London ( CNN ) -- Four people in the United Kingdom , including a journalist at The Sun newspaper , have been charged in a police probe into alleged payments for newspaper stories involving the royal family , British prosecutors said Wednesday . They will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on May 8 . Their cases stem from Operation Elveden , a police probe into `` allegations involving the unlawful provision of information by public officials to journalists . '' One of the men charged is Duncan Larcombe , royal editor at The Sun , Britain 's best-selling tabloid and part of Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. empire . He faces a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office . John Hardy and Claire Hardy , who worked at the Sandhurst military academy during the time Princes Harry and William were based there , also are charged with conspiracy to commit public misconduct in office . John Hardy served as a color sergeant at Sandhurst and Claire Hardy is his wife . `` It is alleged that from 10 February 2006 to 15 October 2008 , 34 payments were made to either John Hardy or Claire Hardy totaling over Â£23,000 for stories relating mainly to the Royal Family or matters at Sandhurst , '' prosecutors said in a statement . The fourth is Tracy Bell , a Defense Ministry pharmacy assistant at the Sandhurst medical center , who is charged with one count of misconduct in public office . `` It is alleged that Tracy Bell received Â£1,250 between 17 October 2005 and 7 July 2006 relating to five articles published in The Sun regarding matters at Sandhurst , '' the prosecutors said . London 's Metropolitan Police is running Operation Elveden parallel to a probe into claims that UK journalists hacked people 's voice mails to get stories . The two investigations were set up in the wake of the scandal over an allegation that in 2002 , the voice mail of a missing 13-year-old girl , Milly Dowler , was hacked by an investigator working for the News of the World newspaper before she was found murdered . The furor led to the closure of News International 's Sunday tabloid , the News of the World , in 2011 . Dozens of arrests have been made in connection with the two inquiries . An executive editor at The Sun , Fergus Shanahan , was charged last week for alleged illegal payments to a public official . Shanahan is due at Westminster Magistrates Court on the same day as the four people charged Wednesday . 'Collective amnesia ' Separately , the UK police watchdog released the findings Wednesday of its inquiry into Surrey Police 's handling of the hacking of Milly Dowler 's voice mail . Surrey Police officers appear to be `` afflicted by a form of collective amnesia '' in relation to the force 's failure to investigate an allegation in 2002 that the News of the World had hacked the teenager 's phone , said the Independent Police Complaints Commission . No action was taken to investigate the claim despite it being known about at all levels , the IPCC said . `` We will never know what would have happened had Surrey Police carried out an investigation into the hacking of Milly Dowler 's phone in 2002 , '' said Deborah Glass , IPCC deputy chairwoman , in a statement . `` Phone hacking was a crime and this should have been acted upon , if not in 2002 , then later , once the News of the World 's widespread use of phone hacking became a matter of public knowledge and concern . '' Surrey Police has since apologized to the Dowler family . READ MORE : Sun executive editor faces charge over alleged corrupt payments .
Two are charged in connection with alleged payments for stories involving the royal family . One is Princes William , royal editor at The IPCC , UK 's best-selling tabloid newspaper . Two others worked at a military academy while Princes William and Princes William were there . UK police have been investigating claims of corrupt payments for information by the media .