BRITAIN: Britain's Prince of Wales last night dramatically intervened in a media censorship row by naming himself as the senior royal accused of involvement in an allegedly compromising incident witnessed by a male servant.
The heir to the throne dismissed the allegation as untrue and insisted the incident did not take place.
A statement on his behalf from Clarence House said: "In recent days, there have been media reports concerning an allegation that a former Royal Household employee witnessed an incident some years ago involving a senior member of the Royal Family. The speculation needs to be brought to an end.
"The allegation was that the Prince of Wales was involved in the incident.
"This allegation is untrue.
"The incident which the former employee claims to have witnessed did not take place.
"There is a particular sadness about this allegation because it was made by a former Royal Household employee who, unfortunately, has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and has previously suffered from alcoholism following active service in the Falklands.
"He has, in the past, made other unrelated allegations, which the police have fully investigated, and found to be unsubstantiated.
"The newspaper group that sought to publish this allegation knew this and has described the former employee as 'hardly a reliable witness'."
"This was why the newspaper concerned agreed to the injunction on Saturday afternoon."
"The Prince of Wales has always tried to avoid becoming involved in disputes with the media, which he appreciates fulfils an important role.
Sir Michael Peat, the prince's private secretary, said: "Firstly, the Prince of Wales has told me it is untrue and I believe him implicitly. Secondly, anyone who knows the Prince of Wales at all would appreciate that the allegation is totally ludicrous and, indeed, risible. And thirdly, the person who has made the allegation unfortunately has suffered from health problems and has made other, unrelated allegations which have been investigated by the police and found to be unsubstantiated."
"Anyone who is a prominent public figure like the Prince of Wales is subject to a fairly steady stream of outlandish allegations.
"Generally they are dismissed out of hand." Sir Michael added that Charles's sons William and Harry had been kept informed about the situation.
He said: "The sons have been kept informed and are very supportive of their father.
"The Prince of Wales is subject to a lot of fairly ridiculous allegations most of which never see the light of day.
"I hope this will be treated on its merits and dismissed out of hand . . . It's totally untrue.
"Even allegations which are untrue can cause great distress." The Prince's intervention came after a day of drama at the High Court in London.
Earlier, an injunction banning The Guardian from naming former royal aide Mr Michael Fawcett was lifted by agreement after the newspaper said it had no intention of repeating allegations about him. - (PA)