When Paul Burrell met with Queen Elizabeth in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death in 1997, he could surely not have foreseen how far-reaching its implications would be. Disclosure of the contents of the conversation, which took place during that three-hour audience, sensationally brought to halt the trial of the late Princess' former butler last week. And on Wednesday the man Diana once referred to as her "rock" was divulging further details in an exclusive deal with a British newspaper worth a reported £300,000.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Burrell explains how, during the meeting at Buckingham Palace, he had told the Queen he was in possession of some items belonging to the Princess. "I intend to protect the Princess' world and keep safe her secrets and I intend to keep documents and artefacts which she had given me," he says he told the monarch. "Her Majesty listened to what I had to say. She understood what I had to say. She did not object."
He also claims that in the same meeting the Queen warned that his closeness to Diana could put him at risk from unspecified "powers at work in this country about which we have no knowledge".
Members of Diana's family, the Spencers, who were key players in the failed court case, are understood to be incensed by the butler's decision to sell his story. And, according to a highly-placed royal source quoted in the Daily Express, the Princess' sons William and Harry are "devastated" that the man in whom their mother placed so much trust would take such a path.
"Both William and Harry are feeling hurt and angry at all this in equal measures," says the source. "They always thought Paul was the one person employed by their mother they could rely on – now it seems they cannot."
Hot on the heels of the newspaper revelations comes the news that Burrell is far from intending to slip quietly out of the limelight now that the trial is over. According to his agent, the 44-year-old former royal servant is in the running for a TV presenting job, heading up a US quiz show entitled What The Butler Saw.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
