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American Morning
Royal Scandal
Aired November 10, 2003 - 08:36 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Normally you hear the allegation and then the denial. In the latest palace tale about Prince Charles, it's the other way around. The prince first denied the story. Now we're finally hearing rumors, rumors we say about what he says he did not do.
Diana Muriel watching this story as it develops live from London.
What do we know, Diana? good afternoon.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.
Well, the prince having come out and denied these allegations, which we can't report, because they're the subject of a court injunction here in the UK, his palace, Clarence House, which is the official residence of Prince Charles this morning, has told CNN that the prince will not be appearing on national television to make any kind of statement about the issues, and nor does the prince plan to take any legal action against any party. More than that, they will not say.
But nonetheless, the story is out there effectively, these allegations, which we cannot print or broadcast here in the UK; they have been published on the Internet, they've been published by international newspapers, including one in Scotland, which is not subject to the same laws as England and Wales. And the story is gathering pace.
Newspapers within England, which cannot print the story, are drudging up old scandal about the royal family, and about Prince Charles, in particular, skirting around this story. There are allegations that have been made by a former royal valet who claims to have witnessed an alleged incident, the details of which we cannot report, that the prince has come out and said that the incident -- the alleged incident concerned him, and that the alleged incident is untrue, that these claims are false, and that is as much as we can say, Bill.
HEMMER: Well, the intrigue is obviously. What does the palace believe? If they don't talk about it, it goes away?
MURIEL: Well, I think that's one of the options that the prince could decide to take. There's an old adage in the royal family, never complain and never explain. And the royal family in the past has struck pretty much to that. Every time they've broken it, they seem to have gotten the worst end of it, because they are not particularly adept at public relations handling. There have been a string of disasters with regard to public relations with the royal family in the past.
The prince, we understand, is having a series of meetings with his most senior advisers at High Grove (ph), which is his country estate in Gloucester. These are meetings which Clarence House tells us is normal, that they've always discussed it in the Sunday newspapers the day afterwards, and it may be that he takes different advice and decides to take some sort of legal statement or take some legal action. It remains to be seen. But at the moment, that does not appear to be the plan for the Prince of Wales -- Bill.
HEMMER: The riddle continues. Diana Muriel, thanks, in London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 10, 2003 - 08:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Normally you hear the allegation and then the denial. In the latest palace tale about Prince Charles, it's the other way around. The prince first denied the story. Now we're finally hearing rumors, rumors we say about what he says he did not do.
Diana Muriel watching this story as it develops live from London.
What do we know, Diana? good afternoon.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.
Well, the prince having come out and denied these allegations, which we can't report, because they're the subject of a court injunction here in the UK, his palace, Clarence House, which is the official residence of Prince Charles this morning, has told CNN that the prince will not be appearing on national television to make any kind of statement about the issues, and nor does the prince plan to take any legal action against any party. More than that, they will not say.
But nonetheless, the story is out there effectively, these allegations, which we cannot print or broadcast here in the UK; they have been published on the Internet, they've been published by international newspapers, including one in Scotland, which is not subject to the same laws as England and Wales. And the story is gathering pace.
Newspapers within England, which cannot print the story, are drudging up old scandal about the royal family, and about Prince Charles, in particular, skirting around this story. There are allegations that have been made by a former royal valet who claims to have witnessed an alleged incident, the details of which we cannot report, that the prince has come out and said that the incident -- the alleged incident concerned him, and that the alleged incident is untrue, that these claims are false, and that is as much as we can say, Bill.
HEMMER: Well, the intrigue is obviously. What does the palace believe? If they don't talk about it, it goes away?
MURIEL: Well, I think that's one of the options that the prince could decide to take. There's an old adage in the royal family, never complain and never explain. And the royal family in the past has struck pretty much to that. Every time they've broken it, they seem to have gotten the worst end of it, because they are not particularly adept at public relations handling. There have been a string of disasters with regard to public relations with the royal family in the past.
The prince, we understand, is having a series of meetings with his most senior advisers at High Grove (ph), which is his country estate in Gloucester. These are meetings which Clarence House tells us is normal, that they've always discussed it in the Sunday newspapers the day afterwards, and it may be that he takes different advice and decides to take some sort of legal statement or take some legal action. It remains to be seen. But at the moment, that does not appear to be the plan for the Prince of Wales -- Bill.
HEMMER: The riddle continues. Diana Muriel, thanks, in London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
