Nicholas Kamm / AFP-Getty Images

Spain's Princess Cristina, shown in 2011, has been summoned to testify as a suspect in a corruption case involving her husband, a court official said Wednesday. It is a historic blow to the prestige of the royal family, including her father, King Juan Carlos.

MADRID -- A Spanish judge on Wednesday ordered Spain's Princess Cristina, King Juan Carlos's younger daughter, to testify in a corruption probe into alleged misuse of public funds by her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, a court official said.

"The judge has issued a court ruling in which he calls Cristina de Borbon y Grecia to testify on April 27," the official told Reuters, confirming earlier reports from El Pais newspaper and Cadena Ser radio.

It was not clear on what charges the princess was called to testify by Investigating Judge Jose Castro, but the unprecedented step may increase pressure on the monarch to abdicate after a series of gaffes in recent months.

Castro formally named the princess as a suspect in his investigation, El Pais reported.

Spain's Royal Palace was not immediately available to comment.

Related:

Spanish king's son-in-law in court over fraud allegations

Thousands in Spain protest austerity, corruption

AFP - Getty Images file

PETA is asking Queen Elizabeth to end her support of racing pigeons, which they deem a "cruel" tradition.

Claiming pigeon racing is a cruel sport resulting in the deaths of thousands of birds, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has written to Queen Elizabeth II asking her to stop supporting it.

Queen Elizabeth is the patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, which dates back to the 1890s, and the royal has nearly 250 birds on her Sandringham estate in eastern England, according to PETA.

“The Queen is a key figure in the sport of pigeon racing, and this is a very serious issue,’’ PETA UK spokesperson Ben Williamson told TODAY.com. “We hope the Queen will treat this issue with the importance it deserves because there are tens of thousands of birds dying.’’

Buckingham Palace declined comment to TODAY.com.

PETA conducted a clandestine investigation into cross-English Channel pigeon racing from July to September of 2012, and claims to have found evidence of thousands of birds dying during the races, millions of dollars in illegally accepted wagers on the races and unregulated release of birds. In the last decade, an average of 75 percent of the birds have not returned from the races and were presumed dead, according to PETA.

Wpa Pool / Getty Images

Pigeon racing involves releasing trained pigeons over a specific distance and determining a winner based on which bird returns home in the shortest amount of time. PETA estimates there are 40,000 pigeon racers in the United Kingdom who raise two million pigeons annually, the majority of which are used for racing.

“These birds have to fly hundreds of miles to reach the English Channel and then are already exhausted before they get to this great body of water,’’ Williamson said. “They have no choice but to fly back (across the English Channel) because they don’t have the skills to survive in the wild.’’

This isn't the first time PETA has targeted Buckingham Palace to change a policy. In 2008, the activist group met with British military officials to discuss fake fur alternatives to the traditional bearskin hats worn as part of the iconic uniform of the Buckingham Palace guards.

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Adrian Dennis / AFP / Getty Images file

Prince William is pictured during his training at airbase RAF Cranwell in January 2008.

He may not have come riding in on a white horse, but this prince still came to the rescue, albeit on a different steed altogether.

On Tuesday, Prince William swooped in to help save a pair of hikers via helicopter after the two were reported missing earlier this week while trekking the mountainous north Wales region of Snowdonia.

Per British media reports, the unidentified hikers, who were in their 40s and 50s, made their way to the area's Glyder range but were forced to camp out there on Monday — where freezing temperatures could prove life-threatening — after lacking the necessary gear to get them off the mountain before nightfall.

Prince William saves schoolgirls in helicopter sea rescue

The two had promised to phone a friend with an update during their trip, but when the call never came, authorities were alerted and a search party was dispatched.

The pair were eventually found by a mountain rescue team aided by rescue dogs, and William and his helicopter crew arrived to take them to safety.

Consider it yet another heroic feather in the royal's increasingly be-feathered cap: Duchess Kate's hubby, who is a trained pilot with the RAF Search and Rescue Force, has been putting those chopper skills to essential use. Over the last six months, he's participated no fewer than four rescue missions, including saving shipwrecked Russians in the Irish Sea and schoolgirls stranded off the Welsh coast.

Looks like this is one prince whose duties to his people transcend mere ceremonial pomp and pageantry. 

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Philippe Roesch / Visual Forensic via AFP - Getty Images

A computer generated image shows a reconstruction of the head of French King Henri IV (1553-1610) made after a panel of forensic scientists identified the skull of the king who was murdered at the age of 57 on May 14, 1610, by a fanatic.

Bellet-gabet / Bellet / Galaxy Press via AFP - Getty Images

The mummified head of French King Henri IV.

Scientists revealed the reconstructed head of French King Henri IV (1553-1610) during a press conference in Paris on Tuesday. This reconstruction was made three years after a panel of forensic scientists identified the skull of the king, who was murdered by a fanatic, at the age of 57 on May 14, 1610.

Scientists headed by France's Philippe Charlier found a common genetic profile between the mummified head of Henri IV and dried blood from his descendant, Louis XVI.  

-- AFP - Getty Images

Related: King Richard III's face revealed after 500 years

Loic Venance / AFP - Getty Images

The skull of French King Henri IV and, at right, its reconstruction, appear on a screen during a press conference in Paris on Feb. 12.

Getty Images file

Prince William and Duchess Kate are shown here after she was discharged from the hospital.

Severe morning sickness continues to plague the recently hospitalized Duchess Kate – who is now recovering at home – prompting her husband to curb his public appointments.

Prince William cancelled a Sunday appearance at the British Military Tournament so he could stay at Kensington Palace with his wife, who is newly pregnant with their first child.

The Duke of Cambridge commented about the severity of her illness just a night earlier when he went solo to London’s Royal Albert Hall for the Winter Whites Gala, a benefit for the homeless charity Centrepoint.

“I don’t know why they call it morning sickness – they should call it all-day and all-night sickness,” he reportedly told the charity’s former chairman, Michael O’Higgins. “It’s a long old process but she is getting there. She feels like it is going to go on forever.”

Duchess Kate is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, a rare condition that hits pregnant women in the form of severe nausea, vomiting and other debilitating symptoms. She spent several days being treated for the condition at London’s King Edward VII hospital.

She has cancelled all of her immediate public appearances until further notice, according to the palace.

“It is well known that hyperemesis gravidarum often recurs,” officials said in a statement. “Until further notice, to allow the Duchess a degree of privacy during her pregnancy, we do not intend to offer regular condition checks or advise of routine developments."

Meanwhile, the two Australian radio DJs who made a prank call to the hospital where the duchess was being treated have broken their silence over the death of a nurse involved in their hoax.

The radio hosts had called pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and were quickly dispatched to the duchess' private nurse. The woman who took the initial call was later found dead.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who have since been taken off the air of 2DayFM radio, said the tragedy has left them “shattered, gutted, heartbroken.”

Slideshow: Toddlers in tiaras: Royals and their babies

AP

Launch slideshow

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Indigo / Getty Images Contributor

Pippa Middleton and James Middleton leave the King Edward VII Hospital in London on Wednesday after visiting their pregnant sister, Duchess Kate, who is being treated for acute morning sickness.

By Us Weekly

Supportive siblings, indeed!

Two days after Duchess Kate was admitted to London's King Edward VII Hospital for acute morning sickness, the 30-year-old's siblings, James and Pippa Middleton, visited her for the first time Dec. 5.

"They arrived at the hospital at 3:50 p.m. in a black taxi," a source tells Us Weekly. "They left at 5 p.m." Prince William, who had been by his wife's side all morning, left at 5:10 p.m. local time.

PHOTOS: Royal pregnancies

On Dec. 4, a rep for the royal couple told Us Weekly Kate "is continuing to feel better" after being hospitalized the day prior for hyperemesis gravidarum, a rare condition that can cause severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss, dehydration, lightheadedness and fainting.

PHOTOS: Prince William and and Kate Middleton's first year of marriage

As Kate receives medical attention, the Church of England has published a prayer for the expectant parents: "We pray for William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as they prepare to receive the gift of their child."

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, wished the mom-to-be well at a London engagement that same day. "We have deep sympathy with Catherine," Edward said. "We know someone who had the same condition."

Added Rhys-Jones, "It really is a perfect end to pretty great year."

PHOTOS: See Kate Middleton as a child

Both William and Kate have spoken candidly about their desire to become parents since tying the knot in April 2011. "Trying for a baby has been their priority," a royal confidant told Us prior to their Dec. 3 announcement that Middleton is expecting. "They're both excited to be focusing on a new chapter in their lives."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Pregnant Kate Middleton's Siblings, James and Pippa, Visit Her in the Hospital 

More on TODAY:

Radio DJs impersonate royals, get lowdown on Kate 

'World descends on London' as Kate remains in hospital

Hyperemesis gravidarum: 'You just feel like you're dying'

Related: Hyperemesis makes pregnancy a nightmare

With royal baby news, name speculation 

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images file

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway visit Borobudur temple in Magelang Regency, Indonesia, on Nov. 28.

OSLO, Norway -- Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway secretly traveled to India in order to care for infant twins born to the surrogate mother of a gay palace employee unable to get a travel visa, the palace said Monday.

Armed with a diplomatic passport that granted her immediate access, the future queen jumped on a plane in late October when the employee, who is also a friend, and his husband were unable to travel to care for their newborns.

"For me, this is about two babies lying alone in a New Delhi hospital," Mette-Marit said in a statement. "I was able to travel and wanted to do what I could."

She did not alert Indian authorities and spent several days with the babies at the Manav Medicare Center, where staff assumed the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway was a nanny.

UK's Duchess Kate is pregnant with her first child

Subterfuge
While the princess was away, her name continued to appear in the official palace calendar and her absence from a parliamentary dinner was not explained.

A relative of the two fathers eventually took over from Mette-Marit and the fathers received a visa in November, when they brought the babies back to Norway, the palace added.

Surrogacy is a hotly debated issue in Norway and the government discourages Norwegians from paying surrogate parents for children.

Protestant Norway was the second country in the world in 1993 to register same-sex partnerships while same-sex marriage has been legal since 2009.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

The princess acknowledged the debate and insisted she is not taking a side and only did what a friend had to do.

"Sometimes life presents you with situations with few good solutions. This was one of those," she said. "There is an important debate going on about surrogacy and this was not meant as taking a side."

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Keys to a restaurant and conference room in the Tower of London were stolen early last week. The fortress is one of London's top historic tourist attractions.

LONDON - A burglar broke into the grounds of the Tower of London - the ancient fortress that is home to the Crown Jewels - and snatched several keys before being spotted and escorted off the premises, officials said Monday.

Police are now investigating the crime, at one of the British capital's most famous landmarks.

Keys to a restaurant and conference rooms were taken last Tuesday, according to a statement from Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that runs the Tower on behalf of its owner, the queen.

The keys were stolen from a sentry box at the site, officials told The Associated Press on Monday. 

The intruder also took a key to an internal lock to the Tower drawbridges that is not accessible from the outside.

"At no point was the security of the Tower at risk," the statement said. After getting around the Tower's main gate, the intruder was captured and escorted off the premises.

Tower officials changed the affected locks immediately after the incident.

The Tower was historically guarded by Yeomen Warders - popularly known as Beefeaters - although in practice they now act as tour guides and security is provided by private contractors.

While officials maintain that security systems at the Tower are "robust," the statement admitted that proper procedures were not "carried out to the expected standard." 

"A staff disciplinary procedure is underway to address this issue," it added.

The Tower was originally built in the early 1080s.

Slideshow: London calling

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From Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square to the River Thames, the venerable London exudes history.

Launch slideshow

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II waits to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph during Remembrance Sunday in Whitehall on November 11, 2012 in London.

BELFAST - Ireland's prime minister laid a wreath to honor fallen soldiers at a British Remembrance Day service for the first time on Sunday, the latest gesture of reconciliation between historic foes. 

Annual Remembrance Day services to honor Britain's war dead and the wearing of the traditional poppy are controversial in Ireland because of abuses committed by soldiers in Northern Ireland and during British rule in Ireland before independence.

Enda Kenny took part in a service in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland on the 25th anniversary of the Irish Republican Army bombing of a Remembrance Day service in the town that killed 12 people, one of the worst atrocities of three decades of sectarian violence.

Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

Former service personnel attend Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, Central London, on November 11, 2012.

Meanwhile in London on Sunday, the Queen Elizabeth was joined by Prince Phillip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the annual memorial service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The Queen, whose grandson Prince Harry is currently serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, laid a wreath.

The traditional two-minute silence at 11am – timed to coincide with the armistice that ended the First World War in 1918 - was held to remember members of the British and Commonwealth's armed forces who have died during conflicts.

The same silence was observed by millions of veterans and civilians across the UK, and by British forces serving across the world - including 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan. Many wore a poppy – the symbol of remembrance – on their lapel.

Luke Macgregor / Reuters

Britain's Prince William attends the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in London November 11, 2012.

In Enniskillen, Kenny stood, head bowed, during the silence before taking his turn to lay a wreath on the war memorial yards from the spot where the IRA bomb exploded in 1987.

His green laurel wreath laid on behalf of the Irish Government stood out among wreaths of red poppies. He did not wear a poppy.

The gesture came a year after a visit by Queen Elizabeth to Ireland, the first by the British sovereign since independence.

During the visit, the Queen laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin to honor those Irish men and women who died fighting for Irish freedom from British rule.

Also on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore became the first Irish minister to attend a Remembrance Day service at Belfast City Hall, laying a wreath at the city's cenotaph.

Tens of thousands of Irish soldiers fought for Britain in both world wars, but they receive relatively little recognition in Ireland, which took advantage of World War One to fight British rule and remained neutral during World War Two.

With relations with Britain the warmest for decades, the Irish government in June pardoned thousands of servicemen who deserted to fight for the Allied forces during World War Two.

During more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland when more than 3,600 people died, the participation of an Irish leader in a Remembrance Day ceremony would have been unthinkable.

The violence was largely ended by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 which set up a power-sharing administration between unionists, who want to maintain Northern Ireland's position in the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who aspire to a united Ireland.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Geoff Pugh / AFP - Getty Images, file

Queen Elizabeth II meets BBC journalist Frank Gardner at an event in October 2011. The BBC apologized on Tuesday after Gardner reported a conversation with the queen.

Analysis

LONDON - Imagine this: President Barack Obama makes an indiscreet remark to a reporter.  The White House complains after the journalist reports the newsworthy encounter. The reporter and his network apologize.

Hard to visualize, isn’t it?

But something very similar did happen with the U.K.'s head of state this week.  

Highly respected BBC journalist Frank Gardner reported a controversial conversation with Queen Elizabeth II about radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Mazri, who on Monday lost his appeal against extradition to the United States to face terrorism charges. 

Cleric al-Masri loses bid to avoid extradition to US on terror charges

Buckingham Palace was reportedly outraged. Gardner and the BBC -- seen by many as a standard-bearer for quality journalism around the world -- issued a groveling apology. 

Peter Morrison / AP

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on June 26.

So does the British media have different rules for covering the royals?

Three-quarters-of-a-century ago newspapers in this country remained silent as U.S. journalists excitedly reported on a relationship between the future King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  The relationship eventually led to Edward abdicating the throne.

And in the last month, most British news outlets refused to publish those naked Prince Harry pictures, while the U.K. media said "non" in unison to the French paparazzi snaps of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge - the former Kate Middleton - topless.

Criminal case continues over topless Kate photos

The intimate pictures were viewed by many British editors as an invasion of privacy.  

But while stories about royal love affairs, and pictures of cavorting young royals are arguably an invasion of privacy, this latest spat between Buckingham Palace and the media is of another order entirely.  That is because while the queen signs off on Britain's laws, guides the prime minister and entertains visiting leaders from around the world, by tradition and according to convention she cannot and must not be seen to take sides.

In fact, a constitutional crisis could ensue if she is seen to be meddling. 

That said, the queen is involved in affairs of state. 

'Vivid combination'
The prime minister meets with the monarch every week.  She has held these sessions since Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s days.  Yet what is said is never shared.  If the queen does give advice no one is ever told what it is.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair went further than most when in his diary he described the visits to the palace as, “A vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal, and the utterly freaky.” 

More coverage of Britain's royal family on TODAY.com

But even he did not recount a word of what was actually said.

Many speculate on what the queen's political views might be, but very few people know for sure what they are.

So given the long-standing conventions governing interactions with the monarch, any opinion the queen did share with Gardner would have been off-the-record and not for reporting.  Otherwise she would not have expressed a view. 

And journalists, of course, have a duty not to reveal their sources where confidentiality has been promised.

In that sense Gardner broke a simple rule of journalism. If you're told something off the record, you can't source it without permission.

If the queen did share vigorous views on al-Masri's deportation to the United States -- she was apparently so upset about the U.K.'s inability to arrest him that she spoke to top government officials about it -- then it was meant for Gardner's ears only.

But not everybody sees it that way.

“We have to ask: if the BBC had revealed another source, under any circumstances at all, would the apology have been so rapid? Or is it, again, different for the royals?” columnist Archie Bland pondered in the left-leaning Independent newspaper.

So is it different for the royals, or at least the queen, in one important sense. Being unelected she is not supposed to have an opinion. That's the deal. She gets to be queen because she rises above politics.

She might be a highly experienced “sponge,” as described by royal biographer Hugo Vickers, who brings the wisdom built from decades on the throne, but according to British tradition she is definitively not a politician or an opinion-leader.

Queen leads giant Diamond Jubilee flotilla on London's rainy Thames

Many argue that the reason she makes such a good head of state is precisely because she’s never heard mouthing off about one issue or another.  If she were, if she ventured into the world of the political, it would shake the balance of power in Britain.

Which explains why Buckingham Palace was so upset, and why the story is causing such a stir. It is also why Britain's future king, Prince Charles, ruffles feathers when he expresses views about the environment or architecture.

In pictures: Britain honors Queen Elizabeth II with Diamond Jubilee

Probably many British people will be pleased to hear that the queen is prepared to express strong opinions when necessary, albeit in private.

But the queen will not want it to happen again. She knows how much damage it can do to her, her family and her country.

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