Charles returns to UK media frenzy
( 2003-11-10 09:26) (Agencies)
Britain's Prince Charles returned home from a trip to the Persian Gulf on Sunday to a media frenzy of pages of lurid innuendo about an alleged sexual incident involving him and a former servant.
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| Britain's Prince Charles arrives at London's Heathrow Airport, Nov.9, 2003, following his visit to Oman. [AP] |
The heir to the throne returned to London from a two- week foreign trip as scandal-hungry Britons scoured the nation鈥檚 famously sensational tabloid newspapers for any detail of what the alleged incident, which the Prince has denied, might be.
But they were forced to read between the lines, with the tabloids 鈥� despite promising to tell all 鈥� sticking to a court order banning the publication of the allegation.
In one of the weirdest scandals yet to befall the hapless House of Windsor, Charles has denied doing something 鈥� without saying what it is 鈥� and a court has banned publishing the tale.
The Mail on Sunday, which set off the bombshell a week ago with an announcement it had been barred from running a scoop 鈥渙f the deepest public interest,鈥� promised on this week鈥檚 front page: 鈥淲ORLD EXCLUSIVE - CHARLES AND HIS VALET: THE TRUE STORY.鈥�
But the story failed to say what it was that one of Charles鈥檚 servants says he saw the prince doing with the valet.
A relaxed-looking prince flew into Heathrow airport from Muscat after visits to India and the United Arab Emirates. He could be seen chatting to the cabin staff and flight crew.
Once on the tarmac he smiled and spoke to airport officials, but made no comment to reporters before being driven away.
PUBLICATION BAN
Charles Anson, former press secretary to the queen, described the newspapers鈥� behavior as a 鈥渇eeding frenzy.鈥�
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| The Prince of Wales tours the Nakhal Fort in the Arabic state of Oman on Nov.7, 2003. [AP] |
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about a story that has been completely denied as rubbish,鈥� he told the British Broadcasting Corp. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a slightly unreal situation 鈥� I think we need to have a reality check. These things haven鈥檛 happened, and yet the story runs and runs.鈥�
Details of the alleged incident have appeared in newspapers abroad and on the Internet, but publishing in Britain is banned. Under arcane libel laws, any news organization that can be seen in Britain and is aware of the ban is bound by it.
The banned allegation comes from a former palace servant, George Smith, who sparked an earlier scandal by saying another male servant had raped him many years before. An investigation found no evidence to support that charge.
The Mail said Smith recorded both his rape charge and the allegation that he witnessed an incident involving Charles on a tape he gave to the prince鈥檚 ex-wife, Princess Diana.
Diana鈥檚 former Butler Paul Burrell discussed the tape without revealing its contents in his memoir, published last month, helping to whet tabloid appetites for royal gossip.
Smith鈥檚 story about Charles isn鈥檛 new: the Mail says it has known about it for a year, but previously didn鈥檛 think it reliable enough to print. What is new is the ban 鈥� imposed on behalf of a royal servant.
The Sunday Telegraph said Charles had hired a law firm to see whether he could sue Smith.
In the absence of new facts, papers relied on innuendo.
The News of the World asked in a bold-faced headline on its front page: 鈥淚S CHARLES BISEXUAL?.鈥� It answered the question several paragraphs into its story in small type at the bottom: 鈥渆mphatically NOT.鈥�
No royal family has had worse press than the Windsors, especially Charles. He became an object of ridicule in 1993 when a paper intercepted a phone call in which he told lover Camilla Parker Bowles he wanted to be reincarnated as her tampon.
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