File photo: Spanish Princess Cristina
A rare royal spectacle was brewing on Friday on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, where a judge was preparing to question the king of Spain's daughter as a fraud suspect.
Judge Jose Castro could not confirm whether Cristina de Bourbon, 48, would provide the unprecedented sight of a princess arriving on foot on Saturday at the court, where hundreds of reporters and cameras will be waiting.
For security reasons he has given Cristina permission to drive right up to the door, which would save her a humiliating walk in front of the world media's lenses.
"It is not up to me" whether she takes up that offer, however, Castro told reporters after arriving by moped on Friday at the court.
One of Cristina's lawyers on Thursday hinted that she would arrive by car, instead of running the gauntlet of cameras down a narrow street to the court for her hearing at 10:00 am (0900 GMT).
Castro, who has pushed on with his investigation into Cristina's tax affairs despite resistance from state prosecutors, made no further comment other than: "I am perfectly well."
A line of television vans with satellite dishes were parked near the court, whose press office said 300 journalists were accredited to report on the closed-door hearing.
Inside, red velvet chairs were lined up in the spotless courtroom where Cristina was to sit before Castro, overlooked by a photograph portrait of her own father, Juan Carlos, 76.
Two years ago it was Cristina's husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, who was summoned to appear before Castro.
The sight of him walking to the court entrance marked a shift in the perception of Spain's royals, relatively well-liked before but now widely mistrusted.
Cristina's hearing - the first appearance ever by a member of the family as a formal suspect in court - is even more tensely awaited.
Allegations that a company the couple owned dodged tax and laundered money that was allegedly embezzled, have fuelled growing doubts about the monarchy's future.