Princess Cristina makes history as the first member of Spain's royal family to stand trial when she faced allegations of tax fraud on Monday, Jan. 11 in the island of Mallorca.

According to a report from New York Times, the case against the older sister of King Felipe VI and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin include allegations of helping embezzle around six million euros or $6.5 million of public funds through a non-profit sports foundation called the Nóos Institute.

Los Angeles Times revealed that the royal couple were two of 18 defendants of the case, all of whom were supposedly involved in embezzling money primarily from Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

Back in November 2011, the offices of the foundation were investigated after huge cost overruns in the development of a cycling track in Mallorca, according to New York Times. The princess was part of the board of Nóos Institute, as well as a co-owner with Urdangarin of a real estate company Aizoon that was reportedly used to channel money from the foundation to undeclared accounts.

The defense lawyers of Princess Cristina have maintained their argument for her exoneration, saying the charges were filed by anti-corruption association Clean Hands and not prosecutors or tax officials.

Public prosecutors are backing the princess's exoneration as well, accepting her argument that she was not personally involved with the companies' alleged transactions and declaring that the tax officials have no legal case against Princess Cristina. A legal doctrine recognized in a 2007 banking case was precedent for the arguments, but dismissed by the court that held the preliminary review of the royal's case.

Clean Hands lawyer Virginia López Negrete pointed out that letting Princess Cristina off the hook would likely "hurt Spanish justice, would leave the monarchy hurt, and the princess herself would be left socially stigmatized if this trial does not go on."

The court decision on the exoneration of the princess is expected to be out in a few weeks. The case will resume in February.

Princess Cristina was stripped of her title, but she is still part of the royal succession and remains sixth in line to the throne.

The report from LA Times revealed that part of the reason of pursuing the case against the princess was the recent move to strongly enforce laws and prosecute tax fraud in lieu of the economic crisis. Ignacio Sanchez, a lawyer and white collar crime expert at Hogan Lovells, said, "There was a political decision to fight tax fraud. They put more resources toward prosecuting these type of offenses. The state needed the money."