Royal in “gay sex and drugs blackmail plot” named on US TV
A member of the Royal Family has been named on American TV news as the target of alleged blackmailers.
Interviewed on Fox News, journalist Nicholas Davies named a member of The Queen’s family.
The British press are legally restrained from revealing the identity of the person, thought to be a “minor” Royal, though it has been reported that he or she does not carry out any public duties.
The Sun reports that according to Buckingham Palace sources the Royal is “increasingly tempted” to speak publicly about their ordeal.
Websites across the world are speculating as to who was the target of the alleged blackmail.
The person in question is reported to have the full support of The Queen.
Ian Starchan, 30, and Sean McGuigan, 40, were arrested last month after police mounted a sting operation.
They will appear at the Old Bailey next month charged with attempting to blackmail a member of the Royal Family.
They are alleged to have demanded £50,000 not to release a video in which a Royal aide allegedly boasted that the Royal engaged in oral sex with him and supplied him with cocaine.
The pair were arrested after a police officer, posing as another Royal aide, attended a meeting with them at a Hilton hotel in London.
They appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on September 13th charged with one count of blackmail.
The hearing was held in secret, and the judge issued an order banning any report that could identify victims or witnesses.
The alleged blackmailers first made contact with the Royal Household on August 2nd.
A senior legal adviser to the Royal Household contacted the alleged blackmailers and arranged to meet and view the tape.
Scotland Yard was alerted and detectives set up a sting operation at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.
The September 11th meeting was recorded by officers in an adjacent room as the alleged blackmailers showed a detective posing as a Royal aide the video.
They were then arrested.
At Westminster Magistrates Court on September 13th Starchan and McGuigan were remanded in custody until their trail on December 20th.
Strachan will appear before a judge this week asking for bail. The hearing will be held in private.
