Both the BBC's Robert Peston and the London Evening Standard today are running stories that personal details about the Queen and her closest aides were sold to the News of the World by corrupt royal protection officers.
The Standard says: "The information included phone numbers and tips about the movements and activities of the Queen, Prince Philip and staff in a serious breach of national security. The payments, and involvement of the royal and diplomatic protection squad, were uncovered by News International in 2007.
"But despite the potential risk to security they were not passed on to the Met until last month. Scotland Yard was only informed after other News International bosses discovered the existence of the emails during a separate internal probe set up to uncover evidence of phone hacking. There are hundreds of royal protection officers.
The Standard adds: "The disclosure that News International failed to pass on information revealing criminal activity by royal protection officers will raise serious new questions about the company's conduct and heap further pressure on Rupert Murdoch after his arrival in London to tackle the crisis."
News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks warned News of the World staff that "worse was to come" in the phone hacking scandal when she talked to them about the closure of the paper.
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