Sex offender was guest of Royal Family on barge for Thames Jubilee pageant

Harbinder Singh Rana, from Walsall, West Midlands, stood trial in 1986 after posing as a doctor to carry out the attacks.

He was sentenced to four years in jail after being convicted of five counts of indecent assault, 11 counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and one count of attempted assault. He met Charles through his work with the Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail, which aims to promote awareness of the links between Sikhs and Britons. Rana is honorary director of the charity.

A Clarence House spokeswoman said he was asked to take part as he is a leading member of the Sikh community and someone who has done a lot of charitable work, and they did not know about his convictions.

The revelations marred positive news for the Royals yesterday, as the Duke of York reported his father was “mending very well” after visiting him in hospital, alongside the Queen.

The Duke of Edinburgh remains in hospital after being forced to miss some of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations because of a bladder infection.

Outside the King Edward VII Hospital in central London, Andrew said: “Oh, he’s mending very well. Thank you very much indeed.”

The Queen spent about 50 minutes at her husband’s bedside and smiled broadly when she came out of the hospital as a small crowd of well-wishers cheered.

The BBC has said it will take on board criticism of its Diamond Jubilee coverage to see how its programming could have been improved.

The corporation has received more than 2,400 complaints from the public about some of the live broadcasts during the national celebrations.

It drew stinging criticism during the river pageant broadcast, with viewers attacking its “inane” commentary, camera angles and sound quality.