Tapes a hoax — report

Press, 21 May 1981, Page 7

Tapes a hoax — report

NZPA ' Canberra A top-level investigation into the “Royal tapes” has shown that they are a hoax, according’ to senior sources in Canberra. The investigation has been completed by the Australian Federal Police’, Telecom, and A. 5.1.0. ; It is : believed to have shown that the monitoring of Prince Charles’s . telephone calls to his ’ fiance, Lady Diana' Spencer, would 'not have been possible. The sources said that the investigation had shown that no tapes had been lodged with a Sydney branch of the A.N.Z. Bank, and that telephones used by Prince Charles during his Australian visit were not bugged. However, the investigation

has not finished an inquiry into whether telephones used by Lady Diana during her Australian visit were bugged. Prince Charles and Lady. Diana have alleged that the tape transcripts used by the German magazine, “Die Aktuelle” were false. The transcripts assert that the conversations took place from Government House in

Canberra and from the property of Mr Sinclair Hill at Moree, in ndrth-western New South -Wales, where Prince Charles had a few days rest. The report pointed to the fatt that the Government House telephones were tied in with the Government's communications network. The only way they could be bugged would be if there was a crossed line and a third party listened in.

However, the sources said that chances of this happening were too remote to be feasible. It is believed that the report also rules out the possibility of the telephones from Mr Sinclair Hill’s Moree property being bugged. The report says that the line from Moree goes into the Sydney exchange, which is a system with 400,000 digital combinations. It would be impossible to select the right combination for tapping the Moree line. The investigation also probed claims that the tapes had been lodged with a Sydney branch of the A.N.Z. Bank, and found that no such activity was recorded by the bank concerned.