Captain and crew of the royal superyacht awarded compensation for illegal dismissal – taxpayers to pick up the bill
Spanish taxpayers are facing a £1m legal
bill after their ruling monarch King Juan Carlos decided to get rid of his
luxury superyacht as part of a disastrous PR stunt to improve the image of the
royal family.
King Juan Carlos of Spain renounced his 41m
motor yacht Fortuna as an act of
austerity but the gesture backfired when the courts ruled that the crew and
captain were owed €1.2 m for illegal dismissal.
According to a report by The Guardian, Fortuna‘s captain has been awarded €133,789
and the seven crew members, whose average salary was €60,000, are to receive
€100,000 each.
The compensation will be taken from the
Spanish equivalent of the civil list, the Patrimonio Nacional, which draws from
taxpayer’s funds.
The €21m Fortuna was a gift from a group of businessmen from the Balearic
Islands who hope to claw back some of the cost by selling the yacht.
Fortuna was mainly used by the King for photo shoots with his family and
visiting dignitaries including Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1990.
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