How Queen Elizabeth’s astonishing memory lapse destroyed the most sensational royal trial for more than a century (to the huge relief of ‘panicking’ Prince Charles and others…)
They were so close that he dressed her for her funeral in an evening gown, provided by the wife of the British ambassador. He was appointed trustee of the Diana Memorial Fund and tasked with sorting through her belongings.
“Often photographed two steps behind the princess, he was the submissive servant who supposedly demonstrated what the royal family values most: absolute discretion,” writes Tina Brown in her bestseller The Palace Papers.
In the years following the death of Princess Diana of Wales, one man was seen by the public as her ‘rock’
When officers asked Paul Burrell if he had items from Kensington Palace in his home, he said no. This was not the case
But on January 18, 2001, a bomb dropped that shattered his carefully crafted image (even the “rock” part had been his own invention).
Scotland Yard raided his Cheshire home at dawn after a tip-off from Harold Brown, Princess Margaret’s butler, who was caught selling a bejeweled 24-inch Arabian dhow, a wedding gift to Charles and Diana of the Emir of Scotland. Bahrain. After he was arrested and later acquitted, he told police it had been supplied by Burrell.
When officers asked Burrell if he had any items from Kensington Palace in his home, he said no. “A search of the home immediately identified him,” Brown wrote.
‘It was a royal Amazon warehouse full of the princess’s paintings, photographs, drawings and porcelain.
‘Police have discovered two thousand negatives, including a photo of Charles in the bath with his children, and many others showing the young princes naked.’
There was also a “wealth of personal notes to and from William at school” using Diana’s nickname for him, Wombat, and a “huge stock of Diana’s underwear, blouses, suits, dresses and nightgowns.”
“Even the mahogany desk Burrell used was inscribed ‘Her Royal Highness,'” Brown writes, adding that as Burrell was led away in the police car, he wailed, “I want white lilies on my coffin!”
Some items were missing, including secret tapes Diana had recorded of a former servant against Michael Fawcett, Charles’ right-hand man. Knowing these might be made public put Charles into “full panic mode,” according to Brown.
Burrell claimed he had told the Queen he would take custody of some of Diana’s belongings, and that she had agreed.
Burrell claimed he had told the Queen he would take custody of some of Diana’s belongings, and that she had agreed.
Paul Burrell pictured, far right, with Princes William and Harry at Alton Towers in April 1994
They were so close that Burrell dressed Diana for her funeral in an evening dress belonging to the wife of the British ambassador
While Charles wanted charges against Burrell dropped, Diana’s mother and sister did not believe his claim that he had the Queen’s permission to take her belongings.
They became “increasingly annoyed” that the former butler was “launching himself as a celebrity”, making money writing a book and newspaper column and making speeches on cruise ships because of his association with the princess.
They did not intend to substantiate Burrell’s claim.
“I hope his balls are burning,” Brown tells Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd.
“Even the butler’s long marriage to Maria (a maid and dresser for Diana) was a charade,” the author claims. ‘He had so many affairs with guards that Diana’s chef called him ‘Barrack Room Bertha’.
The couple eventually divorced in 2016 and Burrell married lawyer Graham Cooper.
Despite serious misgivings within the royal palaces, the prosecution continued and in October 2002 Burrell’s trial began at the Old Bailey in London. He was accused of stealing 310 items belonging to the estate of the Princess of Wales, totaling £4.5 million.
Then suddenly something truly remarkable happened – something “that can only be described as an episode of magical realism in 21st century Britain,” writes
While Charles wanted charges against Burrell dropped, Diana’s mother and sister did not believe his claim
The Daily Mail’s front page about the event in October 2002, which reads: ‘Diana’s Butler loaded his car at 2.30am’
Paul Burrell gives a thumbs up to the media as he leaves the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, on November 1, 2002
Brown. ‘The trial of Paul Burrell was halted by the Queen’s own intervention.’
At 8.30am on day 11 of the trial, Commander John Yates of Scotland Yard appeared and said he had just spoken to Sir Michael Peat. Peat had said to him, “Her Majesty has had a memory.”
The previous Friday, the Queen had driven past the Old Bailey with Prince Charles and Prince Phillip on their way to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a memorial service.
“Her Majesty saw a crowd outside the courts and asked Charles about it,” Brown writes.
‘He told her that Burrell was on trial for theft, and the Queen apparently had no idea about it. When everything had been explained to the most informed monarch in the world, she recalled a meeting five years earlier, shortly after Diana’s death, when Burrell had sought an audience with her to explain that he was looking after some of Diana’s ‘papers.’
“As usual,” Brown concludes, “when it came to her family, the Queen had avoided the problem for as long as possible and then delivered a fatal coup de grace.”
She had found and fired a ‘golden bullet’.
Burrell was a free man, who bragged to reporters outside court, “The Queen came to see me.” He sold his story to the Mirror for £300,000, while Burrell’s statement and evidence about explicit details of Diana’s relationships with men, including the surgeon Hasnat Khan, were distributed in other newspapers.
Details such as Charles ridiculing Diana’s outfits and calling her an ‘air hostess’ caused serious reputational damage for the prince.
The front page of the Evening Standard after Paul Burrell was acquitted of all charges over a conversation now suddenly recalled by The Queen
Prince Harry accused the former butler of ‘milking’ his mother’s death for money with his book A Royal Duty
Burrell went on to enjoy a lucrative career as a royal commentator and reality show participant, but in 2008, during Diana’s inquest, it emerged that he had secretly copied letters between her and other members of the royal family. He told the hearing that it was of ‘historical interest’, but was accused of being a rock that was ‘porous’.
In his controversial memoir Spare, Prince Harry accused the former butler of ‘milking’ his mother’s death for money with his book A Royal Duty. “Mama’s former butler had a tell-all that didn’t really mean anything,” he wrote. “It was just one man’s self-justifying, self-centered version of events.
‘My mother once called this butler a dear friend and trusted him implicitly. We also. Now this. He milked her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.”
Burrell, 64, who is now retired after closing his floristry in 2019, revealed earlier this year that he is suffering from prostate cancer.