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CNN Live Today

Salacious Scandal Surrounding Royal Family Appears to be Taking on Life of Its Own

Aired November 12, 2002 - 11:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In Britain, the latest salacious scandal surrounding the royal family appears to be taking on a life of its own. We told you yesterday about the former royal valet who claims he was raped by another man, an aide to Prince Charles, and said that the prince covered it up. Princess Di's butler said there was a tape that has disappeared. The prince has expected to announce an inquiry into the happenings. As this story floods the headlines, here is how it's playing on British television newscasts today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mystery over what happened to the tape that went missing from Princess Diane that's box is deepening this time. Her butler claims he last saw it with the princess's sister, Lady Sarah McCorkodale (ph). She maintains she gave it to him. So serious is the fow (ph) over the way the whole affair has been handled, there's even talk of an independent inquiry into the royals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Still so calm and dignified from Britain. Joining us from now London with more details, our royal commentator.

Robert Jobson, hello.

ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Hello there.

KAGAN: This goes all the way back to 1989, these allegations.

JOBSON: Absolutely, these allegations were made by an ex-royal valet called George Smith, who was particularly close to Princess Diana. In fact, she used to go and gossip with him in the kitchen, and talk about what was going on at St. James Palace. She clearly believed there was something to answer when George Smith had a nervous breakdown, and reported his allegations made against a senior aide to Prince Charles. She obviously took them very serious. She kept this tape, and I understand made other tapes in a secret box that only came to light during the investigation and the trial of Paul Burrell.

So it has caused a major stir here, and I think in a couple of hours time, there will be announcement by Sir Michael Pete, Prince Charles most senior aide, saying that there will be an independent inquiry into this whole sorry affair.

KAGAN: And I guess the question is why didn't Prince Charles or the royal family bring in the police way back in '89 off '95 when there were other allegations as well?

JOBSON: Absolutely. St. James Palace has insisted that there was no coverup, and there has been a full police investigation. That is true. But what is unclear, and nobody understands why they took this action, is why the St. James Palace aides at the time did not report this immediately to the police.

If it happened anywhere else, if an allegation of rape had happened anywhere else in the world, I'm sure, then that would have been investigated by the police immediately, it's such a serious allegation, but it wasn't. It was investigated by an internal palace inquiry, and it only came to the light during the investigation to police. So there was something to answer here. Serious questions still remain unanswered.

KAGAN: Explain to us just how bad in Britain this looks for Prince Charles.

JOBSON: Well, it certainly doesn't look good. Prince Charles has asked to be kept informed while on an official visit to Rome. It doesn't look good for him, because even though most of the characters involved in the internal inquiry have moved on to other jobs and other situations, he was still ultimately in charge of the situation, and as we all know, when it comes to coverups, the buck stops at the top, and that's exactly why people pointed the finger of blame at him. At the very least, he is guilty of a lack of judgment.

KAGAN: You say guilty. Could this go so far as to seeing him face criminal or other kind of legal charges?

JOBSON: I don't think so. I think, that as I understand it, Scotland Yard have carried out full investigation after they became aware of the allegations, they carried out an investigation. They have passed their report on to the crown prosecution service, which is the chief prosecutor, if you like, in Britain, and they've decided there is no case to answer.

But that, of course, all happened in February, and since then, George Smith, this ex-valet, royal valet, has come out and say, there have been -- I was raped, I was basically paid off, and I was silenced. So but there are still question marks as to whether there will be a police investigation, but at the moment, Scotland Yard has said they have carried out an investigation; there will be no more inquiries.

KAGAN: Robert, big picture here. This was supposed to be such a fantastic year for the royal family, the queen's jubilee, and yet it has been one gossip item after another, not to mention the death of the queen mother, and also princess Margaret. It's been a very difficult year for the royal family.

JOBSON: No question it's been a difficult year for the queen that started so terribly with the death of Princess Margaret, and then followed by the death of her mother, the queen mother, and then I remember commentating for CNN, for the jubilee, which is an amazing spectacle, and I thought it was an incredibly proud day to be British, but it's really ended with such a sorry affair, started sadly by the butler, Paul Burrell, who's decided, I think, to go off on a mission of his own, making all sorts of ridiculous claims, and that has actually brought a sour note to the end of this jubilee year, which in my opinion, is a shame, because no matter what everybody says about the royal family abroad, they are an institution that is respected in this country, and the queen in particular deserves that respect, and it's a shame her jubilee year, 50 years on the throne, has ended in such a terrible fiasco.

KAGAN: It's not over yet. You mentioned Paul Burrell, he is right here in the U.S., and he is speaking his mind. We will be hearing more from him.

Robert Jobson, thank you for your insight today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Taking on Life of Its Own>


Aired November 12, 2002 - 11:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In Britain, the latest salacious scandal surrounding the royal family appears to be taking on a life of its own. We told you yesterday about the former royal valet who claims he was raped by another man, an aide to Prince Charles, and said that the prince covered it up. Princess Di's butler said there was a tape that has disappeared. The prince has expected to announce an inquiry into the happenings. As this story floods the headlines, here is how it's playing on British television newscasts today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mystery over what happened to the tape that went missing from Princess Diane that's box is deepening this time. Her butler claims he last saw it with the princess's sister, Lady Sarah McCorkodale (ph). She maintains she gave it to him. So serious is the fow (ph) over the way the whole affair has been handled, there's even talk of an independent inquiry into the royals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Still so calm and dignified from Britain. Joining us from now London with more details, our royal commentator.

Robert Jobson, hello.

ROBERT JOBSON, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Hello there.

KAGAN: This goes all the way back to 1989, these allegations.

JOBSON: Absolutely, these allegations were made by an ex-royal valet called George Smith, who was particularly close to Princess Diana. In fact, she used to go and gossip with him in the kitchen, and talk about what was going on at St. James Palace. She clearly believed there was something to answer when George Smith had a nervous breakdown, and reported his allegations made against a senior aide to Prince Charles. She obviously took them very serious. She kept this tape, and I understand made other tapes in a secret box that only came to light during the investigation and the trial of Paul Burrell.

So it has caused a major stir here, and I think in a couple of hours time, there will be announcement by Sir Michael Pete, Prince Charles most senior aide, saying that there will be an independent inquiry into this whole sorry affair.

KAGAN: And I guess the question is why didn't Prince Charles or the royal family bring in the police way back in '89 off '95 when there were other allegations as well?

JOBSON: Absolutely. St. James Palace has insisted that there was no coverup, and there has been a full police investigation. That is true. But what is unclear, and nobody understands why they took this action, is why the St. James Palace aides at the time did not report this immediately to the police.

If it happened anywhere else, if an allegation of rape had happened anywhere else in the world, I'm sure, then that would have been investigated by the police immediately, it's such a serious allegation, but it wasn't. It was investigated by an internal palace inquiry, and it only came to the light during the investigation to police. So there was something to answer here. Serious questions still remain unanswered.

KAGAN: Explain to us just how bad in Britain this looks for Prince Charles.

JOBSON: Well, it certainly doesn't look good. Prince Charles has asked to be kept informed while on an official visit to Rome. It doesn't look good for him, because even though most of the characters involved in the internal inquiry have moved on to other jobs and other situations, he was still ultimately in charge of the situation, and as we all know, when it comes to coverups, the buck stops at the top, and that's exactly why people pointed the finger of blame at him. At the very least, he is guilty of a lack of judgment.

KAGAN: You say guilty. Could this go so far as to seeing him face criminal or other kind of legal charges?

JOBSON: I don't think so. I think, that as I understand it, Scotland Yard have carried out full investigation after they became aware of the allegations, they carried out an investigation. They have passed their report on to the crown prosecution service, which is the chief prosecutor, if you like, in Britain, and they've decided there is no case to answer.

But that, of course, all happened in February, and since then, George Smith, this ex-valet, royal valet, has come out and say, there have been -- I was raped, I was basically paid off, and I was silenced. So but there are still question marks as to whether there will be a police investigation, but at the moment, Scotland Yard has said they have carried out an investigation; there will be no more inquiries.

KAGAN: Robert, big picture here. This was supposed to be such a fantastic year for the royal family, the queen's jubilee, and yet it has been one gossip item after another, not to mention the death of the queen mother, and also princess Margaret. It's been a very difficult year for the royal family.

JOBSON: No question it's been a difficult year for the queen that started so terribly with the death of Princess Margaret, and then followed by the death of her mother, the queen mother, and then I remember commentating for CNN, for the jubilee, which is an amazing spectacle, and I thought it was an incredibly proud day to be British, but it's really ended with such a sorry affair, started sadly by the butler, Paul Burrell, who's decided, I think, to go off on a mission of his own, making all sorts of ridiculous claims, and that has actually brought a sour note to the end of this jubilee year, which in my opinion, is a shame, because no matter what everybody says about the royal family abroad, they are an institution that is respected in this country, and the queen in particular deserves that respect, and it's a shame her jubilee year, 50 years on the throne, has ended in such a terrible fiasco.

KAGAN: It's not over yet. You mentioned Paul Burrell, he is right here in the U.S., and he is speaking his mind. We will be hearing more from him.

Robert Jobson, thank you for your insight today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Taking on Life of Its Own>