A MEMBER of the Royal Family has been targeted in a "sex and drugs" blackmail plot, it was reported last night.
Scotland Yard was contacted after the alleged blackmailers threatened to go public with a video that they claimed showed the Royal - who cannot be named for legal reasons - engaged in a sex act.
A demand of £50,000 was put forward but a police st
ing led to the video being seized and the men arrested, it was claimed. According to the Sunday Times, the Royal household was first contacted on August 2 when the caller only identified himself by his first name.
He said he was aware that another man who worked on the Royal staff was in possession of an envelope containing cocaine. He claimed it had been passed to him by the Royal and that the envelope was embossed with the Royal's personal signature.
It was also alleged during the conversation that a videotape showing the aide giving someone oral sex existed. The recipient of the sex act was indicated to be the Royal.
According to reports, the video also contained unsubstantiated allegations about other members of the Royal Family, including the Queen.
The caller then left his mobile phone number and asked for the Royal to phone them back. During subsequent calls the blackmailers claimed the video showed the aide snorting cocaine. The blackmailers guaranteed that no one else would ever see the video, which was stored safe in their flat.
According to the newspaper, a senior legal adviser to the Royal called back and agreed with the blackmailers that he would see the tape before handing over the cash.
A Whitehall security official was reported as saying: "He said he wanted £50,000 from the Royal for the tape."
In the meantime, Metropolitan Police officers were asked to intervene. Posing as an aide, an undercover detective from Scotland Yard's kidnap and blackmail unit contacted the men and arranged a rendezvous at the London Hilton in Park Lane.
It was reported that the meeting was filmed secretly by officers in an adjacent room. Parts of the video were shown before detectives stepped in, seized the tape and arrested the two men.
In a statement last night, Scotland Yard said: "A 30-year-old man and 40-year-old man appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 13 each charged with one count of blackmail.
"Both have been remanded in custody to reappear at the Old Bailey on December 20."
The first magistrates court hearing was held in private. Neither the Royal nor any witnesses in the case can be identified.
The two alleged blackmailers were arrested on September 11 in central London.
It is the first time in more than a century that a member of the Royal Family has been targeted in an alleged blackmail plot. In 1891, the future Edward VII discussed with his solicitor paying off two prostitutes he had visited in return for letters he had written to them.
Details of the blackmail were only revealed when the letters were auctioned by Bonhams for £8,220.
