I was raped by Charles' servant," screamed one headline in huge capital letters. All promised to reveal new information on what one paper called the "palace secret that could bring down the monarchy."

The alleged rape victim, George Smith, told his story Sunday in The Mail, which paid him for the article. The 42-year-old former valet alleged he was raped in 1989 by a prince's aide -- who was not identified -- and that the man tried to assault him again in 1995.

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

The royal rapist will soon be outed,when will you stand down mam?
It is illegal for the succesion to discriminate on religious and gender grounds,it is illegal to cover for rape,theft and perjury.
Your theft of vast amounts of the national estate and wealth is as well known as your tax dodging.
Take your corgies and your degenerate criminal scummy family and household and take it on the heel.
You rotten fucking bitch,go die.