BRITAIN: Britain's media was salivating yesterday over perhaps the most bizarre royal story yet - the case of what Prince Charles says he didn't do.
After days of feverish speculation that a bombshell was about to detonate in the press, the heir to the throne on Thursday had his private secretary deny he had done something apparently so outrageous that nobody is allowed to say what it was, or wasn't.
But with scandal-obsessed newspapers feasting on the non-story, the torment of the House of Windsor looked set to go on. Weekend British newspapers are unlikely to be able to contain themselves.
"We're considering all options with our lawyers," said Mr John Wellington, managing editor of the Mail on Sunday, which was poised to publish the allegations last weekend before being silenced by a lawsuit from one of Charles's former servants. "We think there is a strong public interest in the story and we will be doing our best to take it forward." A source at another London tabloid said editors were bunkered down with lawyers to see what they could print, and scrambling to translate titbits that appeared in foreign languages abroad. They were also keeping a keen eye on the internet.
The scandal has divided a country always thrilled by royal sensation into those who think they know what the 54-year-old prince says he didn't do, and those who wish they did.
The prince continued his royal duties yesterday, visiting gulf states after a nine-day tour of India. He is not due back in Britain until early next week.
For weeks, newspapers have declared they know a dark rumour about the royal family that could bring the monarchy down - but they could not print it because of Britain's tight libel laws.
The situation is made more bizarre in that many of those who know the substance of the allegation do not, apparently, believe it - which doesn't, however, dull the determination of some of them to get the allegations into print.
The bomb looked set to go off this week, when the Mail said it was ready to print a 3,000-word scoop based on the testimony of an ex-royal servant - but was blocked at the last minute when another former servant sued.
On Thursday evening, Charles sent a top aide to make a rare televised announcement in which he said the heir to the throne had done nothing wrong.- (Reuters/Irish Times)