Senior King aide was head of royal protection when Andrew 'asked officer to dig up dirt on accuser'

A current senior member of the King's household was the head of royal protection at the time Prince Andrew allegedly asked one of his police officers to dig up dirt on Virginia Guiffre, Sky News has discovered.

Lord Peter Rosslyn, who is now Lord Steward and Personal Secretary to the King and Queen, was head of Royalty and Diplomatic Protection between 2003-2014. It is not clear if Lord Rosslyn - known at the time as Commander Peter Loughborough - was made aware of Prince Andrew's request.

However, it reportedly happened in 2011 when it's claimed Andrew wrote in an email that he passed the date of birth and confidential social security number of his accuser, Virginia Guiffre, to one of his close protection team to find out information about her. At the weekend, the Metropolitan Police said it was "actively looking into the claims made".

Sky News approached Lord Rosslyn for comment, which was passed to Buckingham Palace. A palace spokesperson said: "As you may or may not be aware, Lord Rosslyn works for The Royal Household and thus this issue has been referred to me.

However, since this matter relates to his time in service with the Metropolitan Police, they would be the appropriate body to approach with media enquiries of this nature." The Met Police had nothing further to add. Police sources have told Sky News the officer (CPO) involved would have been expected to escalate this request from Andrew to his superiors.

While there may have been other members of senior staff between the CPO and Lord Rosslyn, the request should have been considered serious enough to be referred to the top of the Royalty and Diplomatic Service. Those with knowledge of the royal household tell us Lord Rosslyn is one of the King's closest and most trusted members of staff.

His role as Lord Steward involves managing all aspects of the King's personal affairs, and the non-state business of the monarch. Who is Lord Peter Rosslyn? As well as being much respected by Queen Elizabeth II, and affectionately known as her "favourite policeman.