The trial of a second former royal butler charged with stealing jewellery from the late Princess Diana ended abruptly yesterday, sparing Britain's royal family any further embarrassing revelations.
The case comes just a month after the sensational collapse of the trial of Mr Paul Burrell after the intervention of Queen Elizabeth.
The Queen's move is also the reason for yesterday's scrapping of the case against 50-year-old Mr Harold Brown almost before it had begun, lawyers said.
The news will be a relief to the House of Windsor as it attempts to recover from claims of gay rape, fraud and impropriety amongst heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles's retinue which followed the end of the Burrell trial.
Mr Burrell was cleared in November of stealing more than 300 personal items belonging to Diana after the intervention of the Queen, who effectively provided him with a defence.
She recalled a meeting with Mr Burrell five years ago when he told her he had taken some of Diana's possessions into safekeeping.
Mr Brown had been charged with stealing a bejewelled model sailing boat, a bangle, a pair of earrings and a diamond daffodil motif from Diana's estate in 1997 - the year of her death in a Paris car crash.
He claimed he had been authorised by Mr Burrell to sell the dhow which was no longer wanted by the princess and that she had given him the other items.
Prosecutor William Boyce said the queen's intervention in the Burrell trial had cast the Brown case in a new light and there was "no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction".
He said Mr Burrell's meeting with the queen showed it was credible that he should authorise the sale of the dhow and it was reasonable to accept that Mr Brown was "acting in good faith".
A leading jeweller, 51-year-old Mr Jan Havlik, was also standing trial accused of dishonestly handling the valuables. The case against him also collapsed.
Both men, who sat in the dock at London's Old Bailey courthouse, had denied the charges.
The collapse of the trials has spared the royal family from hearing many details of their private lives exposed in court. But the evidence still threw up many questions about royal practices, especially the giving of gifts to staff.
On Tuesday, Mr James Townend, Mr Brown's defence counsel, told the court that Prince Charles had given an old brown envelope to staff.
On it was written: "there is a very good wedding ring here which someone in the office might find useful".
The incident was to have been used by the defence to show the extent of the culture of "gifting" between royals and staff.
St James's Palace, speaking on behalf of Prince Charles, later made clear that the item in question was not the Prince's own wedding ring, which he continues to wear to this day. It was unclear to whom the wedding ring did belong.
Last month royal secretary Sir Michael Peat was appointed to head an internal probe into such practices but critics have already derided this as a cover-up.
However, the royals will be spared further revelations from Mr Brown, who served as a royal butler for more than a quarter of a century, first for Prince Charles, then for Charles and Diana during their marriage and finally for Princess Margaret, the late sister of the queen.
Unlike Mr Burrell, who sold his story to a tabloid newspaper, prompting a flurry of lurid stories from rival papers, Mr Brown says he has no intention of cashing in on his story.
"It is entirely consistent with over 30 years' loyal service to the royal family," said Mr Brown's lawyer Mr James Brotherton. He added: "Harold Brown is clearly delighted by the result today."
Mr Burrell sold his story to the Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper for a reported £300,000 (€469,124), amid huge publicity.
In the days that followed Mr Burrell's trial, former royal valet Mr George Smith alleged in a tabloid newspaper interview that he had been raped in 1989 by a courtier of Prince Charles, who has ordered an internal inquiry.
The Metropolitan Police announced an internal review of its handling of the Burrell and Brown investigations.