Palace denies conflict of interest over equerry’s Royal Charter role

The Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt
The Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt
PA

Buckingham Palace has defended the Queen’s private secretary over suggestions that he has a conflict of interest over his role in the creation of a Royal Charter on press regulation.

Sir Christopher Geidt is acting as the “channel of communication” between the Queen and the Government over rival proposals from the newspaper industry and politicians to underpin a new regulator through a charter.

In 1991, Sir Christopher won a libel action against the journalist John Pilger over unsubstantiated claims that he helped to train the Khmer Rouge to lay mines. The Guardian yesterday repeated claims made by Labour MPs in Parliament more than 20 years ago about a trip that Sir Christopher made to Cambodia.

In a leading article, the newspaper described Sir Christopher as