London: Two men were convicted on Friday of trying to blackmail a member of the royal family with an audio recording featuring claims he had performed a gay sex act on an employee.

Ian Strachan, 31, and Sean McGuigan, 41, were found guilty of attempting to blackmail the royal, who cannot be identified,
for 50,000 pounds ($98,390) after failing to sell the story to a number of national newspapers.

Despite the pair denying making an unwarranted demand with menaces, the Old Bailey jury convicted them after less than a day of deliberations. Sentence will take place later on Friday.