The presence of Indian-origin guest Harbinder Singh Rana on the royal barge during the Thames pageant last weekend was greeted with outrage in Britain as it was revealed in the newspapers on Thursday that he is a convicted sex offender.
Reports in the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and the Sun said that 52-year-old Rana, from Walsall in West Midlands, had been convicted in 1986 after posing as a doctor to carry out sex attacks. He was sentenced to four years in jail after being convicted of five counts of indecent assault, 11 counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and one count of attempted assault.
The media questioned the reason for inviting Mr Rana on board the royal barge Spirit of Chartwell in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and other royals
“Harbinder Singh was asked to take part in the pageant as he is a leading member of the Sikh community and someone who has done a lot of charitable work,” Clarence House said. “Guests of the pageant including representatives from all major faith communities, spread across a number of key vessels — as with the royal family, who were present on a number of vessels. No, we did not know about his convictions.”
“I was given the invitation and I attended. The fact that the Prince of Wales invited me clearly shows what I have done for the community since then,” he told the Daily Mail.