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UK police arrest three men over royal phone taps

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 August 2006, 17:56 CDT

By Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Three men have been arrested on suspicion of intercepting telephone calls at the official residence of the heir to the British throne, Britain's Prince Charles, London police said on Tuesday.

The royal correspondent for top-selling Sunday newspaper The News of the World is among the three suspects, the paper said.

The alleged phone tapping may have compromised the security of members of the royal family and other public figures outside the royal circle, Scotland Yard said.

"As a result of their inquiries police now believe that public figures beyond the royal household have had their telephones intercepted, which may have potential security implications," police said in a statement.

British media speculated that the alleged tapping may have involved phone calls of government ministers.

The three men, aged 35, 48 and 50, were arrested early on Tuesday in the London area and are being held at a police station in the capital. Scotland Yard's anti-terrorism branch is leading the investigation.

The News of the World, which frequently dedicates its front pages to royal "scoops" or exclusives, said its royal correspondent Clive Goodman had been detained and was being questioned by police.

Three members of staff at Charles's Clarence House residence initially alerted the police to the alleged tapping in December last year.

The alleged security breaches took place "over a significant period," the police statement added. They raise questions about royal security at a time of a heightened terrorist threat.

But this would not be the first time that the royal family has been the subject of telephone tapping.

Britain's Prince Charles, his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and his late wife Diana, Princess of Wales, were targeted by phone tappers in the past, resulting in embarrassing details of their complex private lives being thrust into the public domain.

A tape of a conversation between Charles and Camilla revealed an intimate relationship between the two while Charles was married to Diana.

Diana's close relationship with a male friend while she was married to Charles was also exposed by a phone tapper. James Gilbey told Diana he loved her and affectionately called her "Squidgy."

Those conversations were taped by hackers using radio scanners.

Source: REUTERS

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