A member of the British royal family called in Scotland Yard detectives after becoming the target of a "sex and drugs" blackmail plot, it has been reported.
The Sunday Timessaid police were contacted after alleged blackmailers threatened to go public with a video that they claimed showed the royal - who the newspaper has not named for legal reasons - engaged in a sex act.
A demand of £50,000 was put forward but a police sting ensured that the video was seized and the men arrested.
The alleged blackmailers first contacted the royal household on August 2, the paper reported.
One of the men claimed to have evidence suggesting that a royal aide had in his possession an envelope containing cocaine that had been supplied by a royal.
It was also alleged during the conversation that a video tape existed. The Sunday Timessource told the newspaper that a senior legal adviser to the royal agreed with the blackmailers that he would see the tape before handing over the cash.
In the meantime the Metropolitan Police had been asked to intervene. Posing as an aide, an undercover detective contacted the blackmailers and arranged a rendezvous.
The meeting was filmed secretly by officers in an adjacent room, the Sunday Times reports. Parts of the video were shown before detectives stepped in, seized the tape and arrested the two men.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "A 30-year-old man and 40-year-old man appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court each charged with one count of blackmail. Both have been remanded in custody to reappear at the Old Bailey on 20th December."
The two alleged blackmailers were arrested on September 11 in central London.
PA