SpinWatch exclusive: Fergie in New Undercover Sting PDF Print E-mail
Michael Gillard, 17 June 2010
 
THE QUEEN’S lawyers have reached a secret agreement to save royal blushes over another gaff involving Fergie and an undercover journalist.

The Duchess was facing a high court cross examination over some rather embarrassing emails she’d written to ITN journalist Chris Rogers, with whom she had worked on a controversial documentary about child abuse in Turkey’s state orphanages.

The film caused a diplomatic row in November 2008 after the Turks demanded Fergie's extradition and accused her of trying to scupper its EU membership – a bit ripe given its lamentable human rights record.

The Foreign Office smoothed over the row with Ankara. But when Rogers started writing a book about the Turkish investigation, Farrer & Co, the royal solicitors, wrote to him last August asserting Fergie’s copyright over much of the source material - even his notebooks and diaries.

Rogers got on well with Fergie and she had initially agreed to put her name to the forward to the book. But, apparently under palace pressure, she later formally withdrew co-operation. In private however, the pair agreed to drop the forward and remove some inconsequential passages.

That was not enough for the Palace, which wanted more control over the manuscript and in December it sought to gag Rogers and the publisher by serving a writ in Fergie’s name alleging breach of copyright, contract and confidentiality.

However, a royal insider told SpinWatch that Fergie’s emails to Rogers “would undermine her legal claims that she was unhappy with the book.”

One says of the manuscript and Rogers: ‘I love it. I am for it. I love you’. Other emails use language described by the source as “rather Ab Fab", including signing off with many kisses from "Sis".

Legal negotiations broke down and Roger’s book ‘Undercover’ was published in March this year. Farrers did nothing. With the writ still hanging over future sales, however, last month Rogers asked the High Court to force Fergie to serve her well overdue particulars of claim or withdraw the action and pay the hack's costs.

Farrers disliked the insinuation that their real client was the Palace and Andrew - who had consented to his two daughters going to Turkey and Romania with Fergie for the ITN documentary accompanied by taxpayer-funded bodyguards.

The judge adjourned matters until later this month. But within the last few days both sides secretly settled the action freeing up future publication for Rogers.

The Queen, still not amused by the News of the World’s £500,000 cash-for-access to Andrew sting, will no doubt be relieved that her daughter in law will not face a grilling in the witness box over the emails and her frosty relations with the Palace.

Farrers, who co-incidentally also act for the News of the World, will have to meet their own costs or they could look to Fergie.

This may prove difficult though as the duchess was secretly filmed by the tabloid saying she did not have a royal “pot to piss in.”
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