A FORMER royal aide from Hook has been cleared of sexually abusing a young girl.

Benjamin Herman, 80, went on trial over allegations he abused the girl, who was aged around 12, in the early 1970s when he was serving as equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh.

He was a serving major in the Royal Marines on secondment as equerry, handling the Duke's private matters and engagements.

The abuse was alleged to have taken place at a house in south-west London used by military personnel, where he was living at the time.

But Mr Herman, of Four Acre Coppice, Hook, told Blackfriars Crown Court he was ''outraged and flabbergasted'' by the claims.

A court official confirmed that he was found not guilty on three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 13 and one count of indecency with a child between January 1972 and January 1974.

The jury returned the verdicts on Tuesday.