Princess files complaint against secret service

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- A princess of the Dutch royal family has filed a criminal complaint against the nation's secret service and a former prime minister.

Princess Margarita accused former Prime Minister Wim Kok and members of his Cabinet of perjury for letters they wrote denying that her aunt, Queen Beatrix, had ordered intelligence agencies to investigate her commoner husband, the Amsterdam public prosecutor said Tuesday.

Margarita has waged a public feud in recent weeks with the queen, who she says tarnished her husband Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn's name, ruining his business. In a rare series of interviews Margarita has recounted what she said was philandering and arrogance in the royal family, which she said snubbed her because it disliked her husband.

Kok said he was "amazed" by the accusations and called them groundless.

Last week, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende acknowledged that Van Zuydewijn had been "screened" during the Kok administration as a routine security measure before he married into the royal family, but denied wrongdoing.

The Dutch have always viewed their constitutional monarch from a respectful distance, and such probes into the private lives of royalty are rare in the media.

Margarita's lawyers said the suit, filed Monday, is aimed at getting an apology and a financial settlement from Queen Beatrix, one of the world's wealthiest women.

Prosecutor's spokesman Robert Meulenbroek said it will likely be weeks before prosecutors decide whether to press charges against any of the people named in the suit. Beatrix, who enjoys immunity from prosecution as head of state, is not named.

The ministries involved in the affair have apologized.

Margarita has also said independent investigators found wiretapping bugs in the couple's Amsterdam home. Balkenende's letter denied the couple's conversations had been monitored, but promised a full investigation if the princess produced evidence of her claim.