Queen Elizabeth’s former butler was charged with allegedly raping three young boys on Saturday (02.02.08).
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Paul Kidd – who worked for the Royal Family from 1975 to 1984 – was arrested in London and taken for questioning at Manchester’s Ashton-Under-Lyne police station.
He faces nine rape charges, four gross indecency charges and five charges of sexual assault against the three youngsters, aged between 11 and 16. The 54 year-old from Stalybridge was arrested after a 41-year-old man recognised a picture of Kidd in the newspaper and told police he had been molested by him in 1981.
A police source said: “This man was a senior royal butler. The alleged offences go back three decades to when he was working for the queen. Police may want to question members of the royal household.”
Police officers also seized a computer which allegedly contained over 1,000 child pornography images. Kidd worked as the queen’s personal butler from 1976 to 1980, before working as the late Queen Mother’s senior footman.
He was also close friends with the late Princess Diana’s butler Paul Burrell during his time with the royal household.
Since finishing his work with the royal family, Kidd had been charging between UKP2,000 and UKP4,000 for public speaking engagements. He also stood as a party candidate for the UK Independence Party at the local elections last year.
