$20m cello broken during photoshoot

A Stradivarius cello housed at the Spanish Royal Palace in Madrid has been broken in an accident, an official admitted yesterday.

The instrument could be worth over $20m (€15m).

A National Heritage official declined to specify what went wrong. She refused to comment on an El Mundo newspaper report that the instrument fell off a table during a photo session, but confirmed the incident happened about three weeks ago. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with department policy.