London ( CNN ) -- Rupert Murdoch protégé Rebekah Brooks was charged Tuesday with conspiracy over alleged illegal payments to a Ministry of Defence employee , London 's Metropolitan Police said Tuesday . In a separate case , Andy Coulson , another former Murdoch employee who went on to work for Prime Minister David Cameron , faces charges of conspiring to make illegal payments to officials for information relating to the royal family , Britain 's Crown Prosecution Service said . Read more : Why media fights back so hard . Brooks and Coulson are former editors of the now-defunct News of the World newspaper , owned by a UK subsidiary of Murdoch 's News Corp. , News International . Brooks also was editor of daily tabloid The Sun from 2003 to 2009 before becoming chief executive of News International . Two others face charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office alongside Brooks -- the former chief reporter at The Sun , John Kay , and Bettina Jordan-Barber , employed by the Ministry of Defence . A fourth suspect , identified only as a second public official , remains under investigation , the CPS said . The charges in this case relate to the period from January 1 , 2004 , to January 31 of this year , Alison Levitt , chief legal adviser to the director of public prosecutions , said in a statement . `` This conspiracy relates to information allegedly provided by Bettina Jordan Barber for payment which formed the basis of a series of news stories published by The Sun , '' Levitt said . `` It is alleged that approximately £100,000 was paid to Bettina Jordan Barber between 2004 and 2011 . '' Kay , 69 , and Brooks , 44 , were formally charged at London police stations Tuesday . Both are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates ' Court on November 29 . The case in which Coulson is charged also involves former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman . Both men face two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office . `` The allegations relate to the request and authorization of payments to public officials in exchange for information , including a palace phone directory known as the `` Green Book '' containing contact details for the royal family and members of the household , '' Levitt said . Royal officials declined to comment on the charges . Coulson , who took over as editor of News of the World in 2003 , having served as deputy editor for three years , resigned from the post in 2007 . He was then appointed director of communications for Cameron but stepped down in early 2011 amid questions over allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World , saying he did not want to be a distraction . The charges against Coulson , Brooks and the other suspects result from a Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged illegal payments to public officials , codenamed Operation Elveden . It was launched in conjunction with police inquiries into alleged phone and computer hacking . The News of the World was shuttered in summer 2011 amid public outrage over revelations that it hacked into the voicemail of a missing schoolgirl , Milly Dowler , who later turned out to have been murdered . CNN 's Marilia Brocchetto , Susannah Palk and Max Foster contributed to this report .
NEW : Rebekah Brooks will appear in court next week , charged over alleged illegal payments . Andy Coulson faces charges over alleged payments to officials in a separate case . Brooks and others edited a newspaper that was part of the News International empire . Coulson was director of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron .