Despite his pledge of loyalty and affection for the Queen, she is said to be “livid” over Paul Burrell's revelations to the Daily Mirror. One royal courtier is said to have described his account of his life with Diana as, “the ramblings of a madman.”
Nonetheless Britain’s Daily Mirror has continued with Burrell's bombshells – with further revelations today that are likely to leave Diana’s family, particularly her mother and brother, seething.
He recounts the last time Diana spoke with her mother, Mrs Francis Shand Kydd, six months before the princess was killed. “I heard her shout ‘Paul, come quick, come quick,” says Burrell. “She was hanging over the over banister, shouting down. According to Steve Dennis writing in the Mirror: “It was not unusual for such dramatic beckoning. But what he saw next distressed him. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the fireplace was Diana, clutching the telephone to her ear, hunched forward and in tears – “She waved me over with her hand”, says Burrell. “I joined her on the floor, crossed-legged and sat close beside her. I lent my ear as near as possible and listened to the conversation – albeit one-way.
“It was the slurring voice of Mrs Francis Shand Kydd. What I heard was a torrent of abuse, swearing and upsetting innuendo towards the princess and the male company she was keeping. She was using the kind of language you would never expect to hear a mother say to her daughter.”
Princess Diana then slammed down the phone, telling Burrell, “I am never going to speak to my mother again.”
She never did, six months later Diana was dead.
Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, is also described in less than flattering terms. Referring to the speech he made at Diana’s funeral the Mirror says that: “It was a masterpiece of a speech which captured the mood of the nation and did nothing to help the image of the House of Windsor. But Paul Burrell knew it was all part of the Windsor-Spencer war.”
“That funeral speech”, says Burrell, “turned my stomach. I thought: Am I the only one who thinks he is a hypocrite?”
Referring to the asking price of admission to Diana’s burial island on the Althorp estate Burrell says: “The Spencers found Diana unacceptable in life. But after her death they found her very acceptable at £10.50 a ticket.”
Moreover some of Burrell’s revelations have already been partly corroborated. Police have confirmed that they never closed investigations into an incident Burrell told the Mirror about yesterday. Princess Diana was told of and began her own investigations into a homosexual rape by a senior royal courtier at St James Palace. The allegation comes as no surprise to those familiar with Britain's royalty though; for it has long been known that close to the monarch is a group of servants and courtiers, tight nit and predominantly homosexual.
Source the Sun and Daily Mirror, 7 November, 2002
Last updated 12/02/2003
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