Posted on 08/26/2005 10:21:12 AM PDT by LibWhacker
LONDON (AP) - George Smith, a former royal servant whose claim of rape sparked lurid tales of sexual misdeeds within the royal household, has died at the age of 44, his father said Friday.
Peter Smith said his son died Wednesday after a long illness. He did not disclose the cause of death.
A former soldier in the Welsh Guards who served in the 1982 Falklands War, Smith was Prince Charles' valet for nine years until he was dismissed in 1997.
During the 2002 theft trial of Paul Burrell, former butler of the late Princess of Wales, it emerged that Smith claimed to have been raped by another royal servant in 1989. The jury heard that Diana was said to have kept a tape recording of Smith detailing the allegation.
Charles' office said that the allegations had been investigated internally, and by police, and that there was no basis for prosecution.
Smith also claimed to have seen a senior royal in a compromising position with a male servant. The story generated lurid - albeit vague - headlines in 2003, despite a court order forbidding reporting of details of the alleged incident.
Charles took the highly unusual step of issuing a statement identifying himself as the royal in question and denying the allegation. His private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, called the claim "totally untrue and without a shred of substance."
Charles' office said at the time that Smith had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism following his military service.
Burrell was acquitted of charges of stealing from Diana after the Queen said she remembered Burrell's having told her five years earlier that he'd taken some of Diana's papers for safekeeping after her death.
AIDS?
How does an ex-soldier get himself raped by a servant?
...yep...I'm thinkin....
Why does this line make me chuckle?
Hint?
Why does this line make me chuckle?
For some reason, the term 'cavity search' came to mind...
LOL.....
Leave it to Scotland Yard to get to the "bottom" of the allegations and keep it "under wraps"
If he'd kept it under wraps...
...oh, never mind!
LOL!
Just remember the terminal "cavity search" Edward II received, probably because he so enjoyed "celebrating diversity." OUCH!!!
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