Royal Identified in Sex and Drugs Scandal

Linley named in royal blackmail probe

Viscount David Linley, son of the late Princess Margaret and photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones, has been identified on a website as the member of Britain's royal family embroiled in a sex and blackmail scandal.

The website Radar, and other outlets, are reporting that Linley, 45-year-old chairman of prestigious auction house Christie's, is the unidentified person who has been the subject of international speculation since the story broke in Britain's Sunday Times at the weekend.

British law prohibits domestic media from naming the royal.

Linley is married to Lady Serena Alleyne Stanhope, daughter of Viscount Petersham. They have a son, Charles Patrick Inigo Armstrong-Jones, born July 2, 1999, and a daughter, Margarita Elizabeth Alleyne Armstrong-Jones, born May 14, 2002.

Linley owns a chain of restaurants, designs furniture, and maintains his own website for selling furniture, a collection which "comprises beautiful objects for the home, appealing to all senses sight, touch and smell."

Ian Strachan, 30, is accused of being involved in the plot, along with 40-year-old Sean McGuigan.

It is said that one of the two men allegedly claimed to have video footage suggesting a royal aide had an envelope containing cocaine supplied by the royal.

It was also alleged that a video tape existed in which it is indicated an aide engaged in a sex act with the royal.

The claims are said to be false.

The alleged £50,000 plot was smashed through a Metropolitan Police undercover operation on Sept.11.

Strachan and McGuigan appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Sept. 13, each charged with one count of blackmail, and were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Dec. 20.

According to The Times Online, a bail hearing this week involving one of two men alleged to be involved in the blackmail plot will be held in private.

Linley is currently twelfth in the line of succession to the British throne and is the first person in the line of succession who is not a descendant of the Queen.

According to an Australian website, Linley did not hesitate to contact police because the claims and so-called evidence against him were false and the footage did not implicate him in any wrongdoing.

The suspect Strachan has been described as "always behav(ing) as though he is the son of a wealthy businessman".

And an associate described McGuigan as "like a raddled Sean Penn (who) exudes the atmosphere of someone who got through life without ever doing a day's work."

Both men live in London. Strachan is from Aberdeen in Scotland and McGuigan is from Ireland.