Sex bias claim by Charles secretary

Prince Charles's household is today facing accusations that one of his staff was the victim of sexual discrimination.

Ms Day, from Belvedere in Kent, is one of a handful of black staff in the Prince's household, but racial discrimination forms no part of her claim.

The secretary started work for the royal household in March 1999 and resigned this April.

In the case being held in Croydon, which is set to last three days, excerpts from Ms Day's diary are expected to be read out. The Prince's aides fear that she saw private correspondence which, if detailed in her diary, could embarrass senior members of the royal household.

They are concerned at the potential for serious damage to Charles's reputation, as the case comes in the wake of the devastating report into life at St James's Palace last year.

That internal inquiry, ordered by Charles, exposed a culture of threats, self-interest and mismanagement and delivered a humiliating assessment of the Prince's judgment. The investigation looked at the collapse of the Paul Burrell trial, claims of a cover-up over an alleged gay rape and how servants sold gifts given to the royals. It led to the departure of Michael Fawcett, Charles's most trusted aide.

Concerns centre on Ms Day's access to private correspondence from Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles and William and Harry in the course of her normal duties.

During her employment at Clarence House, Ms Day worked for two of Charles's key members of staff - assistant private secretaries Paul Kefford and Mark Leishman. For Charles, the hearing will have uncomfortable echoes of a case three years ago when Lizzie Burgess, a black aide, claimed she had suffered racial abuse.

Ms Burgess, who was Charles's personal secretary at Highgrove, claimed racial discrimination at the hands of the Prince's staff, but her case was dismissed by a tribunal.

She lost her claim for constructive dismissal but she exposed an alleged culture of racism.