Spain's Infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin decide to 'interrupt' their marriage

In addition, they have said that their commitment to their four children remains "intact". "Given that it is a private decision, we ask for privacy for everyone around us," they stated.

It's a press release similar to one sent 15 years ago by the Royal Family in the name of the Infanta Elena, king Felipe's other sister, and Jaime de Marichalar. The phrase used on that occasion was "temporary cessation of living together". This type of phrasing leaves the door open for a possible reconciliation that doesn't seem possible for Cristina and Urdangarin.

The infanta maintains her residence in Geneva, in the house that she moved into in the summer of 2020, six years after initially relocating to Switzerland. She will continue working for the Aga Khan Foundation, whose headquarters is located in the Swiss city.

Urdangarin, who was photographed holding hands with his co-worker Ainhoa Armentia, has been working at the law firm Imaz & Asociados for the last ten months. The job enabled him to serve the rest of his five-year, ten-month sentence under the "third degree" release system.

Urdangarin was found guilty of fraud, embezzlement, perversion of justice, influence peddling and other fiscal crimes in 2018; he was also fined over 500,000 euros.

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If it weren't for the scandalous photographs, the Infanta would never have taken the step to separate from her husband. Prison distanced them, and Urdangarin was changed by his 15-month stint in isolation in the otherwise all-female jail located in Brieva, northwest of Madrid.

King Felipe's sister was willing to do anything in the name of love. Even risking going to prison herself, as she faced a possible eight-year sentence in the trial that began in January 2016. She was later acquitted and proven to have been "blinded by love".

Sixth in line to the throne, a privilege that she never renounced despite being pressured to do so, Cristina was cut off from royal duties and her life in the Zarzuela palace in December 2011. "Us or him? Your family or your husband?" She was given a choice. She didn't hestitate. She went with him.