strained, particularly since he married Queen Letizia.
Journalist Pilar Eyre noted that Cristina and Iñaki were among the first to know about Felipe and Letizia’s relationship, and Iñaki even bought the engagement ring.
At Irene’s baptism at Zarzuela, Cristina asked Felipe and Letizia to host her in-laws, which Letizia refused, as she didn’t want strangers in her home while pregnant.
This marked a turning point, compounded by Felipe’s decision to prioritize the monarchy over family ties, supported by Letizia to safeguard their daughter’s future on the throne.
The family has been fractured for years, with Letizia reportedly ensuring her daughters are kept away from family members embroiled in scandals or conflicts.