News for Wednesday: October 3rd, 2000

Royal groom 'wanted rival in love jailed'(Electronic Telegraph)
By Nigel Bunyan

A ROYAL groom was arrested at the Buckingham Palace Mews after allegedly trying to have a rival in love branded a paedophile.
Terrence Prince, 40, sent a pornographic photographs and computer images of children "of extraordinary depravity" to his former girlfriend, the police and the NSPCC. He also sent a "warning" letter to the residents of the housing estate where Keith Illingworth, his intended victim, was living with Angela Donaldson, Prince's ex-girlfriend.
Rhys Rowlands, prosecuting, said at Mold Crown Court, north Wales, that Prince's behaviour had put Mr Illingworth at risk of a modern day lynching. Some of the pornographic material sent to Mrs Donaldson purported to be from a woman with whom her boyfriend had once lived. Other items were said to have been found by a thief who had broken into his car.
Mr Rowlands said that a search of Prince's flat in the Royal Mews had uncovered a label similar to the ones used on the pornographic packages. DNA tests suggested that he had licked one of the stamps. An examination of his computer indicated that it had been used to download pornographic images.
He said that others may have deliberately assisted Prince in a "determined and carefully planned" campaign to brand an innocent man a paedophile. He said: "Had the police not acted with great circumspection and shown some skill in their investigation, then there was every prospect that Mr Illingworth would have been sitting in that dock today on very serious charges of child pornography."
Mrs Donaldson, of Wrexham, North Wales, wept as she recalled becoming hysterical when she received the pornographic images and videos through the post. Prince, originally from Wrexham, denies six charges including the distribution of indecent photographs, sending of pornographic films through the post, and trying to pervert the course of justice.
The trial continues.
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I'll never write about Diana, says brother(Electronic Telegraph)

EARL SPENCER said yesterday that he would never write a book about his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Referring to the controversy surrounding the publication of a book by the Princess's private secretary, Patrick Jephson, he said that the feelings of his nephews, Princes William and Harry, were paramount. He said: "I would not dream of upsetting William and Harry. We have seen how they have been upset by an invasion of their mother's privacy."
The Earl was speaking at Birmingham Press Club, which invited him to discuss two books he has written about his family history and the Althorp estate in Northamptonshire. Asked by a guest whether he planned to continue writing, Earl Spencer said that his literary agent was already asking for a third book.
He said: "I shall never write about my sister, the reason being that so many people have done it and I would spend most of the time trying to correct wrongs."
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Queen sets date with Olympians(UK Times)
BY ANDREW NORFOLK

BRITAIN'S triumphant Olympians are being showered with invitations to a series of celebration parties as the nation rushes to share the team's golden success - with the Queen and the Prime Minister at the head of the queue.
The wave of euphoria generated by Britain's highest medal haul since 1920 has already prompted a stream of letters, phones calls and e-mails to the British Olympic Association from those keen to mark the athletes' remarkable performances.
Plans are yet to be finalised, but already pencilled into the BOA's diary is a reception at Buckingham Palace on November 16 and a visit to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, probably in December.
Also being organised is the BOA's own celebration party, to be held at the London Eye and the adjacent London Aquarium, on the South Bank, on October 14.
A BOA spokesman said that the team sponsor, British Airways, and other commercial partners of the association were responsible for arranging the "unprecedented" party.
"A welcome home party is something new for the team, but we feel it's important to mark their achievements in Sydney," he said.
"There will be a lot of happy spirits and we want this to be a day for everyone, not just the medal winners but all those who did their best for their country, many of them performing lifetime bests."
Final decisions on whether to accept "a lot of invitations from some very high-profile people" have yet to be made and there are also as yet no plans for a tickertape parade, but the returning BOA officials are expected to consider the various options in the coming days.
Many of the individual medal winners will be the guests of honour at civic ceremonies that are being organised in their home towns, but the whole team will be invited to meet the Queen in November.

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