Prince Charles is 'extremely angry' after his security staff failed to alert him about an Indian-origin man whose presence on the royal barge with Queen Elizabeth on Sunday's river pageant sparked a controversy as it was revealed that he had been previously jailed for sex offences.
Harbinder Singh Rana, who was a guest on the Royal Barge for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration apparently at the invitation extended by Prince Charles, would not be receiving any further invites, the Daily Mirror reported today quoting Palace sources.
Prince Charles also wanted to know how Rana was able to get so close to him, said the sources. 52-year-old Rana was jailed in the 1980s for posing as a doctor before women and performing internal examinations and administering injections.
Rana is the 'Honorary Director' of Anglo-Sikh Heritage Trail, a charity organisation whose aim is to promote "a greater awareness of the shared heritage between Sikhs & Britain".
One insider said: "Understandably, Charles is extremely angry that he has been put in a position where he has had close contact with a convicted sex offender on more than a few occasions.
"He is determined to know how such a situation could have arisen. There is no question that had he known about Rana’s criminal record, he would never have been invited on the Royal Barge.
"But he also wants to know why this information has not been made available to him in the past as he has met Rana at least five times since 1999. One thing is certain – this man will not be on Charles's guest lists from now on."
Palace sources also confirmed that the pervert – who was a guest on the Royal Barge for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee river pageant on Sunday – would not be receiving any further invites.
The ban came as a row broke out over who was to blame for the astonishing security blunder. Scotland Yard insisted Rana was vetted and allowed to celebrate with the Queen because he did not pose a threat to the Royal Family.
A Met police spokesperson said: "The purpose of the security check is to assess the threat to members of the Royal Family and other protected persons." But last night they refused to confirm or deny whether they had known about his sordid criminal record.
A Clarence House source insisted that had they been informed of Rana's seedy background he would not have been invited on to the Royal Barge. And an official spokesperson said: "The office of Prince Charles was unaware of this man’s previous convictions."