The Chilean Prosecutor's Office confirmed to EFE this Sunday that it has opened an investigation into the dissemination of images of Princess Leonor shopping at a shopping center in Punta Arenas, hours after the Spanish Royal House announced a complaint for these events.
"The Regional Prosecutor's Office of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica confirms that, following a complaint filed by Spanish guards with the Carabineros of Chile on Friday, March 21, an investigation was opened in accordance with Article 161 letter A of the Penal Code, related to the capture and dissemination of private images without the consent of those affected," it said in a statement sent to EFE. The institution added that "immediate actions have already been taken as part of the investigation."
In the images, the 19-year-old Princess Leonor is seen dressed casually as she enters and walks through one of the corridors of the Zona Franca shopping center, located 3,000 kilometers south of Santiago, at the southern tip of the American continent.
The Spanish Crown heiress arrived in Punta Arenas on March 18 aboard the training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano, as part of her military training with her 75 classmates from the Naval Academy of Marín.
The Spanish Royal House announced on Saturday a complaint for the aforementioned events and stated that the leak would constitute "a violation of current regulations" regarding data protection in Chile, as well as in Spain.
The Palace of Zarzuela, residence of the Spanish royal family, considered the leak of the images of the princess during a private activity as "unacceptable" behavior and stated that "anything goes."
The shopping center, on its part, acknowledged on Sunday in a statement that it provided the images "for journalistic purposes" and explained that the visit of Princess Leonor "took place entirely privately in a space open to the public" and that "her presence was not announced or disclosed by this establishment."
"In response to any request for information or investigation, as always, we will be willing to collaborate in them," concluded the mall, one of the most important in the Chilean Patagonia.
The stop at the so-called 'end of the world port' was mainly dedicated to supplying and maintaining the ship and resting the crew of the vessel, which set sail for Valparaíso on the central coast of Chile this same Sunday.