Britain:The member of the royal family targeted in an alleged blackmail plot centring on sex and drug claims is not a senior royal, it is understood.
Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed that two men are in custody, having been charged with blackmail last month. Buckingham Palace has refused to discuss the case, saying it is a police matter.
Although a name was being circulated yesterday, a court order prevents the identification of the royal or any witnesses. But royal sources indicated that the individual concerned does not have a high public profile.
The two alleged blackmailers wanted £50,000 (€71,490) not to publicise a video they suggested showed the royal in sexual activities with an aide, the Sunday Timesreported. They were also alleged to have claimed they had footage of the aide snorting cocaine and evidence suggesting the royal had supplied the aide with an envelope containing the drug. The case is the first alleged extortion attempt against a royal for more than a century.
The men in custody, aged 30 and 40, were reported to have been arrested last month in what was said to have been an undercover sting after the royal contacted police. They arranged to meet someone they believed was a member of the royal's staff in a suite at the Hilton Hotel, in Park Lane, Mayfair, the Sunday Times reported, and showed him parts of what they claimed was the sex video. But the man was an undercover detective from the Metropolitan police's kidnap and blackmail unit, the report said, and as the meeting was secretly videoed by detectives in an adjacent room, the men were seized.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "A 30-year-old man and 40-year-old man appeared at City of Westminster magistrates' court on September 13th, each charged with one count of blackmail. Both have been remanded in custody to reappear at the Old Bailey on December 20th." The court hearing was held behind closed doors.
The Sunday Timessaid the alleged blackmailers first contacted the royal household on August 2nd. A man telephoned the royal's office, identifying himself only by his first name and saying that another man, who worked on the royal's staff, had an envelope containing cocaine, and suggesting it was embossed with the royal's personal insignia.
He then reportedly claimed he had a videotape which showed the aide performing oral sex on someone the caller indicated as the royal. The man then left a mobile phone number, asking for the royal to ring him.
In further calls, one man was said to have claimed that the tapes showed an aide snorting cocaine, and guaranteed nobody would ever see the tapes because they were safe in his flat.
A Whitehall security official told the newspaper the caller then said he wanted £50,000 for the tape. The source said that a senior legal adviser to the royal agreed with one of the men that he would see the tape before handing over the cash.
By then a detective had been attached to the royal's staff and contacted the gang to arrange the Hilton meeting. The two men were arrested on September 11th.
The royal cannot be identified because of reporting restrictions imposed under section 11 of the UK's Contempt of Court Act. This is common practice in allegations of blackmail to ensure that the claims a defendant is accused of threatening to make do not become public through court proceedings. The restrictions prohibit identification of the alleged victim and alleged witnesses until any further order by a judge.
The crown prosecution service (CPS) also successfully applied for the September hearing to be held in camera, but it is not known whether lawyers will seek similar treatment when the defendants appear at the Old Bailey in December, a CPS spokeswoman said.
- (Guardian service)