The „Princess of Asturias” Awards are one of the most prestigious Spanish honours - while King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Princess Leonor sit in the front row of the „Campoamor” theatre in Oviedo, the world watches. And where there is prestige and a touch of the crown, there also appear those who know how to sell that touch. Even when that touch does not exist.

The organisers of the awards uncovered a scam cut with unpleasant precision. Someone was posing as the Royal Household and writing to former guests via WhatsApp, with messages supposedly coming from Camilo Villarino, the king's chief of staff. The message was short and flattering: Felipe VI wishes to get in touch with you.

Then came emails with fake PDF documents, polished to the last detail - the Foundation's official blue colour, the logo, the graphics. Anyone looking at them would believe they were holding a genuine institutional document. And the document offered „hospitality and sponsorship” at four levels, with prices that say everything about who the scam was aimed at.

The most expensive package, called „Platinum”, cost 1.8 million euros - for seats with „maximum prominence”. „Gold” went for 1.4 million, aimed at subjects with „high relational capacity”. „Silver” sold for 920,000 euros. And the highest, „Royal Table”, had no fixed price - only the promise of proximity to the royal family and a private reception. When there is no price, it means the price is set by the buyer's greed.

The payments went through prepaid phones that cannot be traced. The Foundation had to explain publicly that it never asks for money to organise the ceremony and that it is financed only by patrons and subsidies. It had to defend itself against something it never did at all.

Here is the lesson worth more than any of those packages. The scam does not work because people are stupid - it works because status is for sale, and those who want to buy proximity to power are ready not to ask questions. How many rich people clicked on that email before someone picked up the phone and checked? That is the figure the Foundation will not release.