London, July 19: The trial of a British royal protection officer has exposed a culture of porn, gambling and alcohol inside Buckingham Palace, a news report said.
Paul Page, who was in the elite SO14 royal protection squad, faces a long sentence after he was found guilty of a multi-million-pound fraud.
The 38-year-old officer told the jury at Southwark crown court that the officers of SO14 were looked down upon by the royal family. His other evidence during the trial revealed a culture of downtime, gambling and drunkenness among royal protection officers at the palace, the Evening Standard newspaper said.
“There was an officer and he did sell porn. He used to get it from Holland, bring it back and sell it to officers while on duty. Everyone knew about it but no one would say anything,” he was quoted as saying by the British daily.
“You had officers running poker games for money in downtime. If people want to do that that’s fair enough, but senior officers let it go,” he said, adding “Officers would turn up drunk”. He said officers in the command are earning 50-60,000 pounds per year with overtime “for doing very little”.
Page was convicted of fraudulent trading after a three-month trial that exposed the extraordinary on-duty behaviour of royal protection officers. According to courtroom evidence, they posed for photos on the Queen’s throne, indulged in a gambling and drinking culture, the report said.
However, Scotland Yard has ruled out a probe into Page’s allegations, describing them as “unsubstantiated”.
-Agencies