Mole-hunting BBC in right royal row with Sun editor

message had been acquired from a BBC employee.

A spokesman said that if a BBC employee was found to be involved the

corporation would take a very serious view. ''It is irresponsible of Mr

MacKenzie to make such an accusation in this way,'' he said. ''He should

justify his accusation or withdraw it.''

The Queen was said to be furious at the disclosure of her message

which she sees as a chance to talk directly to the nation.

Mr MacKenzie made his claim on BBC radio after his paper had published

the text of the speech.

A spokesman for the Sun later said: ''To clear up any confusion, we

wish to make it absolutely clear that the tape of the Queen's message

was obtained through a BBC employee. There will be no further comment on

this matter.''

The statement was issued to clear up doubts about how serious Mr

MacKenzie was in his claim. He said the royal message had been acquired

''through our journalistic enterprise and thanks to a BBC employee''.

Mr Leaf Kalfayan, Sun assistant editor (news), said the story had not

come from one source alone but from ''a series of people''. Asked in a

BBC interview about what Mr MacKenzie had said, he replied: ''Our

editor, Kelvin MacKenzie, has mischievously suggested on the radio that

it may have come with help from someone at the BBC. But you don't know

from the radio interview how firmly his tongue was in his cheek.''

This latest blow to the House of Windsor in its ''annus horribilis''

has turned the Christmas broadcast, clearly an attempt to end the year

on a more hopeful note, into another of 1992's right royal rows.

An unrepentant Mr MacKenzie said: ''Our job is to supply news and to

supply it first. The Queen's speech, even if somewhat anodyne, is right

up there for being news and I have no regrets at all. The Queen's speech

used to be a signal for a good nap . . . people will watch it this year

with even greater fascination.''

The problem facing the BBC in its hunt for the culprit is that copies

of the tape were issued to 61 broadcasting stations round the country,

and 120 copies were made. They included seven video tapes for domestic

and world transmission, 15 radio recordings for domestic and

international use, copies sent to 61 commercial radio stations through

Independent Radio news, and a video copy sent to Thames Television for

use by the ITV network.

The row over the leaking of this most trivial of state secrets may

have left the Sun's editor unmoved, but it got his paper's photographer,

Mr Arthur Edwards, deprived of his rota pass to record the royal family

arriving at church on Christmas Day.

Allocated by the Newspaper Publishers Association, it was given

instead to the Daily Express.

Mr Edwards said he would take pictures of the Princess of Wales at

Althorp instead. The Palace said it was a matter for the NPA.

Mr Brian Stokes, administration manager of the NPA, made clear,

however, that the buck stopped elsewhere. He said the Palace had told

him it would create a bad atmosphere if the Sun photographer turned up

on the lawns at Sandringham on Christmas Day. He also understood the

Queen was ''very, very distressed'' about the leak.

The Sun reported that in her ''emotional'' speech to the nation and

the Commonwealth, the Queen told of her sombre year and thanked the many

people who offered support and sympathy. ''Like many other families, we

have lived through some difficult days this year,'' the Queen is quoted

as saying.

The row will certainly lead to a review of the arrangements under

which such material is issued. A Palace spokesman said they were

awaiting the outcome of the inquiry.

He said the tape is made available in advance under strict embargo to

Christmas Day.

''It is very regrettable that the content of the broadcast should be

published in a newspaper before the embargo deadline. Once the BBC has

conducted its inquiry we will need to consider any further action

necessary, including the future distribution arrangements for the

broadcast.''

The Palace regards the broadcast as Crown copyright and advance

publication might be interpreted as a breach of that copyright, although

whether legal action will be taken has yet to be seen.

This is the second time the message has leaked. Five years ago the BBC

court correspondent discussed it with other journalists over a bibulous

lunch. The colleagues duly reported what he had told them.