UK home secretary blocked royal scandal probes, inquest told

Former British home secretary Kenneth Clarke blocked an investigation into the interception of the telephone calls behind the "Squidgy-gate" and "Camilla-gate" affairs in case the press found out, a court heard today.

The publication of lurid details of the taped conversations prompted a series of high-level meetings and correspondence in January 1993, the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales was told.