London: The former royal butler Paul Burrell has revealed that the
Queen warned him that his close relationship with Princess Diana had put
him in danger from shadowy "powers".
Mr Burrell, 44, told a British tabloid about the secret three-hour
meeting with the Queen that last week led to the collapse of his Old
Bailey theft trial as he was about to give evidence.
Diana's former butler, whom she described as her "rock", told the
Daily Mirror the Queen had looked at him "over her half-rimmed
spectacles" and warned him to be careful.
"No one, Paul, has been as close to a member of my family as you have,"
Mr Burrell quoted her as saying. "There are powers at work in this country
which we have no knowledge about."
Mr Burrell's trial on charges of stealing items belonging to the late
princess ended after the Queen revealed he had sought her approval to put
them in safekeeping. The meeting took place in November 1997, two months
after the princess died.
After days of rivetting evidence about Diana's private life and the
inner workings of the House of Windsor, the Queen's intervention in the
case has sent Britain into a spasm of soul-searching about the monarch's
role and what Mr Burrell planned to say in the dock.
Mr Burrell, a former footman for the Queen, said that as the case
progressed he felt as if he "was being fed to the lions".
Asked why he had not told his lawyers about the meeting with the Queen,
Mr Burrell said: "In the royal household, it is unthinkable to recount any
conversation with Her Majesty. My barrister thought I was nuts, I told
him, 'No. I'm just loyal'."
Mr Burrell's solicitor gained an injunction to prevent The Sun
revealing details about his alleged disintegrating relationship with
Diana.
Mr Burrell said the Queen had told him: "I tried to reach out to Diana
so many times. I wrote many, many letters to her, Paul."
