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American Morning

Opening of Parliament Couldn't Escape Cloud of Growing Scandal

Aired November 13, 2002 - 09:33   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It's supposed to be a proud and uplifting moment for the Queen of England, but the opening of Parliament by Her Majesty this morning could not escape the cloud of a growing scandal, an ugly one at that. The so-called rape tape and allegations of a royal cover-up continue to erupt in the wake of the recent butler trial. Let's turn to Nic Robertson, who joins us from outside Parliament now.
Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, the queen came and did her job. It's one of the most solemn duties she has, to come and open Parliament. She did address some of the bills that will be coming up this year, health care, social issues, reforms of the criminal justice system.

But, of course, on the minds of some of those MPs who stood in the House of Lords listening to her, questions about the internal inquiry that the St. James' palace, the palace of Prince Charles has announced. Now, many commentators in Britain, many royal watchers were expecting Prince Charles' office to announce an independent inquiry, but instead it is an inquiry that will be headed by Prince Charles' private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, and it's being seen by some MPs who have already raised questions publicly that this will not go far enough to allay public concerns, that these allegations of rape, that these allegations of the sale of royal gifts, will not go far enough, the investigations will not go far enough. Many people beginning to hint they feel that perhaps there might be a bit of a whitewash on here for him.

ZAHN: Well, let's talk about, if they believe that, what are the public perceptions right now?

ROBERTSON: The public perception is, at the moment, that there are allegations that have been put out. They've been in many of the newspapers, allegation of homosexual rape in the late 1980s, in the mid-1990s, allegations that goods belonging to the royal family have been sold, and also questions on people's minds, perhaps one of the principal issues, questions on people's mind, what was the queen's role and what was Prince Charles' role in the ending of the royal butler Paul Burrell's trial recently.

The queen will not be questioned in this inquiry. The inquiry being limited to Prince Charles household. And already the man charged with heading that investigation in an interview yesterday indicated perhaps that it almost -- not prejudged -- but he almost -- he did have a very firm view on some of those issues. The queen had acted very honorably. There was her actions couldn't be called into question. That the man who has given evidence or who's put forth these allegations about the homosexual rape, his evidence has been called into question, it's been investigated by the police already and there was no need to proceed with trial.

So the evidence that has been put in front of people here does leave them with the impression that it is an inside job and that some of the issues are prejudged. However it does have to be said that -- and it is being said by some royal commentators -- Prince Charles is a modernizer, Sir Michael Peat is a modernizer as well, hoping to perhaps modernize the monarchy, and there is a possibility of an independent inquiry in the future. But those questions remain. And rather than, perhaps, putting to rest all these scandalous issues that have been out there recently, this will only prolong this sort of sordid tale for the royal family.

Paula?

ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for the update.

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




Scandal>


Aired November 13, 2002 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It's supposed to be a proud and uplifting moment for the Queen of England, but the opening of Parliament by Her Majesty this morning could not escape the cloud of a growing scandal, an ugly one at that. The so-called rape tape and allegations of a royal cover-up continue to erupt in the wake of the recent butler trial. Let's turn to Nic Robertson, who joins us from outside Parliament now.
Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, the queen came and did her job. It's one of the most solemn duties she has, to come and open Parliament. She did address some of the bills that will be coming up this year, health care, social issues, reforms of the criminal justice system.

But, of course, on the minds of some of those MPs who stood in the House of Lords listening to her, questions about the internal inquiry that the St. James' palace, the palace of Prince Charles has announced. Now, many commentators in Britain, many royal watchers were expecting Prince Charles' office to announce an independent inquiry, but instead it is an inquiry that will be headed by Prince Charles' private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, and it's being seen by some MPs who have already raised questions publicly that this will not go far enough to allay public concerns, that these allegations of rape, that these allegations of the sale of royal gifts, will not go far enough, the investigations will not go far enough. Many people beginning to hint they feel that perhaps there might be a bit of a whitewash on here for him.

ZAHN: Well, let's talk about, if they believe that, what are the public perceptions right now?

ROBERTSON: The public perception is, at the moment, that there are allegations that have been put out. They've been in many of the newspapers, allegation of homosexual rape in the late 1980s, in the mid-1990s, allegations that goods belonging to the royal family have been sold, and also questions on people's minds, perhaps one of the principal issues, questions on people's mind, what was the queen's role and what was Prince Charles' role in the ending of the royal butler Paul Burrell's trial recently.

The queen will not be questioned in this inquiry. The inquiry being limited to Prince Charles household. And already the man charged with heading that investigation in an interview yesterday indicated perhaps that it almost -- not prejudged -- but he almost -- he did have a very firm view on some of those issues. The queen had acted very honorably. There was her actions couldn't be called into question. That the man who has given evidence or who's put forth these allegations about the homosexual rape, his evidence has been called into question, it's been investigated by the police already and there was no need to proceed with trial.

So the evidence that has been put in front of people here does leave them with the impression that it is an inside job and that some of the issues are prejudged. However it does have to be said that -- and it is being said by some royal commentators -- Prince Charles is a modernizer, Sir Michael Peat is a modernizer as well, hoping to perhaps modernize the monarchy, and there is a possibility of an independent inquiry in the future. But those questions remain. And rather than, perhaps, putting to rest all these scandalous issues that have been out there recently, this will only prolong this sort of sordid tale for the royal family.

Paula?

ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for the update.

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




Scandal>