'I was made to sleep in the attic'

A secretary in the Prince of Wales's office was "relegated" to an attic in Holyrood House during a royal visit, an industrial tribunal heard today.

Elaine Day, 45, who claims she was the victim of sex discrimination at St James's Palace, had originally been given a room close to the "tartan corridor" where Prince Charles and his closest aides slept, the tribunal heard.

But Miss Day, a personal secretary to two of the Prince's senior aides, was upset to be ordered to move upstairs to a single room on a higher floor, which she regarded as "relegation".

Alistair Graham, an equerry responsible for allocating rooms for the Prince and his staff during the visit in June 2003, told the hearing in Croydon he had ordered the move to make way for a PA to senior courtier Sir Michael Peat.

Mr Graham said Miss Day had not complained. "No concerns were raised with me about the room allocation. Miss Day never raised the matter with me directly.

"If she had done, I would have considered other options for housing her," he said.

But Ruth Downing, representing Miss Day, said the allocation of rooms reflected a hierarchy within the Prince of Wales's staff and asked Mr Graham how Miss Day felt about being "relegated to the attic floor".

"There is a very well organised pecking order coming down from the Prince of Wales through his staff," Miss Downing said. Mr Graham replied the hierarchy was more of a "command structure".

He denied Miss Day had been upset. He also denied claims that the Prince's household was an Edwardian institution. "It compares favourably with the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy." He said it was run with a "sense of inclusiveness" because of Charles's "wishes and aspirations".

Miss Downing said: "To many people in this room, to argue about which bedroom was allocated may seem not important." But she insisted that within Charles's staff, the "allocation of rooms had a status within the household".

Mr Graham denied the suggestion, adding he would have been "very happy" to find alternative accommodation if asked.

The tribunal had earlier heard that Miss Day had claimed she had been sexually harassed by the Prince's assistant private secretary Paul Kefford.

Mr Graham denied that his decision regarding the room allocation was because she had made the previous allegation. He said he was not aware of the claim at the time of the visit to Scotland and said: " There's no wider conspiracy. "

He added: "To say it was in the attic is an overstatement. There's no suggestion that she was in the servant's quarters at the top of the tower."

Miss Day, of Belvedere in Kent, who left her job at St James's Palace last year after six years, claims she was victimised and treated unfairly. Clarence House was set to defend the claims "vigorously" but if she succeeds she could be awarded more than £50,000.

The tribunal continues.

Arrangements for the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles, planned for 8 April at Windsor's Guildhall, were hit by security fears today after legal experts claimed members of the public will have the right to attend the ceremony.