Her Royal Highness the Infanta Cristina

Her Royal Highness, the Infanta Cristina Federica de Borbon y Grecia is the second daughter of Their Majesties King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain.

She was born in Madrid on 13 June 1965 and was baptised at La Zarzuela Palace by the Archbishop of Madrid. Her godparents were HRH Alfonso de Borbon, Duke of Cadiz, and HRH the Infanta Maria Cristina de Borbon y Battenberg.

Her education

She received her secondary education at Santa Maria del Camino School and, in 1984, went to read Political Science at the Complutense University of Madrid, graduating in 1989.

In 1990, she studied for a Master's degree in International Relations at New York University and in 1991 gained practical experience working at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Her activities in Spain and abroad

She carries out many institutional, cultural, academic and welfare activities in Spain and abroad, especially in European and Latin American countries.

As Honorary President of the Spanish Committee of UNESCO, she has maintained her links with this international organisation and with several of its projects, especially educational ones, with the focus on activities to protect the natural and artistic heritage. In October 2001, she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations for the 2nd World Assembly on Ageing. She is also a member of the Dali Foundation Board of Trustees.

She supports a number of welfare bodies and participates personally in courses on adapted sailing for the handicapped. She is the President of the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing.

She is currently the Director of Social Welfare at the La Caixa Foundation in Barcelona, where she lives.

On 4 October 1997, she married Iñaki Urdangarin in the Basilica Cathedral in Barcelona. On that occasion, HM the King granted her the title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.

She has four children, Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos, who was born on 29 September 1999; Pablo Nicolás, born on 6 December 2000, Miguel, born on 30 April 2002, and Irene, born on 5 June 2005, all of them in Barcelona.

She practises a number of sports including skiing, but her favourite is sailing. She has taken part in many national and international events and was a member of the Spanish Olympic sailing team at the Seoul Games in 1988 where she was standard bearer in the opening parade.