Infanta Cristina of Spain was born on 13 June 1965 as the daughter of the future King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark. She was their second daughter. Her elder sister is Infanta Elena (born 1963), and her younger brother is King Felipe VI (born 1968). Felipe went ahead of his sisters in the line of succession because Spain still practices male-preference primogeniture.
Cristina was born at the Our Lady of Loreto Sanatorium in Madrid. On 21 June, she was baptised at the Zarzuela Palace by the Archbishop of Madrid. She received the names Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad. Her godparents were Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, who was her first cousin once removed, and her great-aunt, Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain, Countess Marone-Cinzano. Her father became King of Spain in 1975, and Cristina became third in the line of succession, behind her elder sister and younger brother. She is currently sixth in the line of succession.
Cristina attended the Santa María del Camino School and later graduated with a degree in political science from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1989. She also received a Master’s Degree in international relations from New York University in 1990. She speaks Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Greek. She participated in the Tornado event as a sailor in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Cristina married fellow athlete Iñaki Urdangarin at Barcelona Cathedral on 4 October 1997. She wore a dress designed by Spanish designer Lorenzo Caprile. For her wedding, she was created Duchess of Palma de Mallorca for life, and her husband became known as Duke of Palma de Mallorca. They went on to have four children together: Juan (born 1999), Pablo (born 2000), Miguel (born 2002) and Irene (born 2005). Her children follow her in the line of succession.
Cristina’s husband was investigated in a fraud case, which also seemed to implicate Cristina. During the case, Cristina and her children moved to Geneva. She was formally charged with tax fraud and money laundering in 2014, but she denied any knowledge of her husband’s activities. In 2015, her brother removed her title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca but she kept her title of Infanta and her place in the line of succession.1 She was eventually acquitted of the charges, but her husband was convicted and sentenced to six years and three months. He began his sentence in 2018, and in 2021, he was put on supervised release.
Their separation was announced in early 2022, and the couple officially divorced in December 2023.
Before the corruption scandal, Cristina performed royal duties, but she has not performed any since 2011. She now spends most of her time back in Spain with her children.
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