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Spanish king and queen won't celebrate golden wedding anniversary

10 MAY 2012 Questions have been raised over the marriage of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, after the royal palace has confirmed the couple will not officially be celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.

The reason given was that May 14, the day the couple mark 50 years, falls just before a public holiday, and is traditionally taken as a holiday too.

 

Queen Sofia is also due to attend a luncheon at Windsor Castle on May 18 with Queen Elizabeth II and other heads of state – including Emperor Akihito of Japan – but King Juan Carlos will not be attending.

The news caps a difficult few months for the Spanish royals – and the king in particular.

The 74-year-old caused controversy when it emerged he had been shooting elephants on a hunting trip to Botswana, and ended up needing a hip operation after faling down some stairs during the visit.

This was after his grandson, Felipe, 13, accidentally shot himself in the foot while handling a gun. 

Meanwhile more developments have emerged in the corruption scandal involving the king's son-in-law Inaki Urdangarin (pictured below with his wife the Infanta Cristina and their children).

He faces allegations that he cashed in on his royal name and used charities as fronts for taking millions of euros in public money.

 

There have been reports that Inaki's ex business partner, Diego Torres, had attempted to blackmail the king by threatening to publish damaging emails.

The royal palace has said they have no knowledge of any attempted extortion by Mr Torres.