Last year, while the country suffered its deep recession, it was discovered that the King was elephant-hunting in Botswana in the company of Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German princess with whom he has been romantically linked and whose name has also appeared in documents related to the Urdangarin investigation.

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Mrs Merkel arrived early on Saturday in Kunduz, where Germany has a base, accompanied by Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and military Chief of Staff Volker Wieker.

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Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, an aristocrat who lives in a Bavarian castle, admitted breaching standards but denied deliberately cheating.

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But when prospective sellers, including German Prince Michael zu Salm-Salm, checked, they learned Shapiro had no operations, no cash reserves and a pool of private stock of unpersuasive value, says Bowthorpe.

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