Sex offender Harbinder Singh Rana sails alongside Queen

The man who spent four years in prison in the 1980s for assault was invited by Prince Charles

The closest most Canadians will get to the Queen is taking a picture over people's shoulders a few deep behind a barrier, but that wasn't the case for one sex offender in England.

Harbinder Singh Rana got to ride alongside the Queen and other members of the royal family on the Royal Barge during Sunday's River Pageant, which was part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

According to the Herald Sun, Rana was jailed in the 1980s for attacking women while he posed as a doctor. He performed internal examinations and administered injections. Rana served four years in prison and has been conducting charity work within the Sikh community since his release. He was invited by Prince Charles to ride on the ship after it is believed the two met through a charitable organization.

The Herald Sun reports palace sources saying the prince didn't know of Rana's shameful past and if he did know, wouldn't have invited him.

The issue is raising questions of security checks and has MPs demanding a police probe into the security lapse.

Rana told the Mirror he was unaware of any security checks, but never volunteered the information about his past.

"The fact that the Prince of Wales invited me clearly shows what I have done for the community since then," Rana told the Mirror. "It (his conviction) was very circumstantial. It is an area I have switched off from my life and got on with it."

He said he wasn't representing the Sikh community and was just there because he was invited.

"It is an astonishing situation in terms of security. I'm flabbergasted," said MP Steve McCabe in the Mirror article. "There should be a police investigation into how this was allowed to happen. Who the prince wants to entertain in private is his concern, but this was a public event. Questions need to be answered."

The Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail, a charity Rana did work for, posted a picture of him close to the Queen on their Facebook page.

(Reuters photo of Rana behind members of the royal family on the Spirit of Chartwell June 3)