'Future king is no queen'
2004-06-13 10:17
London - A former servant to Britain's royal family who said he witnessed heir to the throne Prince Charles engaged in a sexual act with another male staff member has admitted he made the allegation up, a report said late on Saturday.
George Smith, a former valet whose lurid allegations last year threatened to severely damage the British monarchy, told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the story was a complete fabrication.
He sold his story to another British newspaper last November, but a court injunction banned the British media from printing details of the allegation.
This left Charles's household in the curious position of issuing a formal statement denying the incident took place, yet not being able to say what exactly was being denied.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Smith made the allegations after being paid £60 000 pounds ($110 000) by another Sunday newspaper.
In conversations with the Sunday Telegraph, secretly recorded by the paper, Smith said he would be happy to rescind the story for a similar sum.
Asked what his position now was, Smith said: "I didn't seem him (Charles) in a compromising position. The reason I said that was because I was angry with" another royal servant, whose name is suppressed under the court order.
Smith was quoted by the paper as saying he would swear to a legal document rejecting his own allegations.