Royal Cover Up: Police Censor Jimmy Savile Interview Transcript
By Jonathan Corke
The papers from a 2009 police quiz were released last week following a seven-month battle by the Daily Star Sunday. But the 26 pages - which exposed the evil pervert as a bully and a liar - came with 96 redactions (crossings out). Today we can reveal the documents had been vetted by Buckingham Palace - and that the serial sex attacker's royal connections were removed. One reference Savile made about a cousin of the Queen was included in an internal police report released in January. But on Tuesday, when Surrey Police published the interview transcripts, there was no mention of her. Other references to royalty were also seemingly erased - and during our fight to obtain the records, police let slip Buckingham Palace's involvement. Tony Smith, the force's information access manager, made the reference as he explained why it was taking so long to release the documents. He told us that, as well as going to a senior police chief outside the force, the papers had gone "to Buckingham Palace to consider...because they are mentioned in it". There is no mention of Buckingham Palace or anyone from the royal family in the edited scripts. And Savile - given an OBE by the Queen in 1972, followed by a knighthood in 1990 - was someone who liked to name-drop his royal connections. The presenter, who died in 2011 aged 84, two years after Surrey's bungled probe into sex abuse claims, often boasted of his friendship with Prince Charles. He was also a confidant of Princess Diana and claimed to have helped the Duchess of York as her marriage to Prince Andrew fell apart. Crucially, in his 1974 autobiography Savile boasted of his friendship with the same cousin of the Queen he mentioned in the 2009 police interview. Under caution, he told officers the first time he visited a Surrey school where he was said to have abused girls was with Princess Alexandra for a garden party. If detectives had investigated that reference by looking at his memoirs they would have discovered he was someone who preyed on vulnerable young girls. He wrote: "Princess Alex is a patron of a hostel for girls in care. At this place I'm a cross between a term-time boyfriend and a fixer of special trips out." The 76-year-old widow of Sir Angus Ogilvy is the Duke of Kent's sister and a granddaughter of King George V. Our investigations suggest Savile's mentions of the princess are among ten lines of blacked-out text from pages five to six of the transcripts. The revelation is likely to spark further criticism of Surrey Police's 29-month Savile investigation which resulted in a prolific paedophile never facing justice. But it also raises questions as to whether the force took out the reference to Princess Alexandra to avoid further embarrassment or whether the royals insisted it be excluded. We have been told that 19 of 32 redactions made to Savile's answers were on the grounds they contained "personal information". One answer given by Savile had around ten lines of text blacked out for that reason. The other 13 redactions were made because they contained information sensitive to criminal investigations. And 64 redactions were made to comments or questions from the two female detectives who quizzed Savile over allegations from three women. Surrey Police has said its decision to release the edited papers was made "following extensive consultation which included speaking to the victims" and the Association of Chief Police Officers. It made no mention of consulting Buckingham Palace. The Daily Star Sunday has asked the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to investigate the redactions and consider the arguments any outside bodies made. As we revealed in May, Government papers showing links between Savile and PrinceCharles, 64, were redacted. An extract from the files - relating to Margaret Thatcher's dealings with Savile - was blacked out by the Cabinet Office to hide his claim that Charles had agreed to be a patron of one of his charities. It was reinstated after an appeal by the Daily Star Sunday. A Palace spokesman said: "We would not comment on police or Freedom of Information matters."
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