LONDON - A FORMER butler to Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced on Monday to at least six years in prison after admitting he molested three children, including one who accompanied him to a royal Christmas party.

One of Paul Kidd's victims contacted police after reading a newspaper interview with the ex-butler on last year's 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.

The victim, now in his 40s, said he had been indecently assaulted by Kidd at the butler's home in the early 1980s.

Kidd pleaded guilty in October to nine counts of indecent assault and six counts of sexual activity with a child.

He also pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 11 charges of making indecent images of a child and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.

At a hearing at Manchester Crown Court, in northern England, Judge Mushtaq Khokar said Kidd still poses a risk to young people.

Kidd, 55, was a butler to the queen from 1977 to 1979, then was senior footman to the late Queen Mother Elizabeth until 1984. A number of offenses dated from his time in royal service.

One victim said Kidd introduced him as a 'friend' to the late Queen Mother during a Christmas party at her residence Clarence House.

After leaving royal employment, Kidd charged up to 4,000 pounds (S$10,440) as an after-dinner speaker, and also worked on cruise ships talking of his experiences in the queen's household.

Buckingham Palace declined comment on the case. -- AP