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| PRINCE CHARLES: Royals in crisis |
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| Tale of the tape |
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NOV 2000 Police arrest Diana's former butler Harold Brown over allegations of theft from Kensington Palace. The charges are later dropped. The existence of the rape tape becomes more widely known among royal reporters and others and there is renewed speculation about exactly what it contains.
JAN 2001 Diana's one-time "rock", butler Paul Burrell, is arrested on charges of theft from her palace apartment. He gives detectives full details of the rape tape but denies he has it. The box in which it was kept by Diana cannot be found. Police investigate rape claim but do not find sufficient evidence.
NOV 2002 The Burrell trial is abandoned before he can give evidence about the secret rape tape from the Old Bailey dock. George Smith goes public with his sex assault claims—and hints at a "shocking incident" involving a royal and a servant. Legal reasons prevent full disclosure of his claims. MAR 2003 Investigation into Charles's office, set up after the Burrell trial fiasco, is highly critical of the way the prince allowed the rape allegation to be handled. Smith then goes public again to condemn the inquiry by Sir Michael Peat, saying it had failed to deal with his claims properly. OCT 2003 During interviews to promote his book, Burrell claims Diana told him the contents of the tape, but he doesn't know where it is. He says: "Whatever is on the tape I will never tell anyone." Smith again hints at the bombshell about a senior royal and a servant.
1 NOV 2003 Prince Charles's one-time closest aide, Michael Fawcett, obtains an injunction against a newspaper banning an unnamed aide from telling his story. Reports of the court ban spark off speculation which immediately goes right around the world on the internet.
3 NOV 2003 Fawcett's legal team injuncts another newspaper planning to name him as the servant who obtained the original injunction. This serves only to fuel the worldwide controversy surrounding the affair and increases pressure on Charles and his aides to issue a statement. 6 NOV 2003 The second injunction is successfully challenged and lifted. Fawcett is now identified as the man behind the gagging orders. Charles's most senior aide, private secretary Sir Michael Peat, goes public, identifying the prince as the top royal involved in the alleged "incident"—but denying it ever happened.
7 NOV 2003 Despite the standing injunction, details of the "incident" are published worldwide on the Internet and in foreign newspapers. Prince Charles holds crisis talks with both Prince William and the Queen and prepares to release his doomsday weapon, a revealing TV interview.
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