Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has come out in defence of Spanish Princess Infanta Cristina, claiming that she is innocent of money laundering and fraud charges.

In a television interview, Rajoy said that she is innocent of corruption allegations less than three weeks before she is due to testify as a suspect in court.

"I'm absolutely convinced that things will go well for her, I'm convinced of her innocence," said Rajoy.

"I have to respect, as I've said before, the decisions of the judges and the prosecutors. I would like, as the King very rightly said, for everyone to be equal before the law. The princess also has a right to be presumed innocent."

At the beginning of this month, a judge in Spain charged Infanta Cristina, the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos, with money laundering and fraud.

Last year, the Duchess of Palma de Mallorca officially became the first direct descendant of a Spanish royal to appear in court. She was summoned to appear on 27 April 2013.

The princess is married to Iñaki Urdangarín, a former Olympic handball player who was accused in November 2011 of diverting and misusing public funds for his own profit through a non-profit organisation that Urdangarín ran with Spanish entrepreneur Diego Torres.

He and Torres allegedly funnelled around $6.4m away from their companies in part by "massively overcharging" local authorities for organising sports events.

Last year, Cristina was officially named a suspect in the corruption scandal.

Presented by Adam Justice

Spain