Just days after Princess Diana's sons called Paul Burrell's tell-all book about their mother "a cold and overt betrayal", it has been revealed that Prince William aims to meet with the former royal butler face to face to discuss the issue.
"The request is a sincere one," a Clarence House official told The Daily Mail. "He absolutely means to go."
And the Prince apparently has the backing of his grandmother should he go ahead with the meeting. "The Queen fully supports Prince William at this time," said a Buckingham Palace spokesperson.
After a week in which Burrell's A Royal Duty was serialised in a British newspaper, on Friday 21-year-old William and his brother Prince Harry released a statement asking the ex-royal servant to "bring these revelations to an end".
"We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal," read the statement. "It is not only deeply painful for the two of us but also for everyone else affected and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today and, if we might say so, we feel we are more able to speak for our mother than Paul."
The announcement sparked an unprecedented public exchange of words, with Burrell responding: "My only intention in writing this book was to defend the Princess and stand in her corner."
In an interview to be broadcast in BBC One's Real Story on Monday night, he directly addresses Princes William and Harry's reaction, stating: "We have to grow up and get on with it and the boys now are adults. They're not children anymore and their mother will be talked about."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
