Palace takes legal action against Mirror

The British royal household is taking legal action against the Daily Mirror and its reporter Ryan Parry for breach of confidence, Buckingham Palace said.

Journalist Ryan Parry worked as a palace servant for two months after being recruited by the royal household, but when he was recruited he signed an undertaking of confidentiality as a condition of employment.

The newspaper yesterday published a series of articles and pictures from inside the palace and claimed its scoop represented a worrying breach of royal security in the run-up to the state visit by US President George Bush.

Daily Mirror reporter Ryan Parry took pictures of the bed in which President Bush and his wife Laura are sleeping during their stay, just days before they arrived.

Mr Parry claimed no rigorous security checks were made on his background but he was still given the chance to get close enough to the Queen to have poisoned her.