A new allegation of male rape within the royal household was investigated last year when a junior member of the Buckingham Palace staff complained of an attack by a fellow worker.

The person concerned did go to the police, but later decided not to proceed with the complaint, the palace confirmed on Saturday.

The latest incident follows the denial on Friday by St James' Palace that it covered up an allegation that one of Prince Charles's male members of staff was raped by one of his colleagues in 1996.

But the two incidents are not said to be linked in any way.

Buckingham Palace said that once the allegation was made, the police were informed within 24 hours.

"Within five days the individual concerned had had access to a solicitor paid for by the Queen so he could take all the advice he wanted," said a palace spokeswoman.

"The following week he went to the police and had a one-to-one session with a qualified rape counsellor and after various consultations and all the advice he required, he decided he did not wish to pursue the complaint."

The spokeswoman said the victim "is still working here in the royal household, as is the alleged perpetrator".

During the trial of former butler Paul Burrell, it emerged that Diana, Princess of Wales, had kept a cassette tape containing details of a case of alleged male rape of one of Prince Charles' members of staff.

'No evidence'

The tape, which supposedly consisted of an interview Diana conducted with the alleged rape victim, went missing from a locked chest in Kensington Palace and has never been found, the Old Bailey jury heard.

St James' Palace issued a statement saying there was a full investigation between October 2001 and February 2002, of events "alleged to have taken place" in the late 1980s.

"When these allegations first emerged in 1996 they were investigated by the Palace and no evidence was forthcoming in support of them and the person concerned did not want to pursue the matter any further," said the statement.

The allegations re-surfaced and a member of the Royal household was interviewed by police voluntarily in November 2001, the statement said.

But after a review by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions, no proceedings were brought.