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At least two Scotland Yard protection officers are alleged to have jeopardised the security of the royal family by selling the contact details of the Queen, Prince Charles and their friends and associates to the News of the World.

Sources have told the Guardian that a contacts book was sold for £1,000 to the paper by the officers who were assigned to protect the royal family.

A 2007 report for News International, prepared by a law firm, showed emails in which the purchase of the royals' details was discussed within the Sunday tabloid.

The Guardian understands from sources with knowledge of the 2007 report that a senior executive at the News of the World exchanged emails about the alleged illegal purchase of the contacts book with a senior reporter. It is believed the extensive details in the book allowed the News of the World to hack phones, helped by information passed on by at least two royal protection officers.

The information was only passed by News International to the police in June this year despite the emails and other documentation having been uncovered by an internal NI investigation in 2007.

The revelations add to News International's embarrassment and further damage the Metropolitan police's reputation, given that officers handpicked for the highly sensitive role of protecting the head of state are alleged to have compromised her security.

It is now believed the News of the World paid a total of £130,000 to police officers for information.

The books contained contact details of the whole royal family, from the most senior to the most junior, as well as those of their friends, associates and members of the royal staff.

It has emerged that police have warned Buckingham Palace of evidence that Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, may have had their voicemail hacked by the News of the World.

A new set of managers at News International tried to recover copies of emails between the executive and the reporter but they could not be found on any servers kept by the company.

News International chiefs called in the former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald, to advise them on the emails showing payments to the police. Macdonald told them that the emails showed a clear breach of national security, orchestrated by News of the World past employees and facilitated by police officers.

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