Royals Grieve With Spain

MADRID —  King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia clasped the hands of the bereaved or kissed them on the cheeks Wednesday at an emotional state funeral for the 190 people killed in Spain’s worst terrorist attack.

The Spanish monarch and his family joined U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles, French President Jacques Chirac and other dignitaries in the Almudena Cathedral.

“We have cried, and we have cried together,” Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela, clad in purple vestments, told the congregation of about 1,500.

The March 11 train bombings traumatized Spain so deeply that the government took the extraordinary step of holding a state funeral for people outside the royal family.

The royal family sat up front during the Mass, with the Spanish government and other politicians immediately behind, including Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his successor, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

“From the very first moment -- that of the anguished search and the inevitable identification of your loved ones -- your pain became the pain of our dear city of Madrid, of Spain, and very quickly, of the whole world,” Rouco Varela said.

The service took place the same day that a Spanish judge charged two more suspects, including the first woman, in connection with the bombings. The charges bring to 11 the number of those accused.

Judge Juan del Olmo charged and ordered Moroccans Rafa Zuher and Naima Oulad Akcha jailed after questioning them separately for more than six hours. They face allegations of collaborating with a terrorist group. Officials said both suspects condemned the attacks and denied any link to them.

Queen Sofia wiped away tears, and the king held a handkerchief to his face during Wednesday’s service. At one point, a woman clutching a picture of a young man curtsied before the queen, kissed her hand and wept.

As the Mass ended, members of the royal family went from row to row in the cathedral, consoling relatives of the dead. Princess Cristina and husband Inaki Urdangarin cried uncontrollably as they made the sad procession.

Neither Aznar nor anyone in his government approached grieving relatives. Many Spaniards have accused Aznar of provoking the bombings by supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq.