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think- ago

Prince Philip's former royal aide accused of three sex attacks on girl aged 12

A trusted former aide to Prince Philip and Princess Anne will face court next week accused of sexually assaulting a girl of 12 while he was working for the Royal Family in the early 70s.

Ex-Marine Benjamin Herman, 79, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault on the child when he was Philip’s equerry – or personal attendant – at Buckingham Palace.

The Lieutenant-Colonel later went on to become Princess Anne’s private secretary, before returning to the military.

Detectives at Scotland Yard are believed to have examined the prince’s official diaries covering the two-year period from January 1972 to January 1974, when the attacks are alleged to have taken place.

They have also taken statements from former palace staff but it is not known if officers have quizzed Philip or any other members of the Royal Family about the claims.

The alleged victim, who is now in her 50s, came forward in the wake of the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal.

Herman is due to appear before Wimbledon magistrates in South London on Monday.

Tonight he said he intended to fight the allegations. When asked to comment he looked shocked and added: “I don’t talk to the press.”

But when asked whether he planned to deny the charges, he replied sharply “of course” before climbing into his car.

Earlier in the day Herman – a grandfather – left his £600,000 home in Hook, Hampshire, wearing smart chinos, desert boots and a blue and white checked shirt before heading to the town’s train station nearby.

He had been on bail since he was arrested 18 months ago after voluntarily attending a police station.

Today a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman confirmed he faced three counts of indecent assault on a girl and one of attempted indecent assault.

Herman was Philip’s equerry from 1971 to 1974, during which time he shadowed the royal at the Palace and on public and private engagements.

He became head of ­Princess Anne’s household when she married in 1974, with reports at the time claiming she had picked him to be her private secretary herself from her father’s staff. He returned to the Marines two years later.

During his career he served with 40 Commando, Royal Marines, and was made Military Assistant and Aide-de-Camp to the Commandant General Royal Marines.

At the time of the alleged offences Herman lived at Windsor, Berkshire, but also had a base at Wellington Barracks, near the Palace.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-philips-former-royal-aide-3939458

think- ago

@MolochHunter, would you maybe consider including the above info into your OP as well? I feel it is as important as the story about the Queen's pedo butler, especially since there have always been rumours that Prince Philip might also be a pedo. Thank you.

On a side note, it would be 'Rolf Harris', instead of 'Rolfe Harris' in the OP. Thanks.

MolochHunter ago

yer i nearly included that one but im at the cap limit (jack the ripper has already gone)

it doesnt contain an allegation against Prince Phillip or others - just one aide, and its not clear whether the abuse took place onsite a royal property

think- ago

The question is why did Prince Ph. employ him in the first place? Isn't it an odd coincidence that he had a pedophile aide, and later the Queen had a pedophile butler?

Imo it doesn't matter where the abuse took place to make that important.

But I'll leave that up to you, of course. :-)

If you're at caps limits anyway, you might want to use the archives @shewhomustbeobeyed provided, and put those into the OP instead of the long original sources.

Or you might want to delete this paragraph, when you think you can't update the post anyway: ;-)

This is a COLLABORATIVE post - I invite you all to submit your independent knowledge and findings which I will edit into the main body of this thread (so apologies if comments below dont seem contiguous with the main body of the post’s text as I edit and re-edit)