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King expresses sorrow over Post Office injustice
The UK's longest-surviving victim of the Post Office scandal revealed King Charles III described the affair as a "dreadful thing" that "should never have happened." Betty Brown, 93, shared the monarch's remarks after receiving her OBE at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
Victim urges royal intervention for justice
Mrs. Brown said she asked the King to press Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his ministers to ensure police investigate those responsible for the wrongful prosecutions of hundreds of sub-postmasters. She told the BBC the King was "very knowledgeable" about the Horizon IT system at the heart of the scandal.
"I said to him... would you tell your prime minister and your ministers that justice has no cost... Doesn't matter what it costs, justice must be done."
Betty Brown
A lifetime of service shattered by faulty software
Mrs. Brown and her late husband Oswall ran a County Durham Post Office branch from 1985 until 2003, when they were forced out after Horizon software falsely indicated £50,000 in missing funds. Despite covering the shortfall with their savings, she was accused of theft and lost her business.
The scandal, spanning 1999 to 2015, has been called one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice. Mrs. Brown was among 555 sub-postmasters who sued the Post Office in a landmark case led by campaigner Sir Alan Bates.
Compensation delays and funding woes
While over £1.5 billion has been paid to 12,300 claimants across various redress schemes, Mrs. Brown noted many victims-including herself-have received no compensation beyond the return of stolen funds. She described the £75,000 fixed-sum payout she accepted in November 2025 as "justice, at last," though "a pity they took so long."
Police warn the criminal investigation could face a five-year delay without additional funding. Commander Stephen Clayman, leading the inquiry, said the team must double in size to meet its current timeline of submitting prosecution files by late 2027 or early 2028.
'The hurt will always remain'
Mrs. Brown dedicated her OBE to "all the sub-postmasters that we have lost," reflecting on the families devastated by the scandal. "The heartache of children left with nothing still hurts," she said. "I never dreamt this would happen, but the reason I'm here is very sad."
The Post Office issued an "unreserved" apology in July after an official inquiry report condemned its actions. A government spokesperson called the scandal "an appalling injustice" and said funding requests were under review.
