LONDON - The office of Charles, the Prince of Wales, announced last night that it would investigate allegations about the royal intervention that ended the trial of Princess Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, Nov. 1 and subsequent charges that the prince covered up an alleged homosexual rape by a top aide and that his courtiers sold royal gifts.
The rare look into the goings-on behind palace doors appeared to be an attempt to stem the tide of charge and innuendo against the royal family in recent weeks that has threatened to wash away the goodwill earned during the jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years on the throne.
The man chosen to conduct the inquiry, Sir Michael Peat, promised it would be thorough and unbiased despite his own close identification with the monarchy. Until taking over Prince Charles' office this year, Peat, 53, worked for Buckingham Palace for 12 years and gained notice for his success in cutting costs and trimming perks in his job as keeper of the privy purse and treasurer to the queen.
"Anyone who says it's going to be a complete whitewash doesn't know me very well," he told the Press Association, Britain's domestic news agency, which made the investigation public last night. "I, and more importantly, the Prince of Wales, are totally committed to openness and accountability."
He said that the review would be published before Christmas and that "in due course" an independent body could take up the case.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said last week that no such probe was necessary, but that was before the royals came under the cascade of post-trial charges.
Peat said the queen would not be a witness in his review and he disputed widespread suspicions that she stepped into the trial to forestall information emerging that could damage the royal family.
Last night, Buckingham Palace published a chronology of the queen's involvement that claimed she realized the importance of her exonerating information only after the trial had begun. What freed Burrell on the 12th day of his trial and the eve of his own testimony was word from the queen that he had told her he was safekeeping items from Princess Diana's estate that the prosecution accused him of stealing.
"I can give you my 100 percent assurance that there was no interference at all," Peat said. "The queen remembered some information, and it was passed on to the police in the normal course. No one - the queen, the Prince of Wales, members of the household - knew whether this information would stop the trial or not."
He said the "conspiracy theories" were "the politest you can say, implausible."