Royal summit as aide in rape accusation is named

Senior advisers hold emergency meeting while former servant hits back after a weekend of 'vicious and personal' attacks

Senior advisers to the Queen and the Prince of Wales held a series of meetings yesterday to discuss the tide of rumours, allegations and controversies which have surrounded the Royal Family in the aftermath of the collapse of the Paul Burrell trial.

Although both households strove to play down suggestions of a "crisis summit'', a spokeswoman for the Prince said the meetings would consider the weekend's newspaper coverage, which included claims and counter-claims over the alleged rape of a former royal valet.

The air of crisis seemed unlikely to die down last night as Mr Burrell continued a media tour of New York and an Italian newspaper named the aide to the Prince of Wales who is accused of raping the valet in 1989.

At the same time, the Conservative chairman of the powerful Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said he believed MPs should have the power to scrutinise the Civil List, so issues such as the cost of running Buckingham Palace could be examined. A spokeswoman for the Palace said advisers were "having a number of meetings'' but that no statement was expected from them. At St James's Palace, a spokeswoman said: "These are regular meetings, but we are not complacent and will be examining the weekend's coverage and then see what our options are.''

She said the Palace was "concerned'' about aspects of the weekend reports, which included the former valet George Smith waiving his legal right to anonymity to repeat claims of his rape and later sexual assault by a close aide to the Prince of Wales.

Mr Smith's claims were said to have been taped by Diana, Princess of Wales, who urged him to "spill the beans". The Palace stressed that the rape claims were investigated by the police as part of the inquiry into Mr Burrell, who was thought to be holding the tape, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided against bringing charges because of Mr Smith's alleged mental condition. In his interview with The Mail on Sunday, Mr Smith also said that he had witnessed "an incident" between a member of the Royal Family and a servant.

The aide who is accused of the assault later issued a statement, through Kingsley Napley solicitors, to deny the claims and accuse Mr Smith of being an "unreliable alcoholic". The Italian newspaper La Repubblica named him in an article yesterday which was accessible on its website in the United Kingdom. His name has appeared in some British newspapers, but not in connection with the assault claims.

Last week, a separate allegation was made of another alleged rape of a junior employee at Buckingham Palace. Police dropped their inquiry after the alleged victim said he did not wish to pursue the matter.

Other disclosures in newspapers over the weekend included allegations surrounding Mr Burrell's sex life. Further claims have involved gifts to members of the Royal Family and their retainers, with allegations that some were given to servants or sold for cash. MPs have complained that the rules governing official gifts, which must be registered and are state property, and personal ones, which are not subject to controls, are blurred. Royal staff are governed by strict Civil Service rules.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the PAC, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that he believed the issue of gifts was a matter for the Inland Revenue but raised the wider issue of royal funding by the state. "We believe we, or rather Parliament, should be entitled to look at the finances of the Royal Family or the Civil List," he said.