Royal Blackmail Culprit Outed: Viscount LinleyA Royal blackmail plot involving gay sex and coke?
He can't be identified in the British press, but that won't stop worldwide websites from exposing Viscount Linley, the nephew of the late Princess Margaret, in a bizarre blackmail plot against the Royals.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the affair, saying it is a police matter. British newspapers have contacted 45-year-old Linley, who has likewise refused to comment.
A gagging order has been issued by courts in the United Kingdom to prevent domestic media from naming the alleged victim, or giving away details that could reveal who it is.
But the ruling does not cover foreign publications and the nature of online news makes it almost impossible to prevent the identity of the royal slipping into the public domain.
Linley is married with two children, and makes his living as a high-end furniture designer.
Property developer Ian Strachan, 30, and Sean McGuigan, 40, appeared at a London magistrates' court on September 13 each charged with one count of blackmail. They were remanded in custody until December 20.
The men allegedly demanded £50,000 ($NZ136,840) in return for not publicising tapes they claimed indicated the royal had engaged in a sex act with an aide.
The Times newspaper reported that it was an alleged homosexual act.
In telephone calls to the royal's office in August, the alleged blackmailers also claimed to have proof that the royal supplied an aide with an envelope containing cocaine, The Sunday Times newspaper said.
They claimed to have video footage of the assistant snorting the drug, it said.
Linley did not appear on the tape.
The weekly broadsheet reported that the royal called in the police, who duly set up a sting operation at a plush London hotel.
Giovanni di Stefano, a high-profile lawyer whose previous clients include executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is representing Strachan.
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Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
Originally published October 30, 2007 11:47 pm ET
